Sunday, November 21, 2010

It is Cold in Western Washington

 

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And it’s supposed to get colder before it gets warmer.  I kept my epoxy on the boat last night to keep it warm and it took quite awhile for the trailer to warm up this morning.  Got some epoxy and fiberglass work done though.

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I’ve got a day for the trailer again tomorrow so hopefully I can get a little more done.  Tuesday looks very cold so trailer work is probably out.

-steve

Friday, November 19, 2010

A Stitch and Glue Black Tank

I'm using stitch and glue to fabricate the black tank which will sit above the subfloor in the rear curbside bath. It should be a good technique for the tank, especially as it's easy to shape it to fit the Airstream curve. Materials will be a 1/4" plywood core, epoxy, filler and fiberglass cloth. The tank will extend through the bathroom bulkhead and under the bed so the little cleanout sprayer fitting can be hidden.

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Yesterday I got the plywood pieces cut out and glued the first layer of 1/8" Baltic birch into a rabbet cut into the 1/4" plywood. The birch will let me make the curve on the sides of the tank. Today the bottom and sides were wired together to hold them in place temporarily for the epoxy.


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We've got light snow and cold here for the next few days, so I may not get too far with this until it warms up a bit. The trailer heater warms it up just fine, but I can't keep it on unless we're there, so it really gets cold soaked.  It has to be warm for Pam, so we went to the trailer, turned on the heat, and then ran errands for awhile to let it get warm.  Pam is quite frail now and isn’t walking well, so it’s getting much harder to get out with her.  Worth it, though, as she thought those snow flakes falling today were pretty cool.

-steve

Sunday, November 14, 2010

I Have to do Plumbing Pretty Soon

I know I can do it—the system is pretty simple, but I just don’t like plumbing.  But, cabinets are going back in and I know it’ll be much easier to make plumbing runs while those cabinets can still be moved.

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So this marks the official beginning of plumbing, still probably to be delayed as much as I can.  The streetside rear corner was originally the outlet for the power cord, but all that stuff is in front now.  I’m using the hole to plumb a cleanout sprayer for the blackwater tank.  The inlet is a Perko marine city water hookup and chrome plated bronze, very nice quality.  I’ll use another one later for the trailer’s city water hookup.

The black tank will sit on top of the subfloor in the rear curbside location of the bath.  I’ll be fabricating the tank using epoxy and fiberglass cloth with stitch and glue techniques.  I’ll start on the tank soon.

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Meanwhile refinishing is ongoing with the original bed frame and its nice curved corner the current work in progress.

-steve