Grant's Last Teardrop ...???

[nevadatear]

Say hi to Jerome. He stopped by on his way out Friday.

[2bits]

Hey Grant, I love the idea!!!

[grant whipp]

Finally, some real progress ... ...!
Earlier last week, I managed to get some plywood stacked in preparation for cutting the front radius pieces (5 to be exact).However, some major rearranging of the shop space had to be done so I could get that stack of wood under some light so I could see! the lines I needed to follow! Some of that got done Friday, the rest yesterday morning, and I was finally able to make some sawdust!

What we have here is 5 pieces of plywood ... 2 pieces of 1/2", 1 piece of 3/4", and 2 more pieces of 1/2" ... totaling just shy of 2-3/4"



To my dismay, both my circular saw and my saber/jig saw can only cut 2-5/8" ... sooooooo, I made my two initial straight cuts with the circular saw, then pulled the bottom sheet of 1/2" ply out, re-squared everything, and continued cutting.



I only cut out half of the radius, then took the top cut off and flipped it over onto the other half, aligned it to the points necessary, then marked the rest of the curve to follow (that way the left side will match the right side about as close as possible (without going to all the trouble of plotting, inputing, and then cutting it out on a CNC machine ... did I mention that I am old school ...?).



I finished cutting out the rest of the radius, then pulled the top 3 layers of the stack off, placed layer #5 under layer #4 and squared it all up, then cut out that final layer. After I swept up most of the sawdust off the work area, I re-stacked all the layers, squared 'em all up, clamped 'em all together again, and now they're ready to be sanded to the finish lines ...



The 3/4" sheet will be the front section of the floor ... two of the 1/2" sheets will be cut into 1-1/2" or so ribs that will be the "sills" that the lower front wall studs will attach to ... the other two 1/2" sheets will be cut into 2-1/4" "sills" that the upper window wall studs and window-frames will attach to ... another 3/4" sheet will be cut into another "sill" that will separate the top & bottom sections and be a little "fatter" towards both the inside and outside, providing a short ledge if you will.

All will eventually be tied together with slightly-crowned spoke-type roof beams that will support the 1/2" Lexan® roof. It'll all make sense as the pieces comes together ... ... ya just gotta "trust me" on this one ... ...!


More later as I find time to get more done!

[Bob Patterson]

I'll be following this build Grant. Your description and sketches look fantastic. The way you had the windows laid out really gives an idea to the look and scale. Stained glass? I love stained glass. I really can't wait to see this. Good luck with everything.

[grant whipp]

More progress yesterday!

Everything got sanded smooth & even, then the floor was separated from the "stack" ... and the ribs cut out ...





Just need to sand the insides of the ribs true & smooth, cut a few studs, and I can start nailing parts together ... ...!

CHEERS!

[campmaster-k]

Right on Grant. Very interesting Build.

[Deryk the Pirate]

So Grant, hows it coming along?

[grant whipp]

Geezzzzzzz ... I can't believe Sept. 12 was the last time I posted any progress ... ... my bad, or what ... ...?

Believe it or not, I have been making progress! Not too long after I made that last post, I assembled the lower front wall framing ... but for some reason I didn't take any pictures (though you'll see it in the background of some of the later pics). In October, I started assembling the upper front wall ... the one that will hold all the windows. It was slow, tedious work, and I only got half the window-frames in:

[grant whipp]

Earlier this month, I had a little time, but not enough to continue with the window wall, so I made a template for the "sills" that will go between the upper & lower front walls, then laid them out on a piece of 3/4" plywood.



Since the "sill" is deeper than 4' and 3" wider than the walls & floor, I decided to make it in two pieces instead of cutting it out of a full sheet of 5x9. It just so happened that Kay had dismantled her old office desk, and I was able to get both pieces from one section! So now, the trailer has wood from my old school days and Kay's old office days ... a little from both our pasts is going to help build our future ...



Now the pieces are cut out & clamped together, and waiting to be sanded to their final shape.

[grant whipp]

So, yesterday I was able to complete framing in the window wall! To give me a little more motivation, as well as get a good visualization of how things were shaping up, I decided to clamp the window wall to the lower wall and drop in a few windows temporarily.



Yeah, I know ... a couple of the windows are in backwards, but hey, it is a mockup after all ... ...



I also mocked in place the two 2.5 gal. propane tanks that will be on slide-out trays and open towards the front. There will be a bulkhead behind them that will seal them from the cabin, and the bed platform will be above tanks. You will not know the doors/trays are there because I'll face the doors with the same wainscoting that will sheath the lower front wall, and all joints/seams will be hidden/aligned with the seams in the wainscoting (while the doors themselves will only be 13" high, their outside covering will be full height of said wainscoting). Don't worry, it will all make sense as it comes together ... ...!



Obviously, much more work to do! See you next time, and thanks for looking!

[Deryk the Pirate]

All I can say grant is wow! The windows look great! You are the skilled craftsman!

[Lazybones]

Looking good Grant!

[wagondude]

Wow! It's been a while since the last update. Had to bump this one up from page 3.

Bill

[grant whipp]

Thanks, Bill ... and thanks to Sharon for telling me somebody bumped this thread!

The project went on hold a bit before Christmas while I remodel a small apartment for me to move into (two years of living in a motorhome/housetruck without running water or "facilities" next to my shop was getting old!). It's turned out to be a WHOLE LOT more involved than anybody thought it would, and I'll just leave it at that (I'm in it 'cause it's way more comfortable than Fugly, but we've still got a L-O-N-G way to go!). With any luck, I'll be back on the "TugDrop" by April, maybe sooner ... projected completion has been pushed back to October (I hope ... ...!).

Thanks for checking in! As always ...

CHEERS!

[Woodstramp]

Tugdrop......perfect name. Looks like a Tug and you tug it.