What Did You Do on Mem. Day Weekend? I nailed it!!!!!

[IraRat]

Anyone want to guess? Think of the STUPIDEST thing I could have done

No, Jim, I think I got it, you framed out the side walls and you did them both for the same side instead of flipping one of them. Well like the old saying goes" If you are going to be stupid, you are going to have to be tough" Or could it be I cut this board three times and it is still to short

Close enough. Woody wins:

I've had my exterior skins cut for weeks. Did them the same time I did the walls. Over the course of a week and a half, I used my expensive varnish that everyone is sick of me talking about to totally finish one of the skins (3 coats), and I had just one coat done on the other skin.

And after my 20th beer on Monday, I'm looking at the two skins and FINALLY AND MIRACULOUSLY noticed that I cut them the same, and as Woody knows because I'm using the same birch as him, only one side of the material is usable. It ain't like a reversible sweater.

And if I had had 20 beers prior to cutting them, I wouldn't have made this stupid mistake.

So, trying to make lemonade out of lemons, I'm gonna go buy two more pieces of this NOT inexpensive beaded birch. I'll cut the exterior one CORRECTLY this time (I swear), and varnish wuth 3 coats to match the other piece. The other new piece, I'm going to varnish with just one coat, like the one I screwed up on and which came out very light because of just one coat. Looks real nice with one coat, and I'll use these light pieces for interior skins.

So instead of luan at 8 bucks a sheet, I'll be using birch at 30.

Everyone will think I'm so rich and stylish!!!

[tupelosue]

i took my first trip in my tear. If only i could figure out the photo thingy I'd show you some pics. eventually that'll happen. I drove up hwy 101 (no.Cal) to Patrick Point, north of eureka, camped for 2 nights and went kayaking in stone lagoon. Missed seeing Dean in Eureka by about 15 minutes or so.

Stumbled onto the Kinetic Sculpture Race taking place in eureka, so i drove through town on the race course for a couple of blocks at the finish; got lots of oohs and aaahs. sweet.

Discovered a few details on my tear that will need modification. I bought this as a brand new home-built from a guy in Redding. Now that i read the forum, i wonder if my eBay win made the forum. I had the winning bid in the last 7 seconds of the auction, early in May.

Anyway, little details: my galley door goes all the way to the bottom, and has 2 rubber/metal latches. Problem: they don't stay latched, and they don't lock. Will be Looking at other set-ups for some ideas. Also noticed that all is not completely waterproof, so will be working on that.

Otherwise it was a GREAT!!!! first trip.

[gardenwood]

Well, time to confess. We made the same mistake. Two exterior skins for one side and none for the other. Found the problem a week ago as we were getting ready to install those skins on the frames.

After we recovered from the shock, we decided it was a "blessing in disguise." We had those two exterior skins stained with Water Based Stain in a cocoa color (one of the custom mix colors). We hated the stain. It dried so quickly we couldn't keep a wet edge to blend the stain between "sections." Ended up with 3 coats of stain and it was still uneven. Problem existed but to a lesser extent even with small pieces, but those 10 ft by 59 inch sides were a disaster.

We started over with 10' x 4' pieces of birch ply. Beautiful. We've fiberglassed it unstained.

We have a 2 large pieces of stained 1/4" ply that should make all the door panels the tear will be able to use and then some! We should even be able to cut around the worst of the staining.

As for Memorial Day weekend... it rained on Saturday so we visited the new Cabellas that just opened a few miles up the road. Rest of the weekend was trying to catch up with the 3 days we lost between redoing the exterior skins and the rain day.

Roger and Lois

[Arne]

Your note reminds me, again, that 10 feet would have been better... Lucky for me, I used a queen-sized mattress and allowed room at the end for the dog's bed, or it would have been 8 feet (the length of a h/f trailer)... because of the dog bed, I increased it to 104" so gained a bit extra.... The dog lost some to the air conditioner, but she doesn't seem to mind.

One thing that did happen was her spot seemed to be getting smaller, and it dawned on me the mattress was sliding forward..... about 2 inches. Not noticeable at the end by the wall because of bedding, but I could feel it by hand.... after sliding the mattress back, Gretta had more room to lie down in...

[IraRat]

:oops: Well, time to confess. We made the same mistake.

Thanks for sharing that! As you know, misery loves company.

[WarPony]

I went on a 40-mile canoe trip on the Current River in MO. Perfect weather but the water is cold as hell!! Now, it's back to the Sooner Schooner project.

[Woody]

IraRat,
I knew it had to be something close to that, considering how far you are on your build . I did not figure on the exterior skins as I cut them near the end of the build on mine. You know just in case something "happened". It was cheaper in the end to have waited anyway, since the skin was a last minute decision for the type of finish . Besides Homie Depote was out of stock of board stretchers anyway. Why take the chance on ruining $30.00 plus a sheet birch paneling, of course mine didn't cost that much when I bought it. To my surprise it was alot cheaper than that, by about $20.00 a sheet cheaper.

[IraRat]

IraRat,
I knew it had to be something close to that, considering how far you are on your build . I did not figure on the exterior skins as I cut them near the end of the build on mine. You know just in case something "happened". It was cheaper in the end to have waited anyway, since the skin was a last minute decision for the type of finish . Besides Homie Depote was out of stock of board stretchers anyway. Why take the chance on ruining $30.00 plus a sheet birch paneling, of course mine didn't cost that much when I bought it. To my surprise it was alot cheaper than that, by about $20.00 a sheet cheaper.

Wow! That cheap, huh? Nahhh--you're goofing on me.

I had to start on those skins early from a simple scheduling standpoint. Also, varnishing those pieces was a labor of love, not very difficult, and something to do when I had an hour to kill here and there (even after work).

Most important, you could do it with one hand while holding a Bud in the other!

Anyway, you live and learn, and it'll hopefully work out. That 1-coat piece looks really nice, and although I didn't PLAN on that for the interior, plans, like rules, are meant to be broken.

Big challenge now is deciding whether it pays to buy a canopy to protect it, because with the weather WE'RE getting now, it really should be directly and totally covered with a tarp anyway. (Yes, the skins are still inside in the house.)

[Woody]

Call me and I'll tell you how it happened, you could save the some money for other things you need. You would be surprised. As for the interior, thats what I did for mine, just hung vertically not horizontally. That's where the original idea for exterior skin came from

[TomS]

I made a similar mistake fitting my inside wall skins. Lucky for me, I caught it in just in the nick of time. I saved an expensive sheet of 1/8 birch ply and another trip into Boston.

I was fitting the first of the two inside wall skins. Per the Kuffel Creek plans, I cut the sheet so it would butt up against the three bulkheads and clamped it against the outer skin. I oh so carfully traced the roof line and the door opening. I was just about to start cutting. But, something didn't seem quite right. After a few seconds it hit me. My lines were drawn on the good side of the plywood. This could only mean one thing. The good side was facing inside the wall. I fitted the skin backwards. Nice going "Mr. Attention to Detail". What to do? What to do?

Just for $hits and grins, I tried the sheet on the opposite wall. It fit perfectly. Now the good side faced toward the cabin where it belonged. Whew!

I retraced the roofline and the door opening, this time on the bad side of the sheet, and cut it out. After I was done cutting I couldn't find the the lines I had erroneously drawn on the good side. The saw kerf had taken them out. So, I guess that's a good omen for the squareness of my bulkheads and the uniformity of my sides.

I'm heading to back to Beantown tomorrow. This time for flexible ply for my roof. I hoping for a productive weekend.

[IraRat]

GLAD TO HAVE YOU BACK, TOM! AND CONGRATULATIONS ON THE KID'S GRADUATION!

Gee, you're old.

Anyway, down here in south FL, we're up TD creek without a spar OR a paddle. The weather forecast calls for torential rains for like the next 6 days!

And I ain't kidding.

But is that gonna stop me? No. I can't afford a luxurious outdoor work cover like YOU have...plus, with the kinds of rains I'm talking about it wouldn't help much anyway, but...

Gonna sit under the TD under the large tarp, totally dry, and cut and place my insulation.

NOTHING CAN STOP ME!!! NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Except my bank account.

[TomS]

Gee, you're old.

I don't need to be reminded. My kids have been teling me that since I was 25.

It's been a weird spring for weather allright. Last week felt like the end of February, not the end of May. Temps in the 40's and raining sideways. This past weekend was supposed to be bad. Fortunately, for me the weather people got it wrong and we had a great Memorial day weekend.

Batten down the hatches and do what you can inside.

BTW -- if anyone is interested, I put some graduation photos on my web site. There are two graduates in the slideshow. The girl, Kristin is mine. The boy, Christopher is Kristin's fiance.