Last year when I camped in the teardrop, I noticed a tendency for folks, self included, to want to perch their butt on the trailer fender when they’re standing there talking. It’s at a natural perching height. But the fenders are sheet metal and won’t support much weight before deforming, probably permanently.
At last year’s DAM Gathering, I saw that many people had propped something on the fenders just for that purpose. So I decided I need a drinks tray to put my beer in/on while standing or sitting outside the trailer.
I found a piece of birch plywood for the bottom and went to Lowe’s for clear poplar for the rails. I envisioned rails a couple of inches high, rounded over on top, with mitered corners. Add a little cork on the interior, four little rubber feet on the bottom, a couple of coats of chocolate brown paint, and I’ve got a nice drinks tray.
Well Lowe’s didn’t have 2″ poplar, they had 3″. OK, I’ll make 3″ high sides….. Oh look, my miter saw (a cheapie from Harbor Freight purchased 8 years ago for my late wife’s business) won’t cut to the bottom of the 3″ stock. Grrrr. A quick measurement shows that the thickest piece I can cut with my saw is 2-1/2″. A long discussion ensued with my Letter Carrier friend about alternatives. The most appealing seemed to be to rent a real miter saw for a few hours. More measurements showed that I had made too many trial cuts and my wood was now too short to finish the job.
Since I had to buy more wood anyway, I decided to skip Lowe’s and go to the “real lumber yard” in town, Hulburt Lumber. I should have gone there first. When I told them I needed a piece of poplar 1/2″ X 2″ by about 6 feet long, the lumber guy asked if seven feet would be OK. When I replied yes, he took a piece of 1/2″ thick poplar and cut a 2″ wide piece from it for me. No cutting charge. And it was just a little more than the wrong size lumber at Lowe’s.
Unfinished Fender Tray on the fender
The 2″ wide stock was perfect, and is a nice dense, clear grained, straight piece of wood (unlike those found at that other place). I used a 1/4″ rounding over bit in the router to make one side of the strip round. I had to do a fair bit of sanding to get rid of the “bead” that my cheesy router produced. It took only a little time to cut the four sides, but I had a struggle gluing it all together. Eventually I succeeded and got it all assembled. Since my woodworking skills are just barely advanced beyond primitive, I picked up a can of wood filler to fill the gaps and mis-alignments before painting.
I continue to be amazed at how cheaply made the 12mm birch plywood I got at Lowe’s last year is. If you even look at it crosswise, the veneer ply peels right off. The veneer ply is only 0.008″ thick (yes, eight one-thousandths) and is adhered with glue that holds as well as dried spit. You can see in this picture where the veneer ply has peeled and I’ve cut it off. Fortunately this surface will be covered with paint and cork when it’s done.
Interior showing veneer peeling
That big piece peeled up after the tray was built when I was wiping the interior to remove the dust from sanding ;-(
The wood filler needs to dry overnight because I’ll be painting it with oil-based primer and paint, and the instructions on the filler say to wait 24 hours before using oil-based paint or primer on it.
A coat of primer and two coats of chocolate brown enamel later and my fender tray lacks only the cork non-skid. One of tomorrow’s tasks.
The cork non-skid proved more difficult than expected. I used the 3M Fastach 30 contact adhesive, since I had it. But my razor blade was a little dull and the thin cork didn’t cut straight. Oh well.
I put four non-slip feet on the bottom, spacing them so the tray sits level on the fender, and it’s done.
We’re finally as done as I need to be for the season’s first trip.