Project Information
We call her "Fern".
Okay, so this project isn't completely made of wood, but it's mostly wood. This is a 4 ft. by 8 ft. cedar Teardrop trailer. I used a rusty old homemade trailer frame I found in field as the foundation for this project.
My goal during the building process was to preserve a "vintage" look. I tried to build this much in the same fashion as the pioneers of this genre did back in the thirties and forties. Nothing fancy. No extras, just simple form and function.
The floor is three quarter inch plywood, with laminated cedar stripping. The walls started as half-inch plywood with eighth-inch cedar strips laminated on both sides to bring the thickness to three quarters. The pattern for the sidewall and door profile was taken from a late forties trailer, and was purchased online.
The walls were attached to the floor and one-inch by two-inch oak support spars were fastened every 12 inches from the front bottom of the sidewalls, up and over to the hatch opening. I used quarter-inch by two-inch cedar strips for the headliner as well as the roof. The strips were bent into position and screwed at each spar.
I love the beauty of cedar, however, if I ever do it again, I'd be more inclined to use a wood that is a little more flexible. For the most part the cedar cooperated but in some spots, I took it to edge of what it could do!
The hatch frame was constructed from three-quarter inch oak plywood. Four main ribs make up the frame. The same quarter-inch by two-inch cedar stripping used in the headliner and roof made up the inside and outside skinning if the hatch.
The shelves in the galley and the cabin are solid cedar. All moldings were fashioned from my raw cedar stock along with the shelves and cupboards in the cabin. I suppose I could have made my own cabinetry in the galley, but I could just imagine some old codger, back in the day, robbing an old sewing machine cabinet and installing the drawer sets, which is what I opted to do.
All surfaces were finished with four coats of varnish, which I've discussed in previous posts. The small vented cabinet inside the lower left of the galley area, houses the electrical service for the trailer.
It was a fun project and took roughly nine months to complete. It tows like dream.
Okay, so this project isn't completely made of wood, but it's mostly wood. This is a 4 ft. by 8 ft. cedar Teardrop trailer. I used a rusty old homemade trailer frame I found in field as the foundation for this project.
My goal during the building process was to preserve a "vintage" look. I tried to build this much in the same fashion as the pioneers of this genre did back in the thirties and forties. Nothing fancy. No extras, just simple form and function.
The floor is three quarter inch plywood, with laminated cedar stripping. The walls started as half-inch plywood with eighth-inch cedar strips laminated on both sides to bring the thickness to three quarters. The pattern for the sidewall and door profile was taken from a late forties trailer, and was purchased online.
The walls were attached to the floor and one-inch by two-inch oak support spars were fastened every 12 inches from the front bottom of the sidewalls, up and over to the hatch opening. I used quarter-inch by two-inch cedar strips for the headliner as well as the roof. The strips were bent into position and screwed at each spar.
I love the beauty of cedar, however, if I ever do it again, I'd be more inclined to use a wood that is a little more flexible. For the most part the cedar cooperated but in some spots, I took it to edge of what it could do!
The hatch frame was constructed from three-quarter inch oak plywood. Four main ribs make up the frame. The same quarter-inch by two-inch cedar stripping used in the headliner and roof made up the inside and outside skinning if the hatch.
The shelves in the galley and the cabin are solid cedar. All moldings were fashioned from my raw cedar stock along with the shelves and cupboards in the cabin. I suppose I could have made my own cabinetry in the galley, but I could just imagine some old codger, back in the day, robbing an old sewing machine cabinet and installing the drawer sets, which is what I opted to do.
All surfaces were finished with four coats of varnish, which I've discussed in previous posts. The small vented cabinet inside the lower left of the galley area, houses the electrical service for the trailer.
It was a fun project and took roughly nine months to complete. It tows like dream.