First build of a 5x 9, Updated 9-13-11, Final Details

[oregonguy]

Very impressive. You've done a great job of planning out your process, that is obvious. I'll be keeping tabs of your build for sure.

[kentucky bryan]

Thanks for all your comments folks.

Didn't know if anybody was looking at this or not.

Wednesday week 2 was a good day but the heat is really starting to take it's toll. Not stepping near as high as yesterday but still made out alright.

Didn't get any in process shots. Saw the the battery on the camera was low and the charger was back at the house so todays shots are a summary of what we got done.

Had a good run on getting the interior ceiling skin in.









You can also see the most of the wiring got done.



I've had to do wiring in all of my jobs with corporate America

But never enjoyed it or got good at it.



If I'm pulling wires at the galley the tool , part , or my glasses are inside the teardrop at the foot of the bed.





It's a slow tedious process and I know I'll probably end up redoing this one, but I whanted to get power to everthing and make sure it works.

And at the end of the day I get a rat's nest like this.



But it all gets covered with the WFCO

[CliffinGA]

Bryan we all are just saying "WOW", your doing amazing work, and doing it very fast compared to a lot of us on here. Keep on booking with it and we'll keep on watching.

Cliff

[kentucky bryan]

I'll be posting todays progress in a couple hours, still at the shop prepping for installation of the filon skins.

What is your experience with the surface prep for this stuff.

Does every screw hole need to be perfectly smooth like a kitchen laminate surface to prevent telegraghing of the counter sinks or is it more forgiving.

I've done several searches on here for this info and it's probably been discussed, but stuck in a thread that doesn't hit me.

Thanks

[kentucky bryan]

Thursday Week 2

Another day in the sweat lodge.

We left off yesterday with my rats nest wiring

While I worked on wiring the Diehard Battery with the WFCO and shore power , Billy finished up the Radio Power and Speakers

By first break we had all the lights working and listening to Allen Jackson on the CD player.







And the rats nest at power central now looks like this.



Speaker wires need a little cleanup



But the most amazing thing was everything worked first time

OnWard

Using the 2 layers of 3/4" pink foam for ceiling insulation. At the begining you saw a green foam from Lowes.

Well their 3/4" measures about 7/8 so stacking 2 of them together we were about 1/4" to tall for the outer baltic birch to lay on the spars.

Tried the pink stuff but it was still to tall.

Saw somewhere on here that foam could be planned down.

Let's try it !!!!





I took the dust collection off because we have a local horse farm that uses our shavings and I didn't want the horses passing pink polystyrene.

So yes you can plane it but you'll look like a pink Easter Chick when you get done.

The front curve was too tight to bend the foam so we ran kerf cuts to make it more flexible.



And by end of day we had the top



And right side skin on.



Tomorrow - left side and we're ready for filon.



Still hoping for some info on how sensitive filon is to telegraphing.

And here's a shot of our new shop sign.



Alot of the sign is made from Extira , an outdoor MDF ,

It's pretty good stuff but nothing I would use on a teardrop

[kentucky bryan]

Friday of week 2

Not much exciting happening today

After cleaning up what looked like a tornado had gone thru the shop.




It was Bondo , Sand , Repeat





Did lay the galley hatch in place to get a feel for what it'e going to look like





And that's going to be all the postings for awhile.

We've got some projects coming thru the shop that are going to need to take priority.

May be able to show some small progress over the next several weeks, but nothing like the whirlwind we've been doing.

Would like to take it out for her maiden voyage Labor Day Weekend.

If not that, there's a Tearjerker gathering in Mid september.

Thanks for all your comments, they've been very encouraging the last couple of weeks

[kentucky bryan]

Finally able to get in a couple of days and see if we can finish up.

Installing the hinges, aluminum trim and filon skins.

Just slow tedious work.











Notes to remember

- Filon itches worse than any fiberglass I've ever worked with.
- Locktite PL premium holds better than any adhesive I've ever worked with, but is impossible to get off your hands.
- Garners contact cement stains thru Catalzed Laquer.



[IMG]


Sometimes no matter how much design and planning you put into it,
you're going to have to hack it up to make it work.

The "notches" in the cabinets were needed to make the gas springs work.


With a little luck we should be able to roll it out by the weekend. There will still be alot of loose ends, but getting it out of teh shop will be a big boost.

[parnold]

Wow!

I'm enjoying this.

[Wolfgang92025]

Great work so far.....

That cut out for the gas shock looks real familiar....

Keep up the good work.

[mallymal]

What can I say that others haven't except WOW

Some very clever ideas.... like doing a lot of the assembly with the body off the trailer.

The quality of your ply looks exceptional - and of course beautifully machined & finished.

Can I pick your brains on a coupkle of issues...
1) What thickness is your ply for the coookie cutter inner wall ... 1/2"?

2) Did you cover the top & sides in Filon - it really does look flawless.

Nice job!

PS: Do you rent out that candy floss machine for kids parties?

[kentucky bryan]

Parnold and Mallymal,
Thanks for the "WOWS" . They really help keep us going.

Wolfgang,
Yea, I've seen others use this mod to make things work, but you still feel like Homer when it happens, Doh.

Mallymal,

- The walls are 3/4" luan sandwiched between 1/8" Baltic Birch.
- The top and sides are covered in Filon. From my younger days of polishing the Aluminum cases of a Harley, I've used enough buffing compound to know that I didn't want to mess with it any more.
- As far as the "Candy Floss" rental, welllll I don't think so.

Mallymal, You thought the idea of build off the frame was a clever idea. So did we until it's time to get it back on wheels.



This provided a bit of a pucker factor moment when you got 3 weeks of work setting on rusty paint cans.




Our plan for the next one is to take the wheels off and set the frame on blocks. Don't know if this will give us access to the underside we need, but it's not going to done this way again.




But with a lot of juggling of blocks and supports we got her back where she belongs.




We also got the Galley Hatch in final trim and mounted for the last time, we think.



And finally by the end of the day, I had had enough of the plastic protection on the Filon.











Tomorrow is a lot of loose ends and also see if we can get some real work pushed thru the shop.

And it looks like we've got a name for this new venture,



See ya tomorrow.

[S. Heisley]

WOW! You've just about completed an entire teardrop in less than a month and it looks good! I think you may have a viable, income producing product there.

It will be fun to see the completed product, inside and out, via website advertising.

[jdarkoregon]

When are you going to sell a manual??? Good work there

John

[kentucky bryan]

Sharon,
Thanks for the comments and encouragement. I know you watch alot of these builds and a thumbs up from you means alot. Website domain has been pulled from GoDaddy and I'll be working on that over the weekend.

Thanks again.

John,
Who needs a manual. Everything you need is right here.

Todays the Day


Installed the Porch Lights, Fenders, Running Lights, Windows and Fantastic Fan.

Time to hook it up and see how it pulls.














OK , I might be celebrating a little!!

Housekeeping has never been my strong suite.

Guess what we get to do first thing Monday !!



Still loose ends to pull together,

Graphics, Clean-up, Final fit , Paint the fenders.

[Danny]

Super build and nice shop!!! Wish I had a little more room..