Attic build - Twin Bed Micro Teardrop

[atticdrop]

Good day everyone. I've been poking around the forum a bit over the last 6 months, and it's time to start sharing my experience.

I am in the middle (or beginning) of a very small teardrop build.

A little about me: 32 year old with lots of camping and building experience. Mechanically, I am pretty competent. I plan on using this for my short runs up north for grouse hunting and for hauling camping gear. The hardest part of going up there is packing all the little things and getting on the road. My work schedule often doesn't allow me to plan ahead on these short 1-2 day trips. In the past, i have just folded the seats down in my car and slept in there.

I got some inspiration after my dad got a 40x48 Northern tool utility trailer. I thought to myself, this is almost the same width as a twin bed... and that's how this all began.

My plan is to build on that Northern Tool 40x48 trailer, but extend the side rails to 6 foot as well as extend the tongue.

Here's the catch for this whole project: I'm building this in my attic. My workshop is huge (3rd floor attic of a farmhouse), but the stairwell up makes a sharp bend and is very narrow. So I need to make this thing so it can be disassembled and reassembled on the ground. So far, it has been working out well.

Photos of progress to follow.

[atticdrop]

The first cuts were made a few weeks ago, I am using 5/8 AC plywood for the interior walls.

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Skinned the interior with 1/8 Baltic birch. I laid the 5/8 inner wall on the floor and used titebond to glue the birch plywood on. The first one went well. I stacked half the junk in my attic on top of them as a "clamp".

The second side went terrible. A large bottle of power steering fluid tipped over (I had stacked on top) and ruined a good section of the Baltic birch. I routed that section out and glued in a patch. I decided to cover those seams with a "book rack" built into the wall.

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Routing this out for the ceiling and spars was a chore. I used the opposite wall as a template. If I were to do this again, I would make a real template.

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Here's the interior wall with some polystyrene inserted. I traced the holes before skinning onto the foam, then cut them out on the bandsaw. They fit great. You can see a little bit of my interior cabinet and galley plan.

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Here's my floor. It is about 40 inches wide and 7 feet long. I found out that this is the biggest piece of plywood I can fit up the stairs. It's 1/2" 4x8 Baltic Birch I found at Alpine Plywood in Milwaukee. It seems to be excellent - 9ply exterior glued, unlike the big box stores.

[atticdrop]

Front bulkhead/cabinet/headboard




This doesn't take up much space from the mattress footprint. The extension out one side and up is because of that power steering mishap I had earlier. It actually might turn out nice there.

Sliding 1/8 Baltic doors enclose this little cabinet.

You can also see the ceiling temporarily installed.

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My cabinet frames are made of cherry. I am finishing the interior cabinet frames with wipe-on polyurethane. I hate finishing.

The big plywood sections I have been using a water based polyurethane from Varathane. The water based stuff is hard to get right. After the first coat you MUST sand the grain rise flat. The following coats don't seem to lay flat. I wet sanded one wall after 5 coats of the stuff and got fantastic results. It's like glass. I'm going to do that with all the interior flat plywood panels.

[MadMango]

I thought I had it bad building outside under a tiki hut. I hope you get all your pieces out of the attic without dings. So if the dog goes camping with you, where do you sleep?

[Pete Mc]

Dog? I thought that was a pet lion.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[atticdrop]

Dog? I thought that was a pet lion.

That's Luca. He's a ten year old Great Dane.

[Pete Mc]

Thats quite old for a Great Dane. Beautiful dog.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

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Got a little done before work this morning. Wet sanding between coats of poly. I had been using a sponge for water, but this spray bottle is much better.

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Here you can see how I am attaching the sides to the floor. The 2x4 frame is a placeholder for my trailer chassis. Biscuits hold the sides in alignment with 2 1/4 inch screws from the bottom. These are really helpful in making sure it fits together in the attic, but with final (permanent) assembly later.

Over the outside wall another layer of 1/4 ply will be added.

[atticdrop]

Ceiling is temporarily on. This will help me in figuring out my rear cabinets.