How I amazed myself. First build success.

[Kanook]

After more than a year of lurking and reading and building this teardrop in my head, it's finally a reality. Being a city dweller with limited parking space outside of my already packed garage and the possibility of being an easier build I knew 4x8 was the key. Most of my fabrication experience is with metal and welding with wood always being a weak point. Which may be the result of or the reason for my limited wood working tools; $5 garage sale vintage craftsman jigsaw, $10 garage sale portable table saw with an intermittent power switch, a hand me down skill saw that I think I used once, a Mouse style sander and a few dozen wood clamps. I did splurge on a HF compound miter saw and a Costco screw gun.
I also had to borrow a neighbors belt sander and a more powerful random orbital.
The first step was sourcing a trailer. A good friend had been given one and knowing him, it was sitting in his yard collecting dirt. Sure enough a phone call and $50 (to cover the new wheel and tire he purchased) I had a platform. A nasty rotting wood platform. Similar to a HF 4x8 folding but sold through our local Fred Meyer stores.

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First task was removing all the old wood which of course was attached with bolts that hadn't seen a wrench in years. Once free of wood the next task was to eliminate the folding mechanism.

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I then reassembled, checked for square, and welded every seam. Once solid I went to work with a sander and wire wheel removing surface rust. Once that was clean a fresh coat of black paint was applied. Shaken not stirred.

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The rest of this build thread will be short and sweet with just progression pictures and maybe an explanation caption.

[Kanook]

Pictures for whatever reason posted in reverse order.

[Kanook]

Floor being built. 1/2" base, 1x4 framing, 3/4" pink foam board in the negative spaces, and a luan top. And roofing tar coating the underside

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[Kanook]

Tar dry and floor attached

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[Kanook]

Thanks to a fellow forum poster who graciously posted a profile I liked and on graph paper.

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[Kanook]

I skinned the interior walls with 1/8" birch prior to standing the walls. I left a floor thickness reveal at the bottom so the birch would rest on the floor surface rather than the side. Why? No idea. Just seemed like the right thing to do.

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[Kanook]

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[Kanook]

Routed out channels for wiring.

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[Kanook]

The bulkheads and interior shelf that also extends to the rear as the galley counter are all 1x3 framing, foam board insulation, and skinned both sides with birch.

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[Kanook]

A trip to Ikea for lights. I chose these led table lamps for wall mounted reading lights. I gutted the weights and added a rocker switch and a USB adapter to convert to the correct voltage. I cut notches in the sides of the lights to double as phone/iPad charging ports.

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[Kanook]

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[Kanook]

Any Guardians Of The Galaxy fans may appreciate this. One of my sheets of birch has a book matched image resembling Groot. Of course this piece was used as the front interior wall. Instant art on the wall.

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[Kanook]

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[Kanook]

Taking shape.

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[Kanook]

More ikea lights and switches installed

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