1 Bored Clerk's DIY Camper

b dkw1

Observer
Ha, only machinist's own those, easy to spot. Sadly, I think My box is older and still in use every day........
 

1 Bored Clerk

Explorer
Ha, only machinist's own those, easy to spot. Sadly, I think My box is older and still in use every day........

Well, now you know of a hack hobbyist that owns some! Haha...it's a damn waste of a fine set of kennedys.


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1 Bored Clerk

Explorer
Did a little bit of fiddling around but I was forced to take the week off because I couldn't get the epoxy I wanted. Someone started building a boat around here or something...cleaned out the supplies! I should have mine in hand today/tomorrow. At which point, I will get all of my existing wood glued together. Then I can move forward! In the scope of the project and how long it will take, a bit of a break every now and again isn't a killer.


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1 Bored Clerk

Explorer
Used every clamp in the county on this, I think.

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I figure: if I've got 'em, might as well use 'em!

I used west systems SIX10 epoxy. It comes in a tube that you use in a standard caulking gun. Screw on a mixing tip and go to town. Worked great! It's going to take a while to cure since the temps here are right around 53 degrees F (low end of this epoxy is 50). I'll get some heat on it tomorrow if it's not doing its thing.

I've got a plan for making a warm room inside the garage but I haven't quite got there yet. It was either insulate the ceiling of the garage or build the camper. So, I put off the insulation a year so we could try to get a good year out of the camper. We'll see if that was a good decision as it gets colder. I'll be glassing at the coldest time of the year.


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1 Bored Clerk

Explorer
More work done. I haven't just need sitting around for a week. I've been really working in the details of how the drawers will seal and how the internal access panels will be built/located. There are a lot of details that I need to consider that are way down the line! Have to get it right now or it'll be a real mess later.

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Here's the back panel of the camper. I'll cut in the drawer openings later.


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1 Bored Clerk

Explorer
Back face all glued in place!

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It was kind of a process to move the box into position to drop on top of the rear face...by myself but I got it done.

Heading to the redwoods for Thanksgiving so there might not be much in the way of updates until next week.


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1 Bored Clerk

Explorer
Took a nice trip to Redwoods NP, then came back and got to work. Work is a little slow as epoxy takes time to cure. Just keep at it and it'll come together a piece at a time.

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Cut some additional pieces that will bring me up to bed rail height.

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More epoxy, more clamps...

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More tarps, and more electric oil radiator heat. This makes a toasty little tent for the epoxy to cure in. It's officially too cold all the time now so this will be my process. As the project gets bigger, I'll likely build a PVC pipe room with heavy plastic sheeting over it to keep the entire project warm. The tarps work great for now!


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1 Bored Clerk

Explorer
Been working steadily but very slowly. The cold weather has put a real hurt on my epoxy curing. I have it down...it gets done but it just takes longer than I'd like.

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Routing all of the outside corners. All of the inside corners will be fillets of thickened epoxy. Added some additional pieces that are starting to form the access hatch support ledges. Once I finish all of the hatch support ledges, I'll need to test fit the base structure in the truck bed before finishing off some of the last wooden details. That's going to be tough as there isn't enough room for my entire truck and the camper in the garage at the same time. And, it's the super wet, cold and crappy time of year here. So, that sucks.

I'll work with it somehow. I want to get this thing moving faster!


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1 Bored Clerk

Explorer
Finished up all of the supports for the access panels inside the camper floor.

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Some sanding and I'm about ready to start internal corner fillets.


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herm

Adventurer
this is going to be a beast. your construction looks very well done. the slots are called dados and that is the best way to join plywood by far. great work.
 

1 Bored Clerk

Explorer
this is going to be a beast. your construction looks very well done. the slots are called dados and that is the best way to join plywood by far. great work.

Haha, yes, dados! I totally forgot that term. My grandpa would be ashamed.

Also, I think the weight of the base camper will be pretty light. Once all the camping/recovery gear is added...well...it'll gain some weight. I don't really have a target as I can only build it as light as I know how.

Every piece I epoxy in just makes it stiffer and stiffer. It's crazy. I wouldn't expect these little things to make much difference but they do. I can tell the difference every time.


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