FINALLY...Progress on the Squidget with PICS to prove it!!!

[Ira]

I don't know how well you can handle it with the roofing stuff on it. I don't know if it dries completely or stays tacky.

I don't know what you plan to use (the Gardners?), but it gets a bad rap:

It's not as hard to apply, nor smelly, nor tacky as some have claimed.

And it dries fine.

The other thing you have to consider is, no matter what, you want to insulate it in a NORMAL posture for old farts like us--meaning standing up.

I really doubt you want to attach the wooden floor frame and do all of this crap on your back from down under.

[cracker39]

Decision was made to leave both the chassis and floor alone for now (except for some filler in the joints for smooth floring applicaton) and start on my side template. I have the 3 sheets of luan laid out on my floor/work table and ready to start drawing lines...wish me luck.

[Ira]

Decision was made to leave both the chassis and floor alone for now (except for some filler in the joints for smooth floring applicaton) and start on my side template. I have the 3 sheets of luan laid out on my floor/work table and ready to start drawing lines...wish me luck.

OOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!!

Take a bunch of pictures.

Are you using bended dowels, or with your design, can you more or less do it with straight lines?

I loved working with those dowels, because when I was done, I waved them violently in the air and chased my wife all around the house.

IT'S A JOKE, GUYS!!!!!!!!!

[cracker39]

Ira, my one pic today was just a shot of the 3 sheets of luan laying side by side on my trailer floor for my plans. It was nothing to write home about.

I have straight lines in the front and back, but the roof is curved. I've transposed the 10 reference points for the curve from my drawings to the plywood. Tomorrow, I'll rip a 1/8" strip from a 10 2x6 to use as a guide. I'll put two finishing nails in each of the end points to hold the ends of the strip, and put one nail in each reference point to bend the strip around. that will create the perfect curves...in theory anyway. We'll see how it works tomorrow.

BTW, Ira, don't we have great weather for building? (you too, Steve, Eat your hearts out all you folks in the blizzards. It reached 78 today here and it was shorts and t-shirt today. Ira, you probaly had it in the 80s today...we'll get it tomorrow.

Asian, Cypress Gardens did close down, and was bought by a theme park chain. They reopened, but it isn't the same. Mostly thrill rides. Some of the gardens are still there, but I don't know how much as I haven't been since they reopened. They still have the weekly music concerts with single acts and groups, and I should get a season pass so I can go to some of them.

[cracker39]

Another day, a little more progress.

Although you can't see most of the pendil lines in the sun, I drew in the framing for door, window, bed supports, cabinets, etc. and cut out my template. For now, here's a picture of it against my truck for size comparison. That dark spot at the front is the shadow of my outside mirror.

Now that it is wood, it's taller than it looked on paper or the model. I have 4-5" over my height, that I don't really need, but if I sell it, I don't want to turn away tall people because they can't stand up in it. And, I think I didn't get the front curved down as much as I'd like, so I may change that. Otherwise, it pretty much looks like my model. Tomorrow, if my router cutting bits are sharp enough, I'll start on the sides. I have some bits coming from Rockler, but they'll be a few more days getting here. I'll put progress pics in an album later...right now, I'm just too darned tired to do it.

[mikeschn]

Hey Dale,

I guess your models were playing tricks on us. It actually looks a whole lot bigger than I thought. It's definitely a tiny travel trailer... right up there with my tab, and some of the canned hams folks have been buying as their second trailer.

But it looks good... and it's not too late to work on that back top curve!

Mike...

P.S. Can you show us a picture of the backside of that panel. It'll help in the joining/jointing thread!

[cracker39]

Mike, as a template, It is 3 pieces. I just connected them with screws through them into some scrap wood for the shot of the profile. I'll actually cut my 3 side pieces individually and connect them with the framing pieces during construction. Then, I'll have a shot of how they are joined. I plan on having a couple of hoizontal framing pieces crossing the joints, and inbetween them, vertical 3" pieces so that the joints are completely backed by framing. Pics will show them after they are built in a few days.

The curve down the back isn't the one I was referring to. I actually raised the rear end of the back curve about 6" since my model. It's the front that had a tighter curve down in the front that I was referring to. It doesn't curve down like I had it in the model and I may trim it down a couple of inches to lower wind resistance. In the pic below, the yellow line is the curve I have. The green line is the curve I think would be better.



Tomorrow, I'll prop up the front piece behind the truck on blocks to represent the finished height to see just how high it does stick up. I'm still going to build a wing to put on my truck cap to deflect the wind up and over the TTT. My Dad put one on his truck cap and swears it helped reduce resistance and turbulence.

[s4son]

Dale,
That is really sharp. Keep the pictures coming! I'm anxious to see the end result.

Scott F.

[mikeschn]

A full radius on that top front corner would also work. And you'd be able to bend plywood around it. Make it a 19" R or so...

Mike...

[cracker39]

Mike,

I'm not sure just how tight a curve I can bend 1/4" luan. I'll clamp a piece to some timber and try to bend it and see. I guess I could make kerfs about 1" to 1 1/2" apart in the front 15 inches of it to facilitate a tighter curve. I would really like the front edge to be a little lower to help reduce wind resistance. I think I'll work on it today to see what can be done to lower it without sacrificing my stand up height above the door.

As to why my profile looks larger than the model, I know the answer. I put a printout of pictures of ourselves on the side of the model looking out the windows, and they are out of proportion. The pictures of us should have been reduced more in size to get a true perspective. What does surprise me is that the actual profile looks so much longer than it did in the model (perspective again). I checked the model, and it is a half inch taller than it should have been for true perspective, but that shouldn't have made that much difference.

Anyway, I am pleased with the result so far, but, if I ever build another on this plan, I think I'll try it with the profile as a continous curve, more like the Widget. I think that would have a real retro look of the 40s and 50s. And, it would increase the interior volume slightly without adding more than a few pounds of weight. Avoiding having to make all those curves was the main reason I squared off the front and back. I sacrificed part of the retro look for easier building.

[cracker39]

As promised, here's my album for the template/sides.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cracker39 ... /my_photos

[cracker39]

Mike,

I tested the amount of curve I can get on a 4' wide piece of plywood, by clamping one edge to a timber and another thin strip to the edge, 15" from the timber. That's the distance I'll have to bend. I put clamps on the thin strip and my frame to pull it down. I got enough bend to lower my front curve 3 more inches. I also darkended the lines for framing and spars so they can be seen in the photo. In the new photo, you can better see the different sheets by the variation in color. Here is the result:



There are more close ups of the framing in my album now.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cracker39 ... 93&.view=t

[cracker39]

Status report #3 for today. I did a lot of work, but not much progress that can be seen. Mostly I refined my templates for use. I looked for router bits and found several old 1/4" single edge straight bits, tested one and it cut 2 layers of 1/4" ply OK, so I cut out the first pair of sides.

And, I made my first, and probably not my last, BONEHEAD MISTAKE. After cutting the outline, I proceded to cut out the door opening on BOTH PIECES. There's several pieces of plywood for the scrap bin for other uses. I got another sheet and cut out the left side again...without the door opening this time. At least, I had sense enough to put the sheets face to face before cutting. And, I used a half dozen screws to secure the template to both sheets. I can fill in the screw holes later along with the screw heads depressions.

Tomorrow, I'll cut the remaining 2 pair of side pieces. My wife is already complaining about the noise from power tools, and I have much more to do. She says if I keep making all the tool noise, she'll leave me...I'll sure miss her.

(Just kidding)

I hope she doesn't read that, or....

[Ira]

At least, I had sense enough to put the sheets face to face before cutting.

When I cut my exterior birch skins, I DIDN'T have the sense to do that.

Wound up buying two more pieces, and using the same material for my interior skins, so I wouldn't waste a whole sheet.

It's coming along great Dale! And you're right about the weather:

I only spent about 4 hours this morning working on it, 8AM-12PM, because it was SO nice, had to get out with the family to enjoy it.

Okay--I lied. I took an amazing 2-hour nap in the afternoon with the windows wide open and a beautiful fresh breeze blowing through!

[mikeschn]

Dale,

Your framing lines look good. It's going to be big, but oh, is it ever going to be comfortable!

Cutting out doors in both walls... sounds like something I'd accidently do too!

Mike...