THE Teardrop Explorer

[PubUltraStar]

4x8 and 4x10 signboard ordered today by my CNC guy. Updated drawings submitted to ensure proper cutting on CNC machine. I plan on taking lots of pictures, and hope to mount a GoPro on the CNC machine during the cutting process. I thought that since I would be experiencing this first hand, I'd post to see if any of you had any questions you'd like ask while I'm there. Saturday at 10am, and he thinks it will take a few hours to get all of my boards cut. I have a total of 6 sheets of 4x10 to cut, and 3 at 4x8. I'm excited not just for the whole CNC thing, which is very techie, manly, just overall cool, but to begin actual construction on my teardrop. I'll be doing some wood bending as well during my project, and I've already got the supplies for my steambox.

[PubUltraStar]

Spent the day cutting the first 5 of 9 boards on the CNC machine. Even though the trailer was ordered a couple of weeks ago, I suppose the act of creating sawdust official counts as starting my build. I took a ridiculous amount of pictures using the intevelometer setting on the 2 GoPro cameras I have. I'll compile some sore of time lapse when I get a chance. It's been a long day. Here is a teaser shot from today's activities:

[KCStudly]

Ooh, tasty. Can't wait for the go cam pics; that will be cool.

[PubUltraStar]

Click on video below to watch time lapse sequence of yesterday's CNC session:

[S. Heisley]

Wow....There are those of us who tarry with 1x2 wood and a circular saw; and then, there are those who have access to a CNC machine.
...Impressive!

[KCStudly]

That's pretty cool! Can't wait to see it all come together.

[mikeschn]

Very impressive! At first it looked like you were routing melamine, but then I saw the grain. Looks like plywood. So what is it?

Mike...

P.S. I hope to have a cnc video like that someday!

[PubUltraStar]

He referred to it as signboard, or something similar. It's plywood with a coating on one side. You can order it with coating on both sides. It is used by sign making businesses as the material is treated and weather resistant. The main reasons I went with it is because I was able to get it in 10'x4' sheets. His CNC machine wasn't able to cut the 10 foot sheets in a single pass, so we had to re-position the board, but we were able to get it pretty darn close. Mistakes were made by operator, but nothing that can't be dealt with during construction. I was an interesting day, and took longer than we both expected due to issues with my Illustrator drawings and converting them to the software they use to cut the material. He's got 4 sheets left to do, but will save me a ton of time in the long run. The big thing for me is having the forms cut for my wood bending, as I'm planning on making not only the tear with steam bent wood, but the front tongue box too. I definitely have respect for the people who cut this out by hand, as it is a lot of work just having the machine do it. I'm hoping for some nicer weather in the next few weeks, but probably won't really get going until the trailer is delivered in early April.

[PubUltraStar]

... and then, there are those who have access to a CNC machine.

I was lucky enough to meet the sign guy at the Art Fair off the Square in Madison last year. His booth was right across from mine, and cuts his artwork on his CNC that his sign business owns. I redid his website and some photography of his artwork in exchange for the CNC work. (http://www.chamberlinmetalart.com) He mentioned that he usually charges $100/hr for use of the CNC machine, plus the cost of materials. The signboard was about $90/sheet, which I would assume is about double what you can get a nice sheet of birch for. I wouldn't have had any way to get this cut without having had bartered for services, but it was well worth the effort of redesigning his site. I used Joomla and a responsive template if anyone is a web guru, so that he's able to update his own content in the future. Having the materials cut will get me motivated to work on this as soon as the trailer arrives.

[clintstuckless]

Would you be willing to share the CNC files.

I really want to do one like this.

[_Ryan_]

I originally thought that I would model my build off the ATMA Travelear, as I fell in love with his build.

Dave really did an amazing job on his build! I have stolen or adapted many of his ideas for my own teardrop. Besides the obvious eye for details and quality workmanship, he provided many pictures which helps a newbie builder easily follow along. I think there will be many trailers built in the future that will owe much to his designs.

Looking forward to watching your build progress! Keep the pics coming. Cheers!

Ryan

[Cummins01]

WOW! I wish I had access to a CNC. We haven't started cutting the sides yet but I'm pretty sure it won't be that cool doing it by hand

[GuyllFyre]

I love CNC machines.
Wish I had one.
Now you just have to get it to play Daft Punk while it's cutting.

[PubUltraStar]

Would you be willing to share the CNC files.

Unfortunately, this is not my design. I've modified the files provided to me by Dave McCamant (http://tnttt.com/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=10034) from this forum. His build is the Atma Travelear (http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=35081), which is very inspirational to some of the new builders on this site. I'd be happy to share what I did, if he gives me permission. You may also want to get the files from him directly, as I've not only modified them, but did so in a different program. Using Illustrator caused us to have to do additional work in the software that runs the CNC machine. For some reason, the CNC saw each line as 2 cuts, instead of a single path. My CNC guy knew how to fix this, but it took time. I'm not sure Dave's original files do that. As far as the files for the Tongue box, I have no problem sharing those, since it's my design.

I hope to finish the steam box this weekend, and test some wood bending. It's getting warmer here so I should be ready to go when my custom trailer arrives in early April.

Mike.

[PubUltraStar]

Not much work done on the tear, as I was out west snowboarding this past week. I was able to get this panoramic shot of the tetons:



I also got a message from my trailer builder that there is a delay, so I guess I'm sort of stuck for a few more weeks anyway.