April 30, 2007
Well, I finally took some pictures and we are slowly accomplishing various jobs. On Saturday I did manage to fiberglass the exterior some more. Here's a picture of the type of surface we are going for with all these various coats of fiberglass and sanding.
Fiberglass Finish
Note the shine on the wall and the reflections you can see in it. Unfortunately this isn't a great picture as other light bounced off the surface and blurred a lot of the shot. But down the side you'll see the effect we are trying to get.

The next picture is of the rear with the AC unit installed. Technically it's in but inside we still need to box it off. On Saturday I came up with a plan that will secure the unit in the wall and allow us to build the cabinets around the air conditioner.
AC

This next picture is of the interior showing the tile, as you can see it isn't done but we're getting closer.
Tile

Next I have a picture of the trim. It has been stained and the first coat of poly has been applied. I haven't taken a picture of the finished trim yet but this will give you the idea.
Trim

The final picture is actually an older picture, it is of our first trip with the Inkwell heading down to South Florida. We actually slept it in at a rest area between the semi-trucks. We felt very small next to those giant trucks and the trailers they pull. The picture is at a McDonald's parking lot where we picked up breakfast before continuing our drive south.
First Trip

Today we purchased the refrigerator. This will hold us for a year or two until we're able to save up for an ac/dc & gas refrigerator. We plan on using it next month when we camp in my sister's yard in Orlando for a week.

Inside we spent some time deciding what needed to be adjusted and how to finish off our cabinets. We're still working out what will go where and how to keep everything from falling over on itself inside the cabinets while we're on the road.

Paul cut a panel for one of the interior walls of the closet. We hope to have the closet finished by this weekend. We have guests arriving and we'll be using the Inkwell as a spare bedroom.

Thanks again for taking the time to share our adventure. Believe it or not we're already talking about the next trailer we'll build after this one. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. lynn@lynncoleman.com

April 24, 2007
Yesterday Paul and I were able to work on the Inkwell again. Unfortunately the work we're doing now doesn't really show in pictures but if we don't do it the outside of the trailer will look horrible.

Okay, let me explain. We've been sanding and fiberglassing the outside of the Inkwell. this will give us weather protection as well as a smoother coat to apply the paint on.

I also stainned the trim that will go around the ceiling spars and hold up the ceiling tiles in the interior. I stained them yesterday and tomorrow I'll apply a coat or two of polyurethane. (I think that is how you spell that. If not, it's too late to bother looking it up in the dictionary. )

As I mentioned tomorrow I'll be working on the ceiling trim and I'll also fiberglass some of the spots that need a little touch up after the sanding. Paul will have to go on the roof to finish sanding and fiberglassing up there. Being afraid of heights, that is not a location I'm comfortable going up to. If I had a 12 foot step ladder that I could climb and step over to the roof that would be different. Nah, even then I'd be nervous being up there.

Another project I hope to start tomorrow will be sanding and preparing the interior walls for paint.

We've decided how we're going to make our cabinet doors but we'll have to save up for the additional wood we need to purchase. In the meantime we have have some 1/4" ply that can be cut and prepared for inserting in the frames we're going to make for the doors. I hope to get all the measurements for that done tomorrow as well.

And last but not least. I hope to finish tiling the floor tomorrow. It's just about all done but there are a few of the tougher spots to be done yet.

I'll take a picture of the trim we've selected and have that for you all to see real soon.

It's nice to be working on the Inkwell again. However, it is getting hotter down here in Florida, so Thursday night we set up our 14" Walmart "bubble pool" (My own name for the thing) so that we have a place to cool off and rest after a long day of work.

Oh and just in case you're wondering what Paul will be doing tomorrow, he's working for the church. He and a few of the other men are painting the church. It's a long project and will take the rest of the year at one day a week and possibly longer but when it is done it will look really great. I'll get a picture of that for you as well.

Thanks for your continued interest in our little project.

April 15, 2007
I can't believe it's been nearly two weeks since we posted. Our trip to South Florida was sucessful. The trailer held together and didn't fall off the frame. Some of our early fears when we started building it. Teh interior and finish work on the exterior are our next goals.
However due to the Easter holiday and this past week we haven't had any time to work on it. I am the art teacher for our school and we held a Art & Science Fair this past Friday night. Add to that my book deadline of April 16th and Uncle Sam wanting our taxes in...well you get the picture. Oh I did work out our taxes earlier and discovered we had to pay so I've been putting it off for the last possible moment. No sense in having Uncles Sam earn the five cents we might earn on that money.

Monday Paul and I hope to do finish the fiberglassing. While we were in South Florida, we installed the ac and it worked very well. We hope to camp in the Inkwell at least one more time before we finish the interior. The idea is to get a feel for what we'd like and how we would like it before we finish it.

I'll have some new pictures and another update by the end of next week.

March 28, 2004
Wow, I can't believe four days has pasted. Paul and I have been working hard to get the Inkwell road worthy. Our goal is to leave tonight after prayer meeting, drive south a couple of hours, pull over sleep in a rest area, then drive the rest of the way to our daughter's house.

In order to do that we needed to accomplish a few things. One was to register the trailer. Which means we had to bring it to a scale and have it weighed, apparently you pay by the pound to the DMV in the state of Florida.

This little outing revealed that the company who built our trailer messed up on the suspension. There are these pieces on the springs called shackles and they installed them horizontally instead of vertically. Which means it bounced like Tigger going down the road. Paul brought it to the builder the next morning. They immediately saw the problem and fixed it. Also, if you're interested in building a small travel trailer or a teardrop trailer there is a wonderful website with incredibly helpful people. Here's a link TD & TTT trailersSelect forums for the helpful discussions. It is there that I posted and found out what the problem was with our trailer's springs.

With that problem solved we moved on. The next order of business was to build the supports for the airconditioner. While Paul worked on cutting the wood. I worked on putting the floor tile down. I hope to finish the tiling later this morning.

After we return from our trip we'll continue working on the Inkwell but at a much slower pace. Or should I say seemingly slower pace. It takes a lot of time to do the finish work as some of you probably know. Painting will begin after we sand down the exterior, coat it with another coat of fiberglass then sand again. I'm hoping to have that done in time for our next vacation trip at the end of June.

Today we need to put the window on the front of the trailer. Oh one more thing, our door now has keys and a working lock.

Here's the current picture of the INKWELL

March 24, 2007
Okay first things first. Here is the picture of the rear of the Inkwell after it was sealed the other day.
Sealed Rear
The next picture is the inside shot of the vent.
Inside Ceiling Vent
The key to any good seal for waterproofing is a lot of chaulk.
The final picture from the day before is the inside spar we put in to give straight to the curve. The second one has been put in place but there's no picture. This picture will give you and idea of the connection and placement of the spar.
Support spar for inside front curve
Now for some of the fun family parts. When the grandkids learned that Jeremiah helped grandpa on the roof, naturally they wanted to help as well. So the first picture is of Matthew helping Grandpa on the roof.
Grandpa & Matthew
Next Hannah took her shot on the roof. As you can tell she was REAL interested in helping Grandpa. Truth is I have another shot with her actually holding the drill but this one is much cuter imho.
Grandpa & Hannah
Naturally, Jeremiah went back on the roof and helped grandpa again. Here's a shot of all of them. And we're not really sure why Grandpa is playing the air guitar.
All of them
Now for the big news. We learned today that we will be, or rather, really really hope to be road worthy by Thursday. So, today we worked on sealing the roof and put on the door. In order to do this we had to drive the Inkwell from our house to the church parking lot where we could apply the first layer of fiberglass without the leaves and other debris from the Water Oak trees. Soooooo, here's a shot of the trailer being pulled by the truck. Please note, how even the family dog is very much a part of the project. He's looking out the window and supervising the trailer as it makes it's way down the road.
Corky Supervising
I took a shot this evening after we put on the door but it's too dark to really see it very well. So, the next time I update, I'll include a picture of the door side of the trailer.

March 22, 2007
We got a lot done today but it is the kind of work that doesn't show up in pictures very well. Paul planed and sanded every place where the sides and roof of the trailer connect. This made them all nicely level. It's a huge job but that old fashion plane was the best tool for this job.
We finished the rear curve and cut the board and set that in place. We also cut the overhanging piece of the rear plywood and put in the two side panels that will go around the exterior storage door. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of this, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow. We sanded and put the first layer of fiberglass on the rear today as well.

Inside we cut all four of the additional roof spars that now have to be set in place for further support of the front and back curve. We managed to set one in place and tomorrow we'll be able to remove the braces and do the second one on the front curve. Again, I don't have a picture of that, sorry. I'll take some pictures tomorrow morning.

Finally we put on the roof vent. I do have a picture of that, although it isn't a very good one, sorry.
Roof Vent
Paul also finished screwing on the roof panels today. For a short period of time our grandson, Jeremiah, joined him on the roof. That I do have pictures of.

The first is a picture that actually shows the rear curve.
Rear Curve
Jeremiah helping Grandpa
Grandpa & Jeremiah

We also put the tires on the trailer and releveled it. The tires are so we can move it temporarily to another location where we can apply the fiberglass on the roof. As I've mentioned before the Inkwell is sitting under a wateroak tree. They shed constantly but a couple of times a year, it's unbelievable. It's a wonder anything stays on those tress. Anyway, besides dropping tons of leaves, it's dropping these fuzzy seed things all over the place. This is not good for sealing the trailer in fiberglass. Thus the reason to move it to a new location.

We're excited as the final shell construction is nearing completion. But we're getting a good taste of just how long the finish work will take and how slow it will look to others watching the build.

March 20, 2007
We managed to fit the door on the trailer today. We haven't sealed it yet because somehow the door locked while we had it in storage. We pulled it off of a trailer and have no key. We can't figure out how it was locked and we can't figure out how to unlock it. But we're working on it.

Here's a picture.
The door side I also started work on the counter top but that will take a couple weeks, I'll take a picture soon.

March 19, 2007
We managed to finish up a couple of projects that we worked on a little here and there over the weekend. The major project was the second side window. This window is on the same side as the door of the trailer. The door will be Thursday's project.
Here's a shot of the window
Second Window
Here's a close up of the window. The glare in the picture makes the lower right hand corner appear washed out but it's there and it's sealed. And the white chaulk is not all over the side panel.
Close up of the Second Window.
The last shot doesn't show that much but what has been done is the sanding of the front panel and the first coat of fiberglass on the wood on the same panel. Over the rest of the week we'll be sanding and fiberglassing the entire surface of the Inkwell. It's labor intensive and doesn't show like you've accomplished much until we paint. Then you'll see how the prep work will pay off. At least that's the plan.
Front Panel with first coat of fiberglass.
Thursday we'll be spending another 12 hour day on the trailer and we're looking forward to it. I hope to work a little here and there before Thursday but it will be prep work for that day.

March 15, 2007
Paul's day off was Thursday this week and we had another full day. Unfortunately the task we choose to work on took all day. We put in the driver's side window of the trailer. Making the hole for the window precise enough to fit the window snuggly was what took so much of our time. We had to sand, plane and in some places actually cut to make the window fit. But at the end of the day, I'm happy to say, it does and is chaulked in. Sometime over the next couple of days we'll work on screwing it in. But for now, we're happy.

Here's the pic of the exterior of the trailer with the window in place.
Exterior Window View
Here are two shots of the interior, you'll see that in order to put in the window we had to put up the interior walls first.
Front end of the windowed wall.
Rear end of the windowed wall.
You'll also see we've started to prepare the walls for paint by putting in wood putty to fill all the nail holes, dings or knot holes that are in the wood.

During the week we managed to get a few hours in and put up some of the bracing for the cabinets and counter tops. Today, we also started the prep work for the bed sections, putting on a coat of polyurethane to protect the wood. I also stained the front board that supports the bed but also holds the mattress in place. It will need to be spot sanded and stained again because there were tiny drips of epoxy glue that had hardened on the board. If it doesn't look right, we'll simply sand and paint over. But we're hoping to use the stain in a few locations in the Inkwell.

Paul and I are really enjoying building the trailer and seeing it take shapt but we both are stiff and sore at the end of the day. Maybe by the end of the project we won't be.

March 9, 2007
Paul's day off was today because we had a funeral yesterday. We had a very productive day today but we're both sore.
Today we managed to finally get one board up over the bend from the roof of the Inkwell to the front. This proved to be quite a trick. In the end, we're happy with it but it has taken several days of trying to figure out just how we were going to do this.

We also put the interior rear walls up. Here's a pic of the left wall, and here's a picture right wall.
The final shot of this section shows the couch/bed with the middle leg for the second panel that pulls out to make our queen size bed.
Couch
We also put in the framing for the section of the front cabinets that will contain the portapotty, which will be handy on the nights when it is raining or cold outside.
Here are the pictures of the front exterior showing the Front Bend
Interior Front Bend
If we're not too tired tomorrow we might get an hour or two in on the Inkwell in the evening. We're looking forward to Daylight Savings time and having another hour of daylight to work on the trailer.

March 5, 2007
Well it rained this past weekend. Boy did it rain. We got some damage to the exposed plywood but over all very little. Late last night after a full day of sun we sealed the open edges that we had forgotten to do before it rained. The goal now is to get the trailer sealed asap and the first coat of exterior paint on.

We managed to get quite a bit done toward that end today. The roof is completely cut and nailed down. The first plywood panel is up on the front of the trailer. The interior rear wall wood panel is up. The ribs and foam insulation was put up first.

Hopefully tomorrow we'll put the first luana up on the rounded corners. There will be two layers of the luana when it is completed.

Here are the pictures from today's build.
The first one is a look at the roof from the inside up.
Roof
The next is a shot from the front of the trailer looking in. You can see the insulation in the rear wall.
Looking thru the front
This next shot is taken a few hours after the previous and it is the exterior front with the wall up.
Front Covered
As you can see there is more to cover but we have to put the studs in for the window.
The next shot is looking into the Inkwell through the doorway.
Doorway View
The last picture is the interior looking at the rear wall.
Interior Rear Finished Well almost.

March 1, 2007
We've had a very full week. This was the week of our annual Missions Conference in our church. It's a great time, we enjoy it thoroughly but you end up exhausted at the end of it. As for work on the INKWELL during it...didn't happen. However, today Paul and I got a full day in. We secured two of the roof plywood boards. The third will take some exact measurements and special cuts and we had thunderstorm warnings coming in for our area this evening. We did however manage to make our walls square, secured some additional supports and started to map out and put up some of the supports for the cabinets in the interior. Oh, and we put a sheet of plywood across the rear. It still needs to be trimmed but with the threatening storms approaching we wanted to get as much protection as possible for the trailer.

The first picture is one of the least flattering pictures of me possible. Paul took this at the end of the day and we were exhausted.
Exhausted
If you look closely in this next picture, you can see the first set of braces for the upper cabinets.
Interior rear
This is a picture of the interior front taken from outside the door. You'll notice we have some of the supports up for the lower cabinets.
Interior Front
In this picture you'll see our grandson, Joshua, who lent us a hand for several hours today. Thanks Joshua.
Exterior Front View
The last picture is the exterior rear view. You'll see that the plywood extends past the crossbeam where the door will be attached. Paul will cut that off later this week.
Exterior Rear View
Well that's all for a couple days. Saturday I might be able to get some work done on the interior cabinet braces but Paul has an appointment that will keep him busy throughout the entire day.

I hope you're enjoying watching our build as much as we're enjoying doing it. There's no question it is a lot of work and for the same amount of money we could have purchased a used trailer. But there is nothing like planning, building and sweating to see something you've created.

I feel much the same about writing my novels. I work hard and do get exhausted sometimes when I'm writing. But in the end, you have a novel that you can be proud of and pray that God will use it to touch people in a variety of ways.

Okay, I'm getting off of my soapbox now. I'll write again when we have more to share.

Feb. 24, 2007
We're exhausted! What is unfortunate is you'll see very little difference from today and yesterday. However, we did manage to get a few things done.

One of the issues we had to deal with this morning was that we found a bow in the wall that amounted to an extra half of an inch. This is not a good thing when you're trying to make something square. We fixed and everything is back to being square. Actually, we fixed then removed some supports and it went out of square and we had to fix again. UGH!

Okay enough of the problems. Today we did manage to get in some of the supports for the wall and crossbeams for the front and back of the INKWELL. Here's a picture of the front end of the trailer a few hours before we called it quits for the day.
Front of Inkwell Today
Here are a couple pictures of the trailer after we wrapped things up for the weekend.
Gift Wrap
The rear
You can see through the plastic some of the crossbeams and supports. In the rear you'll see that we will be having an exterior storage space that fits under the couch and will have a little over 4 feet door. This will be where we store our camping chairs, stabilizers, dining canopy, etc.

The next picturs will show you some of the interior as it was when we finished up tonight. The first picture is looking through the doorway into the kitchen area. You can see on the floor where the cabinets will come out to. The section on your right is where we'll have a small closet.
Kitchen
Next is the rear of the trailer, the picture is again taken through the doorway, looking to the rear. The angle of the shot makes it look quite roomie but it is only 77 3/8" wide. I know this because I've measured and cut several pieces of wood for it. You can see the hieght of our couch by the crossbeam across the back. Just behind the concrete block will be where the end of the couch is, and underneath it will be storage cabinets that will go back to that board laying across the floor.

Why the concrete block you ask? Well, that's where one of the under the floor storage boxes was. After yesterday's accident, I said enough and we cleaned and removed all the glue and fastened a board under the floorboard and glued the top of the box to it. The concrete block is to provide enough weight for a solid seal.
Interior Rear
As for my leg, well it was bruised many times during the day. The pretty blue green and a little purple bruise is about ten inches long and six inches wide. I'm really glad tomorrow is Sunday and we'll have no time to work on the trailer. Both Paul and I need a day, nah, make that two days off.

February 23, 2007
We managed to get a few hours in after Paul finished work. We cut and started to secure the roof spars as well as some of the front wall supports.

We did have to call it quits before we finished securing all the spars when I fell through one of the under the floor storage boxes. Yup, we forgot to put the screws in. We had used Liguid nails but after that and a few other problems we've come into, I'm not that excited with the product. I'm real excited about a new product called Titebond III. Titebond III also might not have secured the box without screws but I really like the bond and easily cleanup and quicker drying time.

Below are a couple of picks from the work we did this evening.
Spars
This next picture is of Paul holding a window we're thinking of adding to the front. It helps us imagine how it would look.
Imagine

February 22, 2007
We're dancing in the street. Okay, not literally but we're very excited. Tonight we got a couple of guys to come and lend us a hand putting up the two walls on the trailer. Here's a picture of the Left Wall from the rear of the trailer
Left Wall
Here's a shot of the Right Wall going up
Right Wall
And finally here's a picture of Paul and Corky sitting in the trailer after a few of the supports are up. Forgive the slightly blurred pic as it was on night mode and I didn't bring out the tripod. Paul and Corky inside trailer

On Saturday we'll finish securing the walls and try to put in the ceiling spars as well as the other supports. If we're fortunate we'll also be able to put up some of the front wall and roof as well. We shall see.

Tonight was very exciting, this was a major part of the construction. Next big hurtle, getting the roof on.

Hope you're enjoying our build.

Today, February 20, 2007
We were able to place the left and right hand wall together and clamp them down, in order to make both sides identical. Paul planed the sides and I followed with the sander.
This pic is before Paul planed.
Rear Corner of the two walls.

Today, Feb. 16, 2007
We borrowed a router from a friend and put a spline in the section we were repairing. Spline

Our daughter and granddaughters came up for a visit this weekend so little will be done on the Inkwell.

Today, Feb. 13, 2007
I can't believe it has been so long since I updated. We managed to get the second side donw this past week. Unfortunately today I noticed that I laid out a second left wall. I put the wheel well in the wrong location. So, we're hoping to repair the wall by attaching the wood we removed and cutting the wheel well in the proper location. The question is how to make sure the wall is sturdy enough and doesn't show a seam where we made the original cut out. Wheel WellThis is the first wheel well and the reattachment we're working on.
The second wheel wellNotice the plywood outer shell is still in this shot. We're waiting on the drying of filler before we cut.

I hope you're enjoying our journey into construction of the INKWELL.
Paul & Lynn

Earlier Days