Wednesday, June 17, 2015

The Adventure Begins

I'm building a teardrop trailer: a camping trailer that has this shape:
Of course, every home-made teardrop is different, so mine won't look exactly like that. For a start, I'm building on top of a 5'x8' trailer frame—which I just ordered—and the trailer will be 5' high. The standard teardrop trailer built on a 4'x8' trailer and is 4'x4'x8', which is a convenient size, since 4'x8' is a standard plywood size.  Even the Generic Benroy plans I'm basing this on, which are for a 5'x8' trailer frame, are for a trailer that is only 4' high, so its sides are made of 4'x8' plywood.

I managed to find a local wood supplier (Robert Bury) that sells 5'x5' birch and even 5'x10' (poplar) plywood.  I was going to use the 5'x10' plywood, but then I read bad things about it delaminating. Instead, I'm going to edge-join two 5'x5' pieces using a scarf joint.  I was leary about joining plywood, but scarf joints are apparently stronger than the plywood itself; boat builders use them to make plywood hulls.

I have a few other special plans for this trailer, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. I'll discuss different aspects of the build as I get to them. I'm going to try and do this a budget conscious, but realistic way.  My budget for building the entire trailer is $2250 ($2547 after taxes). These prices are in canadian dollars.