Dusty Mark's 5 x 10 Build

[Dusty Mark]

I decided to varnish everything before assembly. There are a lot of places that would be difficult to reach if I waited to varnish after assembly.

Progress over the weekend included:
1) Finished pre-plumbing the air conditioner drain line



Down through storage compartment into the cooler compartment. (You can see the drain routed into battery compartment on right.)



Passes through cooler compartment into battery compartment. (The cooler fits below the drain line.)

2) Laminated panels to cover the underfloor storage compartment
3) Disassembled the dry fit
4) Drilled remaining pocket holes on wall panels
5) Attached remaining assembly cleats to wall panels
6) Sanded 4' x 10' wall panels and applied two of three coats of varnish
7) Sealed storage module with CPES and filled screw holes with epoxy putty
8 ) Cut and labeled spacer sticks to ensure all panels are located accurately during assembly



This photo shows the spacer sticks and supports that will align/hold everything temporarily in position until cleats are screwed in and pocket holes are drilled.

The plan this week is to sand all the remaining panels and apply three coats of varnish to them. I'd like to assemble the camper this coming weekend...

[Dusty Mark]

I made a lot of progress on sanding the wall components for the entire camper yesterday.



Here are 15 wall/cabinet pieces ready for varnish. The main walls already have three coats applied. I'm waiting to sand the doors to the battery compartment, storage compartment and dog kennel in the next batch. I'm waiting on the sealant under the front storage module to cure before I can varnish the inside of the module. I also still need to build the upper galley cabinets.

[KCStudly]

3 bay garage and plenty of work surfaces. Nice.

[azgreg]

3 bay garage and plenty of work surfaces. Nice.

When I was a young man my dream house was a studio apartment over a 4 car garage,

[Dusty Mark]

Yep, it's my retirement "dream" set-up. It's got in-floor heat, so I was able to start working on the teardrop before the spring temps arrived. The actual wood shop is in the 2,000 sq. ft. unfinished basement. My brother and I built three layout duck hunting boats down there last year!

[Dusty Mark]

This is definitely a "big" project to sand and finish. I've now applied three coats of varnish to one side of all the cabin pieces. I may get up early tomorrow morning to apply the first coat of varnish to the other side. That would allow me to apply the second coat after work and then apply the final coat Saturday morning. I'd remain on track for a Sunday afternoon assembly!

Tonight I sanded and applied CPES to the three-part underfloor storage covers. Two of those fold to become supports for our futon couch.

[Dusty Mark]

I applied coats one and two of three planned coats of marine varnish to the primary sides of the assembly panels. After waiting for the elastomeric to dry on the bottom of the front storage module, I applied the first coat of varnish to the inside of the module.

That leaves one coat for the panels tomorrow and two coats for the front storage module. I'm still on track for a Sunday assembly.

[McGuffin]

Hi Mark,

Lotta work going on there - looking good!



Larry

[Dusty Mark]

Thanks! I'm anxious to see how it looks when assembled. I'm particularly interested in how "cozy" it will become when I install the ceiling...

[ELM]

That's a lot of varnishing you are doing at once. But it will be done . Are you brushing it on or spraying it on ?
I like your profile of it and I can't wait to see it together.

[Dusty Mark]

Thanks, I'm using "Last-n-Last" marine varnish and have found that it applies best for me by brush. I used a roller and tipped it off with a foam brush on the main walls, but wasn't completely happy with that method on the first two coats. I've been able to get by without sanding between coats by taking a putty knife to the dust nibs and drips at about the six-hour point. Three coats provided just enough coverage. I'm very happy with the product.

I assembled the camper today. There were only a couple of spots where I was off on my tape job and will have to go back and feather in a little bit of varnish to cover those bare spots.

[Dusty Mark]

Mary and I assembled the teardrop today. Wow, what a job that was! It took us a total of four hours, working methodically and deliberately. I used PL3000 polyurethane glue which gave a lot of time for assembly.



Permanently assembled and varnished!



I need to make curved pieces to attach to the sides of the front storage module.



Copper likes his kennel!



I messed up and glued the door tracks on the back side before drilling the pocket holes. That was a real problem since the other side is beveled and gave very little space for the pocket screws to grip from this side. It's better than nothing...



The divider and the shelves will make this a more useful "master closet."



Electrical compartment ready for wiring once I install the ceiling...



I've already used thickened epoxy to seal off the seams from air conditioning condensation water. I'll apply elastomeric soon.



I still need to make the upper cabinets that will fill this space.



Cleats stop 3" from the floor for the heavy-duty drawer slides.



This is a view of the assembly details inside the cooler compartment...a combination of pocket screws and cleats.



My Jorgensen clamps left some marks. I sanded them out with 320 grit and one coat over the area fixed it.



Not sure what I was thinking when I taped next to a dado. I'll feather the varnish and do a couple of patch coats to fix this and two other spots...

[ELM]

WOW you got a lot done and it looks great.

[Mushin]

Very nice looking build can't wait to see this one done!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[Dusty Mark]

Fishing season starts Saturday and I got side-tracked for a couple of days building a platform for a bow-mount trolling motor for my layout boat. I got back to the camper and made good progress today fitting the ceiling and roof spars. I'm glad that I used the ledge method for ceiling installation, it will eliminate a lot of drama.



Clamps keep everything in place during the fitting process. I'll glue the spacers in at final assembly.



Close-up of a roof spar spacer.



The dado at the top of the headboard area makes a nice seam for the ceiling panel.



Framing gets "busy" in the air conditioning area.



Glad I bought a pocket hole jig for this project. It makes framing a lot easier. Notice, I'm using spacers from ceiling panel scrap to elevate everything to correct height while I fit the roof framing in the air conditioning and galley area.



I placed a spar over the main cabin bulkhead in order to stiffen the bulkhead at the top with pocket hole screws.



This is the base of the Max Fan that will pull hot air off the air conditioner and vent the cabin at other times.



View of fan in closed position. Yes, the galley lid clears the fan in all positions.



View in open position.



This design allows the fan to be operated in the rain. If it leaks at all, it will be flowing into a waterproofed area that has a drain. Obviously this fan is way overkill for a tiny teardrop camper, but I chose it because it has a remote controlled, motorized lift. This will allow me to operate it from inside. I can reach the manual controls in a "pinch" through the fresh air intake panel on the passenger side of the camper.

The next step is to build a simple duct to isolate the hot air coming off the back of the air conditioner from the fresh air...