Cider House...some finishing touches, 9.27.10

[2bits]

MMMM Axle time.. sweetness! ! !

[Jiffypop207]

I was able to get out in the garage again last night and made some good progress. First I worked on the brackets for the axle mounting



Then I put on some "pads" to lift the stabilizers away from the trailer so paint can get in between the stabilizer and the frame as well as let water get out, then I mounted the stabilizers

Then I flipped the frame over and mounted the axle


Then mounted the tires



Close up of the axle clearance

A picture of the trailer sitting on its tires only for the first time

Then I finished up by capping off the open tubing members and some grinding. I wheeled the trailer into my other garage to prep for paint. Hopefully I will get it painted tomorrow as it is supposed to rain on Sunday.

Adam

[2bits]

That is truly a beautiful thing! I love your craftsmanship!

[Jiffypop207]

That is truly a beautiful thing! I love your craftsmanship!

Thanks for the encouraging words. They definitely motivate.

Adam

[High Desert]

Looking real good. Keep up the great work, looking forward to see your progress.

[Jiffypop207]

Well my goal was to get the frame painted today and that is exactly what I did. It is supposed to rain for the next four or so days and I did not want to hold up production. The prep was what concerned me as I read the instructions for the two products I bought to ready the raw metal to accept paint. The first step I did was clean the frame with marine clean, the cleaner pushed by POR15. After that application I brushed the entire frame for a little agitation, then rinsed with fairly warm water as instructed. Here is the frame after I rinsed the Marine clean off.


Second step was to etch the metal to give the paint something to bite. For this I used Metal ready, which is also pushed by the POR15 people. Here are the two products.

I made a utility trailer a few years ago and it is my inspiration to take my time and properly prep the frame for a quality paint job. She has a case of the rusties.



After rinsing the Metal Ready and drying the frame completely with my trusty outdoor drying utensil I was left with this.



Here is a shot of my professional drying apparatus

Finally time for some primer. Prep wasn't as bad as I expected. Took me four cans total for 1 light complete primer coat being sure that everything got covered.



Have to say that my fingers get tired some quick holing those spray cans. Time for the black. This is the gun I used to shoot it down with.

I used Valspar tractor and implement paint with hardener in gloss black.
Here is coat one on the top and side surfaces.


Here is coat 2 of the top and sides.


After it dried enough, I bolted the axle and wheels back on and tipped it on its side so that I could shoot two coats to the bottom surfaces. Here it is in the tipped position all painted.


Dropped it down and rolled it in the garage just before the sun set to let in harden for a day or two. Maybe tomorrow I will get the floor coated so that I can mate them together sometime early in the week.


Adam

[WesGrimes]

That looks great.

Good looking foundation, can't wait to see what it ends up like.

[Jiffypop207]

Haven't posted in a bit, but have been steadily plugging along after work on the week nights. Might actually get to work some on it this weekend for longer than a 2 hour stint.

Got the deck mounted. I used the self threading trailer deck bolts....very slick. Here is a shot of my pattern/exterior ply sitting on the mounted deck

Here are the 2 inner wall frames made of 3/4" this and that

Wall interiors skinned with Birch bead board plywood, mounted and some spars installed



A profile shot

I found some good srews for installing my spars. I did not want to use drywall screws as I know how easily their heads can snap off in situations like this, so I picked up some decking screws

The shank is thinker than a drywall type screw, it is ceramic coated, and the best part is they have a self-boring tip much like a Kregg screw so I did not need to pre-drill or countersink as they seated themselves quite nicely.


More to follow. Hopefully by the weekend the headliner will be in.

Adam

[WesGrimes]

Nice progress. How tall is the cabin?

[Jiffypop207]

Nice progress. How tall is the cabin?

Short. Floor to ceiling inside is like 42 1/2"

Adam

[Jiffypop207]

Still plugging away on my trailer. Only seem to be able to work on it after work as the weekends have been booked. I am happy to be able to get an hour or two in when I am able to work on it. I ordered some wacky wood as we call it form a local supply house. Because my drop is 5'-6" wide I needed the wacky to bend along the length (making a taller column) otherwise they had some that bent in the other direction in stock. I believe the technical name for the stuff is directional plywood because it will bend in one direction, but not the other. Here it is with the weight of my hand shaping it

I used this for the parts of my ceiling that have a radius to them as I feared that I would not be able to get standard plywood to take the shape. I had a hard enough time getting the wacky in there, but I got the front ceiling on. Glued and screwed



I have also been working on my lower rear cabinets. I really liked the look of the Walnut in the pictures, but it really was not going to work out the way I wanted and it would always be on my mind if it was going to fall apart. Walnut is so dang hard. I did make that cabinet faces, drawer face and door perimeters out of Oak, but have not taken a picture of them yet. Tonight I hope to stain the ready Oak pieces I have, and either work on the rear some more, put in some more ceiling, or work on the cabin front shelves. Little by little she comes along.
Some pics of the rear cabinets taking shape




Tossed the fender in its general area to get a feeling for what that was going to look like.

More to follow.

Adam

[2bits]

Hey Adam , that is looking good, I love the car style wheels, and the fender. It makes it seem more like a hot rod. Where did you get your fenders? I like how they go so far down.

[Jiffypop207]

Hey Adam , that is looking good, I love the car style wheels, and the fender. It makes it seem more like a hot rod. Where did you get your fenders? I like how they go so far down.

I got them here and simply ordered the 13" wide fenders.

Adam

[john]

Nice!

[2bits]

Thanks Adam!