Wyoming Woody Teardrop Build (Completed: 6/22/2013)

[Vedette]

Glad to here that you are making progress.
Keep up the momentum.......you are definitely committed now!
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[PubUltraStar]

Have you tried going to a local Fastenal store?

I found the zinc ones at Ace Hardware locally for $.37 each. I'll continue to search for the stainless steel version, but at least I have options. Thanks for the tip.

[_Ryan_]

Just a quick update. I have done quite a bit over the last couple weeks. Walls are almost complete! Pictures to follow soon!

[_Ryan_]

So here are the pictures from my build over the last 2 weeks. Most all of the work involved getting the walls up.

Transferring the profile to my wall templates. I made 2 section templates for both the inside and outside . I used a 2 inch grid and drew the curves connecting the marks with a thin piece of scrap.


I used a sharpie to thicken the outside of the line to run the jigsaw against. This also allowed me to easily see if I needed to take extra material off with the hand plane later.


Went back with a small hand plane and a sander to finish the curves.


Completed templates layed out.


I had to splce 2 3/4" 4x8 sheets of ACX plywood to make each wall panel. I used a half-lap joint 3.5 inches across.


Gluing the wall sections togather.


Routing out the 1/4" deep mortise on the bottom and edges of the walls. This technique worked well with a new sharp bit in the router.


Getting the curves were a bit of a problem as I used the inside of the inner template as a fence. It didn't quite match up so I had to do it in 1 foot sections.



Next step cut out the holes in the walls for insulation, and start thinking about cabinets!

[KCStudly]

Good progress.

[_Ryan_]

Lots of good progress was made over the weekend. I managed to completely finish the walls, and get the majority of materials I will need for the rest of the project.

Measuring and marking the cuts for the voids in the sidewalls on my wall template. Thanks to a suggestion by Dave (DMcCam) I used a 2" radius on the corners which should help the wall retain some strength over square corners.


Cutting out the holes with a jigsaw. I have to say in all modesty these were the best cuts I have ever made, and compared to my previous cuts, they didn't require much cleanup afterward.


I took a quick trip down to my lumber store and picked up the wood for my cabinets as well as the skins for the interior and exterior walls. After talking with Doug Hodder (BIG thanks Doug!), and looking at his work, I decided to go the Okoume plywood route for the exterior skins. They are 4mm thick and a close relative to mahogany, it is also a marine grade plywood. I think they will look great after some finishing with aniline dye and under some varnish and epoxy! By the way Okoume is hard to find in the middle of the country.


Cutting the voids out with a router. I was worried about the rigidity of the sidewall with all those holes but it still feels quite strong and much lighter!



Finished sidewalls! If you look closely you can see the 3 1/2 inch wide half-lap slice I made to join the plywood sheets. I planned ahead so that the entire width of that splice would be lined up with a wall support.


After we finished we dryfit a sidewall to the deck and to my relief it fit like a glove! It's starting to look like a teardrop trailer now!

[Thawley]

I was worried about the rigidity of the sidewall with all those holes but it still feels quite strong and much lighter!

Once you bond the inner & outer skins, it'll be stronger than you'll ever need.

Looks great. Really enjoying this build.

[WhitneyK]

Go, Go, Go, Go!!!!

(Man this stuff is like a drug, just can't get enough of it )

I'm enjoying your build, thank you!

[Billy K]

X2
I'm with Whitney, it's too much fun watching others solve their chosen puzzle !!

[_Ryan_]

Thanks everybody, this is a real blast to work on. I'll keep the updates coming as I am hoping to have this thing finished by April

[_Ryan_]

Weekend update!

The plan for this week was originally to start on the cabinets. Unfortunately my buddy who specializes in cabinet making, and has been helping me out on the build, decided to go out of town for the week. (Apparently he has priorities outside of teardrop construction ) So instead of cabinets, I figured I would get some other work finished and take advantage of his expertise when he gets back next week.

While the walls are still mobile and not skinned I decided it would be a good time to build the blocking for the roof as well as the ribs for the hatch.

Lining up the pattern for the second hatch rib. The first was cut using the sidewall as a pattern. Originally I thought I would use a router to cut each piece but the pattern was a bit too flimsy so I traced the pattern and used a jigsaw instead.


After the ribs were cut I clamped them together and used a rasp to make them as uniform as possible and smooth out the curves. It was important to get these smooth or else my plywood skin might be lumpy or uneven. It turned out better than I expected.



THe roof blocking was done in a similar way.



The roof blocking resting up against the edge of my deck. It still needs a bit of work to even up the seams.


The finished roof blocking resting on the sidewalls, and my shop helper makes an appearance.

[KCStudly]

Looking really good

Are you going to cut the roof blocking up into sections to fit between your roof spars as blocking, or are you going to do like Tom's (aggie79's) Silver Beatle and build a unitized ceiling panel? (I spent some time last night going thru the first part of Tom's build again... if you haven't done so already, it is worth the read.)

I just breezed back thru your design and build threads again, but I didn't see where you may have mentioned this, and it wasn't clear on the model sketches (which, I must say again are quite good!).

Just curious.

Keep up the good work and before you know it you will be camping!

[_Ryan_]

Tom has a great build there! But I am doing something more like what Dave did in his Atma Travelear build http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?p=858687#p858687 and cut the blocking to fit between the roof spars. I believe Steve Frederick pioneered this method

Not sure if this was in my original design pics, but as time has gone on I have made some changes and finalized some others. It looks like I should update that post as well!

[DMcCam]

Hi Ryan, Man, are you moving pal!! She's looking great!!! You'll be amazed how strong the whole thing gets with each lamination. You're right about the blocking method, Steve's the guy!

Cheers,

Dave

[_Ryan_]

Hi Ryan, Man, are you moving pal!! She's looking great!!! You'll be amazed how strong the whole thing gets with each lamination. You're right about the blocking method, Steve's the guy!

Cheers,

Dave

Thanks Dave! As you may have noticed I took your advice on rounding out the inside corners of skelitonized sections and it worked out well!