#4

[tony.latham]

She's looking sleek and fast.



It outa go a lot quicker now.

Tony

[bdosborn]

That's the nice thing about fitting the struts before the hatch is skinned; you can reach through the hatch and tweak the strut mounts.
Bruce

[tony.latham]

That's the nice thing about fitting the struts before the hatch is skinned; you can reach through the hatch and tweak the strut mounts.
Bruce

You're exactly right. I think tomorrow I'll fit the hurricane hinge and set the struts to confirm how high the hatch is while open –-but thanks to my doodling on Sketchup, I think I know.



But a confirmation test is still in order.

T

[Tom&Shelly]

That's the nice thing about fitting the struts before the hatch is skinned; you can reach through the hatch and tweak the strut mounts.
Bruce

You're exactly right. I think tomorrow I'll fit the hurricane hinge and set the struts to confirm how high the hatch is while open –-but thanks to my doodling on Sketchup, I think I know.



But a confirmation test is still in order.

T

The great thing about this forum is learning these little tips. Though in this case a little late for me...

Good luck with the confirmation test Tony!

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

She's looking sleek and fast.



It outa go a lot quicker now.

Tony

Assuming you'll be ahead of us by then, Shelly and I are looking forward to seeing how Monstaliner works for you. Sounds like you've resolved the question of what to use between the Raka epoxy and Monstaliner?

Rather than sand the epoxy on our walls with a disk sander, I used 200 grit wet and hand sanded. Looks okay now, but we're wondering how it will look with Monstaliner over it. (I was unpleasantly surprised how well imperfections showed up on our floor with Rustoleum hammer finish paint. Of course, there it won't show under the mattress.)

Tom

[tony.latham]

about fitting the struts before the hatch is skinned

Bill: Here ya go!



I must admit I was a bit worried that the struts would continue to push the hatch open when it was closed, but they work great.

I can scratch that off my build's Worry List. Don't we all have those? And aren't they long and scribbled?

Tony

[OP827]

Yes, I have the list, but only camping and road test will help with that. Great work on struts placing and fitting .
I love watching your build process and workmanship.

[tony.latham]

Yes, I have the list, but only camping and road test will help with that.

This morning I got the inside skin on the hatch. Everything went fine on the dry fit but when I laid on down on the PL glue beads it got a bit western. Finally put a couple of Kreg in it and it quit running from me.

On our first teardrop ––made by Hunter-- I closed the hatch on a water jug that wasn't where it should have been. Popped a hole through the Baltic birch.

Since then I've crammed foam board inside. Got it done today on this hatch.



It's mainly there for structural purposes but when it's 95º and the cooler's back there, it's a big deal.

On the negative side of the ledger, it adds weight. I weighed these. Anybody got a guess?

Tony

[bdosborn]

8#?

Bruce

[tony.latham]

8#?

Bruce

I’ll let the other roulette players place their bets.

And then I’ll give it up.

T

[Tom&Shelly]

8#?

Bruce

I’ll let the other roulette players place their bets.

And then I’ll give it up.

T

My notes say that that type of foam weighs 0.122 lbs/square ft for 3/4" thick foam. So guessing about 4 ' x 5' x 1.5" thick, about 4 lbs 13 oz, or about 5 lbs in round numbers?

Tom

[tony.latham]

I'll give it up.

3.5 pounds. There are a lotta kerf cuts in that stuff. Well worth the stiffness.

I weighed the hatch tonight before I put the exterior skin on. 43.5 pounds. (Can that be right?) I might have to downgrade my struts.

Tony

[Squigie]

Too late for the roulette game. That's disappointing. I was working on plans, though. I think that makes it okay.

Hatch weight sounds right, according to all of the math that I've been doing today. (As you probably know from your responses to my thread, there's been a lot.)

Looking good.

And, I wanted to thank you for the photos that you have shared in your build. They've been helpful in planning my own, even if my intent is completely different.

[tony.latham]

And, I wanted to thank you for the photos that you have shared in your build.

You betcha!

Tony

[Tom&Shelly]

I'll give it up.

3.5 pounds. There are a lotta kerf cuts in that stuff. Well worth the stiffness.

I weighed the hatch tonight before I put the exterior skin on. 43.5 pounds. (Can that be right?) I might have to downgrade my struts.

Tony

That sounds about right to me. I can lift ours by myself easily, except the shape and size makes it awkward.

However, you may want to weigh it as Dan Lott's figure suggests, after you have it hinged, for the gas strut calculation. I don't think the two numbers are necessarily the same.

Tom