Baby Steps

      Some updates on the trailer project will be more dramatic and show more progress than others.  This one is going to be more incremental in nature.  My last post showed the culmination of a backlog of work finally coming together, and had a satisfying "Tadaaa" effect.  Since then I have done a fair amount of head scratching and standing around in the shop staring or squinting at various unresolved parts of the camper.  These musings have yielded the start of some work on components that will require significant lead time before they are ready to install.  That said I have managed to make a bit of visual progress that I can go ahead and share.

  

     The above picture shows various spars (frame members that bridge side to side), the roof frame that will house the ventilation fan, and the protective aluminum strips that will line the door openings.  You may notice that the two spars laying on top of the fan frame are cut at angles.  These are the spars that will be attached to the tops of the cabinets in the sleeping compartment, and the angles correspond to the curvature of the roofline.  The aluminum strips have been cut to length, had holes drilled and countersunk for #4 screws 4" on center, and scrubbed clean with scotch brite.

This picture shows the exposed and vulnerable edge of the plywood.  Though it has been sufficiently coated with polyurethane, I thought it best to go ahead and protect those fragile corners from accidental dings before doing too much crawling in and out.

The aluminum lining installed

The spars and frame have been glued and screwed in place.  One has been left out so it will not be in the way of wiring the outlets in the forward cabinet. 

     While these are not huge steps, each new part gives the camper an added measure of solidity and brings the overall shape just a bit more into focus.  For me, the way something reveals itself to you as you build it, may be the best part.  You have a picture in your mind of what you think you will make, but as you begin to coax it into existence, it tends to have it's own ideas.  In the vein of revelation, something occurred to me recently as I finished the evening bedtime story ritual and put the girls to bed.  I am reading "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" to my 6 year old and "Watership Down" to my 10 year old.  On this particular night Dorothy and her friends narrowly escaped being devoured by a pair of Kalidas and Bigwig was caught in a snare.  What occurred to me was this: both of these stories are about journeys and both are full of anxiety and peril.  Although I love both of these stories,  they may not be the best primer for a child's real life journey.  So, If any of you out there have a favorite journey or travel related story appropriate for a 6 or 10 year old, let me know and I'll put it on the list.