The CrowsWing - Offroad Teardrop Trailer
- Thread starter jim65wagon
- Start date
jim65wagon
Well-known member
Well, it seems we were actually able to get a bit done this weekend! :ylsmoke: We finally did the layout on our 5x10 template for the windows, doors, dadoes, and spaces for the insulation. Fun weekend, but these short winter-time days aren't nearly long enough for working in the driveway! I know you're all just itching to see what we accomplished, so I'll show you
We used the Sketchup program to get the correct measurements for the dadoes that the bulkhead and the bed floor will set in. The glare of the sun made it a bit difficult to read the screen, but we persevered.
:mixed-smiley-030:
.
.
We also marked where all the cabinetry, doors, windows, lights and any other pertinent items that would need wood for support. We had to do the layout for all this so we could know where not to cut away plywood.
We did a rough layout in beautiful blue tape of all the places we could dispense with wood. This should save a little weight on the trailer itself and will also provide the area for a bit of insulation. We're not normally cold weather campers :suning:, but you never know where you might end up some times, so the plan is to prepare for the possibility.
We marked out all the spaces with a marker, keeping in mind our insulation is 14" wide. We made sure our spaces were a maximum of 14" in one direction, this would keep us from peicing together insulation to fit the space.
With all the marks marked we were able to begin cutting. I drilled the pilot holes while my lovely wife ran the saber saw and left us a pile of sawdust in the driveway.
We must have done sumpthin right today.....the door and window trim fit!
With a little bit of time left we built a jig to bend some hatch trim with
We annealed 1 peice of trim to test our jig with. These are going to be caps for the hatch wall....you'll see their fitting in the future, so don't fret too much about their use. As a side note the test bend went splendidly, although we don't have photos of that process; yet. We show you the whole jig and the bending in the next installment.....
We used the Sketchup program to get the correct measurements for the dadoes that the bulkhead and the bed floor will set in. The glare of the sun made it a bit difficult to read the screen, but we persevered.
:mixed-smiley-030:
.
.
We also marked where all the cabinetry, doors, windows, lights and any other pertinent items that would need wood for support. We had to do the layout for all this so we could know where not to cut away plywood.
We did a rough layout in beautiful blue tape of all the places we could dispense with wood. This should save a little weight on the trailer itself and will also provide the area for a bit of insulation. We're not normally cold weather campers :suning:, but you never know where you might end up some times, so the plan is to prepare for the possibility.
We marked out all the spaces with a marker, keeping in mind our insulation is 14" wide. We made sure our spaces were a maximum of 14" in one direction, this would keep us from peicing together insulation to fit the space.
With all the marks marked we were able to begin cutting. I drilled the pilot holes while my lovely wife ran the saber saw and left us a pile of sawdust in the driveway.
We must have done sumpthin right today.....the door and window trim fit!
With a little bit of time left we built a jig to bend some hatch trim with
We annealed 1 peice of trim to test our jig with. These are going to be caps for the hatch wall....you'll see their fitting in the future, so don't fret too much about their use. As a side note the test bend went splendidly, although we don't have photos of that process; yet. We show you the whole jig and the bending in the next installment.....
jim65wagon
Well-known member
Don't know yet. This is just our 1/2 inch ply template for routing out the 3/4 inch ply we'll be using for the wall. I do plan to weigh the wall before and after so, I'll let you know.....
jim65wagon
Well-known member
If you didn't notice by the jacket, that is her running the router and the propane torch. She absolutely loves building projects:sombrero:
100surf
New member
Hi this my first post here!
By looking at the picture of your wife using the router, you might want to teller her not to use loose clothing. If that router blade come close to any clothing it will chew anything and everything close to it. It will not stop until it is unplugged! Please be careful! I have seen it before go up someones arm because he was wearing a loose sweatshirt.
Cheers
By looking at the picture of your wife using the router, you might want to teller her not to use loose clothing. If that router blade come close to any clothing it will chew anything and everything close to it. It will not stop until it is unplugged! Please be careful! I have seen it before go up someones arm because he was wearing a loose sweatshirt.
Cheers
Yellowkayak
Adventurer
Cant wait to see it finished...its going to be sweet. got a question for you and maybe other teardroppers....why is the axle set to far back...wouldn't that make for a heavy tonque weight...wouldn't it be better to try and "balance" the weight a bit more by bringing it forward, just curious...I'm sure there is a reason.
JJ
JJ
Not that I'm a pro at this, but I'd assume it is due to the weight distribution of the trailer. The front is open cabin (light), and the rear is a kitchen (heavy). While the axle is physically off center, it is probably lined up with the center of balance (well, slightly behind it to allow for proper tongue weight).
The farther the wheels are back does several things. Increses tongue weight, but allows for higher speed towing and more stability. It also has to do with the door opening, fenderwells in the sleeping area. I normally set my axle the length of the box behind center, IE ten foot box, 10 inches behind center. Again this depends on placement of certian things on the trailer. Battery, water storage, spare tire all need to be considered.
jim65wagon
Well-known member
Bob and Caswell have the right of it. We studied the T&TTT forum religiously for the past year on building these trailers and the whys and wherefores. The basic teardrop rule of thumb, as stated by building guru "Angib" on T&TTT reads:
He does have a very scientific method of finding where you should place your axle on your trailer, if you like math and mathmatical problems
Trailer Balance 101
Angib said:
He does have a very scientific method of finding where you should place your axle on your trailer, if you like math and mathmatical problems
Trailer Balance 101
jim65wagon
Well-known member
With a few days off from the mundane work, we found ourselves with some time to kill.....so we decided to kill some plywood.....the fun work!
We laid out our 5'x10'x3/4" plywood for the walls, and marked them using our template. The marking wasn't absolutely necessary but it did provide a sight guide for the router work. Our cutter we used had the bearing under the blade, so the template had to sit underneath the actual wall and the markings made us feel better.....
We did a rough cut of the openings with a saber saw so the router didn't have to chew through so much wood. That made it a lot easier to cut out more precisely
We did have a couple of issues come up. We lost a guide bearing on the router once, and had to make a trip to the hardware store, and in the process of setting up to cut out our second wall - we managed to break our template :violent-smiley-031: luckily it was for the second wall and we were able to use our first wall as the template....
We wound up taking 2 sheets of plywood at 104 lbs each and lightened them up by 50 lbs.....of course that doesn't count adding the insulation and doors and windows. We also gained a whole pile of trailer trash.....
In the spirit of fun work we also managed to get our walls and the floor coated with the West System epoxy.....yum! :smilies27......cutting up ply is way more fun than epoxying it.....
We laid out our 5'x10'x3/4" plywood for the walls, and marked them using our template. The marking wasn't absolutely necessary but it did provide a sight guide for the router work. Our cutter we used had the bearing under the blade, so the template had to sit underneath the actual wall and the markings made us feel better.....
We did a rough cut of the openings with a saber saw so the router didn't have to chew through so much wood. That made it a lot easier to cut out more precisely
We did have a couple of issues come up. We lost a guide bearing on the router once, and had to make a trip to the hardware store, and in the process of setting up to cut out our second wall - we managed to break our template :violent-smiley-031: luckily it was for the second wall and we were able to use our first wall as the template....
We wound up taking 2 sheets of plywood at 104 lbs each and lightened them up by 50 lbs.....of course that doesn't count adding the insulation and doors and windows. We also gained a whole pile of trailer trash.....
In the spirit of fun work we also managed to get our walls and the floor coated with the West System epoxy.....yum! :smilies27......cutting up ply is way more fun than epoxying it.....
jim65wagon
Well-known member
Today we started putting some things together. A few days ago we purchased some styrofoam insulation from our local big box store.
.
We sized the panels for as tight a fit as possible.
.
And cut them out with a breadknife.
.
We fit all the panels in place,
.
....and then we had (um, I had) a leetle accident. What you see here is the last photograph our Canon G9 ever took.
I reached for the camera as it was sitting on the table in the picture. Simultaneously, I: Pressed the on switch, Grabbed the Camera body, Tripped on some styrofoam, Hooked the camera strap on the table corner, Managed to save myself from a nasty fall, Dropped the camera. and watched it hit the only square few inches of concrete floor that were not covered with styrofoam and/or cardboard.
It seemed to land on its lens, and began showing a "lens error" message every time the on switch was pressed. A little online research indicates this is bad for the camera, and results in a costly repair. In a DIY mood, I took the camera into my own hands.....I found out why they are so costly to repair....and that I am no camera mechanic. Anyone need a bag of G9 parts?
.
After that leetle fiasco, we filled in some rough spots in the ply
.
Spead out some Titebond III glue
.
.
And glued on our first sheet of interior 1/8" birch plywood
.
And that is how things stand today. From now on, we buy only shockproof cameras......
.
We sized the panels for as tight a fit as possible.
.
And cut them out with a breadknife.
.
We fit all the panels in place,
.
....and then we had (um, I had) a leetle accident. What you see here is the last photograph our Canon G9 ever took.
I reached for the camera as it was sitting on the table in the picture. Simultaneously, I: Pressed the on switch, Grabbed the Camera body, Tripped on some styrofoam, Hooked the camera strap on the table corner, Managed to save myself from a nasty fall, Dropped the camera. and watched it hit the only square few inches of concrete floor that were not covered with styrofoam and/or cardboard.
It seemed to land on its lens, and began showing a "lens error" message every time the on switch was pressed. A little online research indicates this is bad for the camera, and results in a costly repair. In a DIY mood, I took the camera into my own hands.....I found out why they are so costly to repair....and that I am no camera mechanic. Anyone need a bag of G9 parts?
.
After that leetle fiasco, we filled in some rough spots in the ply
.
Spead out some Titebond III glue
.
.
And glued on our first sheet of interior 1/8" birch plywood
.
And that is how things stand today. From now on, we buy only shockproof cameras......