The First 100 Days

Well I was really proud of myself until I noticed that the last trailer update was on the 11th and here it is 18 days later and I am not nearly as impressed with my progress as I could be I guess. Anyway, here is an update on my measly progress.

The roof is on. All the cedar is attached and half the outside and half the inside are sanded. Sorry about the bad picture but I had just done some sanding before I took the picture. All the exterior skin is on and the vertical trim detail is installed as well.

The framing is completed for the upper hatch. It will hinge at the top and will help to keep the lower doors closed as well. It will get skinned with cedar as soon as I pick up some more lumber. Luckily I am staying fairly close to budget (Sharla skip this part :-) )

The hinge is plastic and continuous so it won't let any water in, and both sides are mounted to some very stout oak. I am sure I have over-engineered this but I would rather be safe and know that it is more than sturdy.

The interior and exterior door trim are finalized and attached. I had to build a couple different jigs to rout the curved pieces for the door frames and the hatch. Those were almost as much fun as the finished results. The trim is cedar and will really pop against the red oak sides. In this shot you can see the shelf that is mounted inside the trailer in the area that will be above our heads. On the shelf are mounted 2 reading lights each with its own switch and an outlet for things like cell phone chargers. In this shot you will notice a green extension cord running to the outlet, this is only a temporary solution until the balance of the interior is sanded and I can mount the chase for the electrical to the inside of the roof.

The shelf is a birch plywood torsion box and has a piece of oak as it's face. All the electrical is installed inside the shelf to make a very clean installation. This shot showcases the fit of all the elements. I am really pleased with the way it is turning out and considering every single piece is from scratch I am surprised that I haven't run into more "opportunities" than I have. But I guess much to Sharla's chagrin, all my "pondering" is not wasted effort. My Lovely Wife and I laid down in the shell with the lights in the garage turned off and the reading lights on; we will have plenty of space and I had a gigantic grin as I thought about how close I am to being finished and how much fun it will be for us to take the maiden voyage. I have a lot to do, but I am hoping that it will start to come together quickly and I will feel accomplished soon.

I think this may be tied for one of the biggest projects I have taken on. A couple of basement remodels and the doors in Xenia would be at the top of that list. But in terms of satisfaction when we are trucking down the road and talking about this project with people, I think this will be very cool. It was funny to watch people driving down the street and see them slow down and look with a puzzled face. But now they come to a complete stop and you can see them mouth "what the heck". I have had people park their car, get out, and chat with me about it, they are amazed. I can only imagine what I will hear as I am proudly standing at my Tiny Trailer at the gas station and the guy next to me asks "So where did you buy that from?" and I can grin and say "Well sir, I actually built it from scratch in about 100 days".

Great Accomplishments

Well today turned into a great day. After a very slow start and way too much time spent second-guessing my strategy. I finally got motivated and got some things accomplished on the trailer. One of the really neat things that I noticed today, more than any other day is the sheer number of people that slow down as they drive by either to try to figure out what on earth is going on or to check progress. One person squealed their tires slowing down so fast.

One of my happiest additions to the design came today when I finally installed the rear bumper. it is 1 3/4 inch red oak and I added a little bit of adornment.

In the center of the bumper I carved our initials and a heart just like you would carve them in a tree trunk. It is a subtle addition but definitely personalizes this project.

Next came working out the cabinets inside the cabin, the ones that will be above our feet when we are snoring, actually it will probably just be me snoring. :-) There will be a pair of doors, and 3 drawers and then a really cool addition in the center that I will wait to explain when I get it built.

Finally, today I completed the drawer/tray in the galley that the camp stove will be on. This shot shows the drawer stowed/pinned in place.

This shot shows the rig pulled out and the drawer pinned in the open position. This reinforces the planning that has gone into this project. By coming up with this design, even when we are using the cookstove, we still have access to all the drawers, cabinets, and counter space. Now that's thoughtful design.

Over the past couple of weeks progress has been made primarily in the galley. And as Sharla would say I have spent a lot of time "pondering". Well, except for a few details the galley is finished and I have moved onto the rear bumper, trying to figure out alternative lights, figuring out how I am going to attach the cedar and contemplating a box to put on the trailer tongue to hold firewood and the leveling jacks and whatever else will fit I guess.

As you can see everything will have a place. The wiring is completed and has been tested, the drawers and doors have all been built, and the mircowave is installed and I can already smell the microwave popcorn. :-) Just a couple of details remain, the hinges for the doors need to be ordered and the drawer system/mechanism for the Coleman stove needs some work. The bottom drawer in the middle is for the cookstove propane, the front of that drawer is walnut. The top drawer in the middle is a tall narrow drawer for cooking and grilling utensils primarily, and the front of that drawer is Zebrawood (thanks Dad for leaving me that one when you moved. The gallery rail above the microwave has birch spindles that I have been carrying around for years and it is topped with a piece of mahogany.

Sharla and I went out this morning and found the knobs at Home Depot marked down. The doors and drawers are framed in Red Oak and the panels in the doors are 1/4 Birch Ply. The drawer boxes themselves are all 3/8 inch pine and they are box jointed at the corners with the drawer faces applied to the boxes.