Trailer Build - Week Twenty-Three - April 16, 2017

It took only a few days for the 40 pound lifters to arrive and the photo below is what you get for dropping 20 pounds.  Looks like I will be sticking with the 60's.

40 Pound Lifters don't Quite Cut-it!

My buddy finally got my cutting board back to me after he ran it through his fathers plainer.  I needed to get the recessed handle installed which takes some time with a chisel and the router.  Its not pretty with the handle pull out, but it fits well when installed.

Recess for Cutting Board Handle 

Pull Sits Nicely in Recess

Another View

Cutting Board Installed in Galley

With the hatch having been fitted with the lifters and lifter brackets, I marked their location on the side of the ribs, sanded the interior of the ribs with the belt sander to get all the joints smooth and ready to go for the last interior skin piece.

Hatch Ready for Interior Skin

I sprayed the interior skins with a garden hose intermittently for 1 hour to try and soften the wood.

All Glued Up

Profile of Gluing - I could not get the skin to seat in the curve, so I screwed it down through plywood strips

View from Above

I had to get the interior skin tight to the ribs in the curve in order to not have a conflict with the stove drawer, which I only have about 3/8 inch clearance between the hatch and drawer face.  I installed some screws through a plywood strip along the length of the strip in the curve; resulting in holes in the finish surface.  I did strategically place the strip where my LED light strips will be mounted, so most of the holes will be covered.

Some of the Screw Holes thru the Interior Skin - In Curve

Flooding the Joints with Glue

Flooded Joints

Hatch Fit-up with Interior Skin

Fit-up at Galley Counter top

Another View

View Looking Downward

Hatch Clearance at Trailer Sidewall - Passenger Side

Hatch Clearance at Trailer Sidewall - Driver Side

 I was very happy with the fit of the hatch, clearance on both sides and the alignment with the galley counter top.  I took the hatch off so I could do some sanding of the exterior ribs when I get ready to skin the exterior of the hatch, and I need to sand and finish the interior skin.

Sanded the Back Ribs and Bracing Flush with Belt Sander

I need to get the hatch wiring over to the galley light as they are interconnected.  I have seen many trailers with a jumper hard wired over to the hatch, but no way to disconnect the jumper.  I was looking at a variety of different options but nothing really seemed to fit the bill.  The Galley lights are RGBW and require a five wire jumper to run all the different lighting sequences.  I found this 5 pin waterproof connector on Amazon and purchased it for less than $2.50.  It shipped from China and took 3 weeks, but it looks like it will do the job, along with letting me easily disconnect the wiring if I ever need to remove the hatch for any reason.

5 Pin Waterproof Connector

Amazon never had a dimension on the overall length of the assembly but it appears to be long enough, but not a lot of spare wire to play with.

Trailer Build - Week Twenty-Four - April 23, 2017

Before I skin the trailer in aluminum, I finished the electrical to the galley hatch with the 5 pin connector.  I purchased 2 rubber grommets at Home Depot to keep the connector wires from chafing in the penetration and it also gives a finished look to the installation.

5 Pin Connector End thru Hatch and Main Trailer

Secure Cable from Sliding Out with Wire Ties 

View of Cables From Galley Area

Connection Complete with Just Enough Cable Length

Picture of Grommet Installation

View with LED Fixture Installed

Lights Function Properly

Another View of Hatch Lights

I could have just run one continuous light strip across the hatch, but that would only be 40 inches wide, or the same width of the light across the galley bulkhead.  I wanted a different look, so I split the lights and pushed them towards the outside edges of the hatch to better light the work area.  These hatch lights are also multi-colored for night effects.

View of Hatch Lights Looking toward Passenger Side

Cabling Between Lights was Run up and over the Aluminum Rib Braces

Trailer Build - Week Twenty-five - May 28, 2017

As things would have it, I messed up my back at the end of April and couldn't really work on the trailer for almost a month.  Kind of a setback since I wanted to complete the trailer for use this summer and it looks like I might get this thing finished up by mid July.  Basically the only thing to complete the trailer at this point is getting the aluminum skin installed, trim attached, install the electrical service panel and install the trailer lights to be able to use it.  It obviously won't be 100% complete, but usable.

I had picked up the 2 each, 4' x 10' aluminum sheets at St Paul Steel to cover the sides of the trailer before I screwed up my back and I finally got around to packaging it.  I special ordered the 10 ft long pieces to cover the 9 ft length of my trailer.  The sheeting I am using is 0.040 aluminum, mill finish. I paid $80 per sheet for the 4 x 10's when a 4 x 8 sheet normally runs $60. I hope to get this done without a ton of scratches; we shall see!

First I need to remove the hatch; again, as the hinge overhangs and is in the way of installing the rectangular sheet.

Hatch Hinge Needs to be Removed for Skinning

4 ft x 10 ft Aluminum Sheets - one for each side.

  I clamped some support blocks to the frame so I have a ledge to set the sheet on before pressing the glued-up sheet to the exterior of the trailer.  I made sure the block was exactly aligned with the bottom of plywood.

Support Block for Aluminum Sheet

I used a shim off the back fender step for the rear support

 Having permanently welded fender on the trailer, I have approximately 1-1/2 inches clearance between the trailer and the fender to slide the aluminum sheet between.  With both the trailer and aluminum coated with adhesive, contact between the two is immediate and permanent, so the sheet needs to be exactly positioned before the two surfaces touch.

Towel to Protect Aluminum Sheet from Scratches as the Sheet is slid down along the fender

I looked at the 3M, 1300 neoprene adhesive, and outside of their outrageous price of $75 per quart, only a 10 minute open time and crappy customer service, I finally decided to use the Formica 145 product.  Unless you are purchasing thousands of $$ of product from 3M for massive manufacturing applications, they don't want to talk to you.  I spoke with a rep from Formica and he spent 20 minutes on the phone with me, knowing I was only doing a one-off project.  He stated the product was a strong competitor of the 3M, 1300 and it had a 1 hour open time.  Open-time is the duration you have to join the two surfaces together.  Figuring I was rolling this product on a 4x10 sheet and the side of the trailer, I needed more than 10 minutes.  In addition, the product only cost $35 per gallon.  Key thing is to get a neoprene based adhesive so it can handle the differential in coefficient of expansion between wood and aluminum.

Formica Contact Adhesive and Adhesive Roller Cover

Cement Rolled on Aluminum Sheet

Adhesive on Trailer Side

Adhesive on Trailer Side - View 2

Sheet Attached to Trailer

Another View

Routed Edge along Galley Hatch Area

Routed Door Opening - Tape Holds Panel from Flopping Around

Final Profile after Routing

Another View

Aluminum Shavings Everywhere

 I first started off with a flush cut router bit that was 1/4 or 3/8" diameter that I had used back when I built the Formica counter tops and I was having some trouble with the bit clogging up with melted aluminum.  I had my router on the lowest RPM to avoid melting the sheet, but it didn't work very well.  I purchased a new blade and got a larger diameter, 1/2" flush cut and it cut through the sheet like butter and no melting or clogging of the carbide bit.  Not sure if the larger bit runs cooler of if my previous blade was just worn out.

New 1/2" Dia Flush Cut Router Bit

 Below is the reason I could not finish installing the sheathing on the trailer top.  I purchased these lights on line not realizing the wiring and support mount are in the same hole.  I could not finish the roof until I had the aluminum sheet on the side to finish wiring up and mounting the fixture.

Courtesy Light Install

I didn't Realize how Small these Lights Really Are!

Marked Location of Water Tank Fittings

Dimpling the Aluminum with a punch from the inside marks the location for drilling the pilot and routing the hole.

Holes Routed for Water Fill and Vacuum Relief Cover

Holes Complete

Door Installed and Water Fitting Caps In-place

I took some of the scraps from the door cutout  and end of the 4x10 sheet and used those to start covering the battery box.

Battery Compartment Box

Door Cutout to Cover Side

Front End Cutoff to Cover Top of Box

It only took a couple cutouts to realize the aluminum slivers get stuck between the base plate of the router and the aluminum you are cutting, so place tape on every surface you plan to run the router base on; it limits the scratches.