Frames coming together.

So the last few days have been pretty productive. As well as cutting out all my frame members roughly on a band saw, I have placed the templates back on to them in preparation for sanding and shaping them back into size. I thought it'd be smart to cut them all a few millimetres oversize and sand them in than to go for the perfect fit first time. I've also transferred all the templates of gusset pieces for the frames onto a sheet of ply ready to jigsaw out a little later this-evening when it cools a little, if it cools a little. You can sort of see the ply behind my head.


Wonderfully, I made an amazing (and entirely lucky) $40 purchase on Sunday of a set of removable roofracks for the Pajero, meaning now I can freight my own timber and ply around. Previously I was paying delivery of anywhere between 25-65 bucks a pop, no matter how little I ordered. Needless to say, the cost of less than one delivery for every delivery from this point on has made me pretty happy. Also, as the type I got in as-new condition retail for $265, I'm super happy. Lick-a-kitten kind of happy.

I'm really happy with the hoop-pine timber I bought for the project. It is light and strong, tightly grained and straight grained and seems well worth the $8 p/lm I'm spending on it, considering that bunnings would charge around the same for plain yellow pine which is 1/4 the quality. The other option I was considering (Kauri) was a comparative $22 p/lm for the same WxT, so I think I made a good choice. I've decided to go with Hoop Pine Marine Ply also, seems everyone is raving about it and from what I can see, for good reason.

I'm hoping I'll have the frames assembled and gluing by this time next week!

Exciting. Look Down, Back Up, What is it? It's an Action Shot!