Building from the ground up

 The frame is done, the wiring is [almost] done, the suspension is, well, it's getting there...

Next up is the floor.  I went shopping earlier in the week for dimensional lumber, and yesterday for plywood.  My goal for the day was to get the frame put together, and the bottom glued on.  

First up on the agenda was to take this seeming random pile of sticks and turn them into something useful - like a skeleton.  I started out with the long rails, which were both slightly long (thank goodness - neither end of either board were actually square.  I also quickly realized that while _generally speaking_, ¨5/4¨ should mean that the board is actually that - 1.25¨ thick.  Not so fast, there fella.  It means what it means to the yard you buy the wood from.  In my case, 5/4 is S4S - sanded both sides, and is really right around 1¨.  But not all of them were the same, so a change in design, and 1 inch insulation just became 3/4.  No big deal - hadn't gotten that yet, and I don't think it's truly going to make a bit of difference.  Anyway, off to the planer for some squaring and flattening.  Next, careful measurement and calculation to determine the exact length of the laterals, set a stop on the miter saw, and cut all the laterals to length - again after squaring off one end.

Next, pocket hole everything.  My newest, funnest toy!  This is about as stupid simple as can be.  Set it up, clamp it on, drill it out.  

Once they were all drilled, it was just a matter of picking a time when I could occupy 2 workbenches in the shop for a couple of hours.  Yep, Saturday evening.  

It took a while to line everything up, clamp it, jig it square (within 1/16th corner to corner.  And then glue it, re-clamp it, drive in those pocket hole screws, and make sure it was still square.

The one screwup I made was in spacing the laterals.  I missed the one at 60 inches.  So at the last minute, scramble around and find a chunk of 2x4, cut it to length, send it thru the planer, and presto- the 60 ¨ lateral.  Now there's a really skinny bit of foam to be added between laterals. 

I grabbed the only bottle of Titebond II on the shelf, and kinda prayed it would be enough..  It was - barely.  Spread the glue, slap on the plywood, making sure it covered all sides.  And start popping in crown staples.  Oodles of them.  

And here's the 'finished' bottom of the bottom.  Next update insulation, topping it, and maybe sealing it.  Still working on that trick.