CrowsWing , So long and thanks for all the fish.

[Elizabeth C.]

Yesterday on the way home from PA we stoped to eat lunch at a BBQ place outside of Philipsburg. (Gios- yum!!!!). I called Harbor Sales in Maryland and placed an order for the aluminum sheets for the roofing and sides. Today at 5:00 PM a truck delivered 5 sheets of aluminum to my workplace. How's that for service?


If anyone is interested their website is http://www.harborsales.net/

Anyways, just felt like sharing.
later,
Dr. C-dawg

[S. Heisley]

It looks like they did a pretty good job on your trailer, Elizabeth.

It will be interesting to see what you do about the hatches...?...Hatches? In the deck?

[Elizabeth C.]

Hey Sharon, I've decided to build the hatch doors. The doors are for access to the basement storage.



I placed an order through Brunner enterprises for the aluminum trim I will need. I'm stil looking for paddle latches.

I hope my design will work, If it does I'll post it up.

Anyway g'night y'all.
Dr. C-dawg

.

[aggie79]

Hey Sharon, I've decided to build the hatch doors. The doors are for access to the basement storage.



I hope my design will work, If it does I'll post it up.

Anyway g'night y'all.
Dr. C-dawg

Elizabeth,

What an incredible teardrop design! You and your husband have amazing skills. Thank you for posting the pictures and details of your build.

I'm stil looking for paddle latches.

I found some at McMaster-Carr - http://www.mcmaster.com/#. McMaster-Carr is the grand daddy of all hardware stores. Their prices may be a little high and their website is quirky, but they have incredible customer service and speedy delivery.

Take care,
Tom

[Martinup]

Hi Elizabeth:

I like your attention to detail all through out. LQQking great.

I have heard about that, " Galley Gear Hinge". It was nice to see it up close and in your picture. Is the gear shape extruded all the way throught the length of the hinge?

Not to stick up for a tardy welding shop but what they did looks good. Hope it all fits. How does it tow and feel while behind you. Looks like you gave them good drawings to work off of . . .

Probably just over booked themselves on other work and if they did that might be an indication of good quality workmanship. The aluminum is much more work as each joint has to be cleaned . . .

Not to stick up for them . . . I 'm just glad Annie didn't have to get her gun. As usual it's the messy stuff we REAllY get tested on and learn the most from.



I am still learning and gaining ideas from so many other peoples work.

Martin

[S. Heisley]

Hey Sharon, I've decided to build the hatch doors. The doors are for access to the basement storage.



I hope my design will work, If it does I'll post it up.

Anyway g'night y'all.
Dr. C-dawg

Elizabeth,

What an incredible teardrop design! You and your husband have amazing skills. Thank you for posting the pictures and details of your build.

I'm stil looking for paddle latches.

I found some at McMaster-Carr - http://www.mcmaster.com/#. McMaster-Carr is the grand daddy of all hardware stores. Their prices may be a little high and their website is quirky, but they have incredible customer service and speedy delivery.

Take care,
Tom

Awesome! I'll second what Tom said. McMaster-Carr is very good and, I think, worth the money.

[Elizabeth C.]

What an incredible teardrop design! You and your husband have amazing skills. Thank you for posting the pictures and details of your build.

I'm stil looking for paddle latches.

I found some at McMaster-Carr - http://www.mcmaster.com/#. McMaster-Carr is the grand daddy of all hardware stores. Their prices may be a little high and their website is quirky, but they have incredible customer service and speedy delivery.

Take care,
Tom

Thanks Tom , That's high praise coming from a teardrop builder such as yourself. Thanks for the tip about Mcmaster-Carr. I've placed several orders in the past with them and have always been happy with their service. We have their oversized catalog at work and I have spent a few lunch hours perusing it and dreaming of building stuff. I ended up ordering the latches and hinges from them ( along with a couple other things) last night.

Sincerely,
Dr. C-dawg

[Elizabeth C.]

Hi Elizabeth:

I have heard about that, " Galley Gear Hinge". It was nice to see it up close and in your picture. Is the gear shape extruded all the way throught the length of the hinge?

Not to stick up for a tardy welding shop but what they did looks good. Hope it all fits. How does it tow and feel while behind you. Looks like you gave them good drawings to work off of . . .

Not to stick up for them . . . I 'm just glad Annie didn't have to get her gun. As usual it's the messy stuff we REAllY get tested on and learn the most from.



I am still learning and gaining ideas from so many other peoples work.

Martin

Hi Martin, I've been following your build thread. That is going to be an awesome trailer!

In answer to your questions:

1.Yes the gear runs the whole length. see pic:



The top rail can easily be slid off to separate the hinge. There are bushings (should be called stoppers??) that are supplied with it that go into the ends of the top rail to keep that from happening under normal use . It makes it convenient to put the hatch on and off for trimming and ( lots of) adjustments.

2.The trailer towed beautifully on the way home, nothing like a 300 mile shake down . We'll see how it does once the body is assembled on it.


3.(I know it was not really a question, but I like listing things) I tried not to be too hard on the trailer guy. I think he lost money on the deal once their work hours were figured into it. If anyone else orders something similar in the future I suspect their quote will be quite a bit higher.


4. I totaly for sure agree,this forum is a great place to learn new stuff. We couldn't have even started our build without the wealth of knowledge we have gained from months of lurking. (Ha, Ha, I typed moths of lurking at first , but that would be just plain scarey.)

"Moths of lurking"

Mothman, Point Pleasant ,West Virginia

Sorry, I sometimes get lost on weird tangets...
Thank for the interest and keep on buildin',
Dr. C-Dawg

[Martinup]

Dr C Dawg:

Funny Handle

Thanks much for the great informative reply. The pics were clear and easy to see.

I liked your link on appolstery and the Awning thing too. I made sure save that into my favrets for later.
I have a 16' 6" Looong by almost 6' Wiiiide Bench.


I will put it to good use for those to Items on our build. . . . . good for sewing and fabric lay up. Yes I have Scemes, Dreams and Seams to do!



Sew for now I'll keep watchin . . . Keep on Tangenting

Martin

[Captain Monkeyshines]

[quote="Elizabeth C"Moths of lurking"

Mothman, Point Pleasant ,West Virginia
[/quote]

Tangentically speaking these Moths of Lurking are best described with Mothman Prophecy quotes:

John Klein: I think we can assume that these entities are more advanced than us. Why don't they just come right out and tell us what's on their minds?
Alexander Leek: You're more advanced than a cockroach, have you ever tried explaining yourself to one of them?

Digging the new trailer! How soon before the body and chassis become one?

[atahoekid]

Dr C. Dawg, I just stumbled upon this build and I've got to say that you and your husband are doing a fine job. I really like the way you've laid things out. I like the way you think. I had planned exterior hatches too, but chicken'd out. I have hatches interior in mine but would have made better use of the space had I stayed with the original thought. You both have great skills and your trailer is turning out beautifully. I'm very jealous of your aluminum frame. I'm working on a budget (whatever is left after paying the bills is the budget) so a custom aluminum frame was out of the question, I opted instead for a used tent trailer frame. I'm stealing your padded headboard idea. It does two things for me. It will hide a nasty seam and will provide some added structural rigidity to the galley wall. Keep up the good work, I'm gonna follow this one!!!

Oh... one last thing. Consider it a occupational hazard of mine and I apologize for being a PITA. In the picture where hubby's cutting the spars for the hatch, his safety glasses are on the plywood not his face. YIKES!!! OVer the years, I've seen too many people suffer eye injuries and/or lose their sight with safety glasses on top of the forehead, sitting on the workbench, etc. PLEASE, Always wear your safety eyewear when working in the shop.

[Elizabeth C.]

Oh... one last thing. Consider it a occupational hazard of mine and I apologize for being a PITA. In the picture where hubby's cutting the spars for the hatch, his safety glasses are on the plywood not his face. YIKES!!! OVer the years, I've seen too many people suffer eye injuries and/or lose their sight with safety glasses on top of the forehead, sitting on the workbench, etc. PLEASE, Always wear your safety eyewear when working in the shop.

Thanks for checking out my build, Mel. I told my husband someone would say something about him not wearing his glasses. He normally wears them but he said they kept fogging up. I know excuses,excuses.. tell it to the emergency room physician.

Anyway I have been neglecting my computer, so I am way behind on my build thread. We have been spending every free minute working on the trailer so there is much to catch up on.

First we removed the wheels so the trailer would fit into the garage, and we removed the fenders so they wouldn’t be in the way. The tongue box is welded on so it created some interesting problems with assembling the front end.


We dissembled the trailer into its parts and took it off the dollies


Cabinets in a pile.

Then we started reassembling on the trailer body. We placed the front wall with the aluminum skin in plce on it onto the tongue box. To seal between the aluminum and the tongue box , we applied butyl tape along the edges of the box, then VW fender welting on it, then black goo ( 4200 3m marine sealant). Stainless steel screws were used to attach it.


Layers of sealant.

We placed butyl tape all along the top of the chassis and laid down the floor. Then the basement walls were attached.



Then one side was attached, then the galley bulkhead then the other side.



The we put the roof on. No pictures of that, sorry. Next we reattached the cabinets inside and out.





Then we put the hatch back on.


Yeah it fits!!


The next weekend my hubby worked on the electrical stuff.


Batteries in tongue box


Converter, Cool wizard logo. Oooh magic!


Poor photo of electrical chase.


Worser photo of battery minder in cabin


15 amp all weather receptacle

He actually took a couple of days off work to get most of it done. When he was done (mostly) we insulated the roof.



Then we covered the top in two layers of 1/8 inch Baltic birch , then the sides.







The next step was to coat all sides with West System Epoxy.

In the meantime I started on the hatch doors.


First one mostly finished.

Here is how I did it:


The plywood was made of ¼ inch plywood joined to 1/8 inch Baltic ply.
The paddle latch is from McMaster Carr.
The aluminum molding is from Brunner Enterprise
The mitered pieces were cut to be 1/8 inch longer then the dimensions of the wood.


The hinge is stainless steel, offset style to provide room for weather stripping.
The Z channel will provide the frame and will be attached to the trailer body.
The c-channel is ½ inch wide with one inch long legs.
The angle molding will be attached to the trailer at the bottom of the frame.
(I’ll show that later when I install the doors)


Miter saw used to cut molding, very precise. Purchased through McMaster Carr http://www.mcmaster.com/#handsaws/=gx9gq6

Once the materials were cut to size, we drilled holes in the bottom molding. The hole are sized to receive rivets.



Then that molding was placed on the sandwich of metal-wood-metal and the holes drilled into the wood.



Then the molding was removed and the holes drilled a little larger to allow room for the rivets’ butts. ( I don’t know the proper term for the hind end of a rivet)



Then the molding was positioned on the hinge and the holes drilled out ( on the drill press) and the holes riveted.




(note rivet butts)

Once that was done we trimmed out the upper piece of the molding to get it to fit around the paddle handle.
This was a little tricky. We actually worked it out on a test piece first.





Then I applied a heavy bead of silicone down the inside of the c-channels and the pieces were assembled and clamped an the excess silicone cleaned off.





The next step will be to drill through the moldings from face to back, and rivet the pieces together, though it feels like the silicone alone has a lot of holding strength.

I hope this helps anyone who is wanting to build hatches, I will show how to mount them later, when we get the that part of the build. So far I am satisfied with the results, they seem reasonably lightweight and strong.

Sorry for the long post, hopefully it won’t be so long in between posts from now on. We are finally back on schedule so the hours shouldn’t be so long.

That’s all for tonight, tomorrow we continue skinning with the aluminum.

Later taters,
Dr. C-Dawg.
.

[WhitneyK]

Y'all ain't that far away, this is one impressive build!!
I'm gonna have to see it in person and get a tour when your finished, oh, uh, no, we're never finished, oh ya, completed, no, that's not it either,.....hmmmmm..... to your stopping point and using it. Ya, that's it.

[bobhenry]

Y'all ain't that far away, this is one impressive build!!
I'm gonna have to see it in person and get a tour when your finished, oh, uh, no, we're never finished, oh ya, completed, no, that's not it either,.....hmmmmm..... to your stopping point and using it. Ya, that's it.

Whitney :

The correct term is " CAMPABLE "

Thats were ALL of mine are !

[Elizabeth C.]

I'm gonna have to see it in person and get a tour when your finished, oh, uh, no, we're never finished, oh ya, completed, no, that's not it either,.....hmmmmm..... to your stopping point and using it. Ya, that's it.

Whitney,You may get the chance to see this teardrop later this month. If we get it "campable" in the next couple of weeks, we will be taking it to Nashville, IN to my mother-in -law's house. She is having a large auction (april 21st), and wants us there to lend a hand, hopefully we can camp in the field by her house.

We managed to get the roof and both sides sheathed in aluminum this weekend. The roof was done yesterday, it went pretty well.



Fitting aluminum (mill finish) to the roof

The black aluminum only came in 4 foot wide, so we placed a layer of flashing to weatherproof the bottom. It is 20 inches wide. There is a line of butyl tape sealing it next to the bottom plywood and trailer frame, filling any little voids.


Cutting out storage hatch openings.

Today we started on the diamonplate trim.


Reference photo incase something goes horribly wrong and I need to show the surgeon what my hubby's face used to look like.



Diamonplate installed.


It is 15 1/2 inches wide and is sealed with black goo to the flashing and held in place with stainless steel screws.
A the top of it is panel moulding trim to transition it to the black aluminum.


The grooves are 1/8 inch wide, just right for the diamond plate.

Then we cut the black sheeet to size adhered it with carpet glue (only temporary, as it will actually float, the glue won't hold long term)




The aluminum still has its protective plastic covering on it. All in all, it is a bit too shiney for my taste, however I know nature will put an oxidizng patina on it soon enough. At the very least it will be coated with pollen as soon as it is outside.


Hubby stapling second side, just a few around the perimeter.


The top aluminum sits in the top groove of the panel moulding. It is held snug with a rubber screen spline that just fits in next to it. Later there will be another piece of trim that dresses up the top of this area.




We still have alot to do, the hatch should prove to be tricky, it is next. We also need to install the hatch doors along with the door and windows.
The last thing we did this evening was to sand and put grain filler on the wine rack, interior shelves and switch plates. They will all need stained and finished so they can be installed soon.

So much to do so little time.

That's all for now. Back to work tomorrow.
G'night y'all,
Dr. C-Dawg