Project Choose Your Own Adventure

[ScottyB]

i like google photos but why they had to make sharing the URL so hard, i'll never know. constantly a pain in the dick. should be fixed now after moving it all to imgur.

[JPolen01]

Working now. Rock on man that looks awesome so far.

[JustinG]

i like google photos but why they had to make sharing the URL so hard, i'll never know.  constantly a pain in the dick.  should be fixed now after moving it all to imgur.

Ive been copying the image url from my Google photos. Then add "?.jpg"or "-tmp.jpg" to the url.

[Senor_Taylor]

Because Google Photos is for storage and backup, not image hosting, if I was to guess.

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[Sully]

Might have missed it, how did you attached the box to the metal tubing? Any chance the mounting hardware could pull through or break bottom of the box from bumps or heavy braking? I would guess everything is super secure in there so any braking heavy enough to cause the inertia to rip the box off the mounts would probably mean some other more serious shit is going down.

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[ScottyB]

Might have missed it, how did you attached the box to the metal tubing? Any chance the mounting hardware could pull through or break bottom of the box from bumps or heavy braking? I would guess everything is super secure in there so any braking heavy enough to cause the inertia to rip the box off the mounts would probably mean some other more serious shit is going down.

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grade 8 bolts + nylock nuts to attach the box to the tubing, and frame.  there are washers at both ends to ensure the clamping force is spread out.  

i imagine there is some chance but it'd probably be crash-force braking, the plastic is extremely dense.  all in all by the time i'm done there will be 8 mounting points on the bottom.  if it rips off, yeah, things are looking like i'm either in a tree or upside down.

[ScottyB]

i has a ceiling



the gaps between the wall and ceiling, and wall and floor are no big deal.  its cinched down tight with the roof spars on the outside, plus glue on the edges.  a small run of trim will cover the gaps.  not sure if i'll try to bend the walnut scrap i'm using or if i should just get some thin dowel and stain it walnut.


minor seam joint will be covered by a run of cubbie storage nooks so no big deal.


he fits, he sits


we'll run these cedar closet planks up the front wall for a couple feet, as a "headboard", because shiplap is love, shiplap is life

[JPolen01]

That is awesome!!!

[.RJ]

amaze++

[Goodspeed]

This is so rad. Congrats on the progress!

[Steve85]

Lookin' good!

[Jake]

So cool! Can't wait to see you finish this up - I'm sure it's even more exciting to work on now that it looks like a real live camper.

[ScottyB]

thanks gents!

I'm sure it's even more exciting to work on now that it looks like a real live camper.

yeah that had a huge effect on me. i went from "what to do with this trailer" to "holy crap this is the thing i've been trying to picture for 2 years". really lit a fire under me, finally.

[rherold9]

Haven't looked in this thread in while. Awesome to see how much progress has been made. Looking forward to how this finishes!

[Beej]

Ohhhhhkayyy.  That looks fuckin' awesome, Scotty.  I'm thoroughly impressed!

It's gonna be great the first (and every!) time you get out to the middle of nowhere, start up a fire, crack open a beer, and kick your feet up while you admire your handiwork.

[GTBrandon]

This was the coolest start to finish thread to follow. I just read everything for the first time and it was awesome seeing the final product just now, looks great. Surprised you have such little woodworking experience and from the pictures and details it seems pretty spot on. I tried making a table once and I think that’s where I’ll leave my skills lol.

So what’s the new timeline for completion? Seems almost done from the looks of it.

[ScottyB]

This was the coolest start to finish thread to follow. I just read everything for the first time and it was awesome seeing the final product just now, looks great. Surprised you have such little woodworking experience and from the pictures and details it seems pretty spot on. I tried making a table once and I think that’s where I’ll leave my skills lol.

So what’s the new timeline for completion? Seems almost done from the looks of it.

ha thanks, just looking back i realize now that like half of all the photo links are broken (photobucket basically nuked itself during that timeframe).  i hate that, sorry i'm sure it made some of this pretty hard to follow.

skill-wise, i really have mostly spacial awareness on my side and a good experience with a handful of power tools.  that's really about it.  most of what i know would apply to cabinetry at this point and not fine woodworking.  these teardrops originated from a Popular Mechanics how-to article so they were designed for the mostly-average joe and i've found it to be true.  where you are with the table you built is how i look at guys who build decks or houses.  that seems amazing to me, but they had to start somewhere!  same applies to cars...i can replace/bolt in a whole suspension at this point, but there was a time when an oil change was super intimidating.  you just gotta go for it.

we're aiming for Memorial Day.  that will give us the summer to do a lot of local test-camping and work out the bugs, and then in the fall we plan to take a nice vacation on the blue ridge parkway and try to cover at least the NC portion while fishing/camping/hiking.  ultimate goal is to take it across the country and see stuff like The Keys, Grand Canyon, Glacier Nat'l, Yosemite, Redwoods, Yellowstone, Cascades, Watkins Glenn and Arcadia, etc. in between those trips i'm hoping to pull it around with the civic to some track events here in GA and the southeast, maybe even join some MM'ers at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

[ScottyB]

nothing like the aroma of a hamster cage to start off your day in the wilderness    this is about half of the finished height as our "headboard". this is just common cedar shiplap closet liner, secured with Loctite PL3000 construction adhesive.


got the cooler slideout done.  the slides are rated for 500lbs, which is hilarious but i had to get that rating because there was nothing else in a 22 inch throw that had enough capacity to comfortably hold a full 75 gallon cooler.  




the slideout is constructed of 1x2's that are both glued/screwed and coated with spar urethane for water/condensation resistance.  i built 4 "landing pads" for where the cooler feet will sit, and we'll store some counter extensions behind it since the cooler sits more to the front.  the frame LOOKS flimsy, but i pulled it the entire way out, put the cooler on, and then LAID on top of the cooler with my feet completely off the ground and aside from a little suspension sag, not a single creak.  i'm 170lbs, and i doubt the cooler will ever be over 150...we simply can't fit more than 50lbs. of ice and still have room for food most of the time.



again, keeping with the teardrop motto: "build it like a plane, not a tank".  i guess i'll find out soon if i'll need to add reinforcements.

[JPolen01]

That slide out is simply badass. Your craftsmanship continues to impress.

[ScottyB]

That slide out is simply badass. Your craftsmanship continues to impress.

thanks man!

got a bit more done yesterday.  

fitted the insulation panels to the passenger side voids.  this job SUCKS.  i'm still picking styrofoam bits out of my hair and clothes....and i still haven't finished the other side.


got the first interior light installed and working.  its a dual-mode LED unit, we can pick either natural light or bright white....i think we'll pick this natural light 99% of the time.  i ran out of adhesive to mount the remaining runs of cedar plank, so back to home depot....again....


cut down some salvaged/scrap lumber to make the wall between the cabin and galley.  this was all leftover/junk wood originally...the Poplar on the top/bottom is our old bed frame rails, the Walnut trim is scrap i salvaged from my granddad's shop (seen elsewhere in the cabin too) and the cedar was cut down from a leftover 4x4 post from my wife's potting bench build.  clamped/glued overnight and not quite high enough, but i'll put a filler plank on the bottom to take up the room and you'll never see it anyway since my son's foam mattress will be laying in front of it.  same with the sides...had to leave a gap because the walls aren't 100% square   and i'll fill that in with matching birch scrap when its finalized.


showing the profile.  the trim stands a bit proud and the cedar is mean to look inlaid.


view from the back, this will be mostly covered by cabinets.  starting to put in the cabinet structure next to the cooler.