Post by kenskill56 on Feb 9, 2019 9:16:34 GMT -8
Hi all,
Shane here and new to this site. I was thrown into the vintage trailer world by my wife who had an idea to purchase a small vintage trailer that needs a "Little" fix'n up. Well, I'm sure some of you are laughing about now, and know better than I did that it is usually more than a "Little" that needs to be done. She found a canned ham that she liked a 1956 Kenskill and after looking at it I was not a fan, but of course, it was perfect in her eyes. so her original plan was to get something "she" could fix up and decorate, a project that would not need much if any involvement from me. I have projects of my own and she wanted this for her project. Fast forward about three months, the trailer is down to the frame. This is not my wife's project anymore, at least at this stage. As I looked into the trailer I found more and more rot and poor repairs that were done and finally decided to take on the complete rebuild.
During the project, we have had some unfortunate delays, not from the trailer but other things that happened. I have started back on it now and so far I have repaired the frame, welded on 5 broken or missing outriggers, cleaned up and painted. I ended up ordering a new axle due to the old one needing brake parts I couldn't find and I just feel better having the peace of mind of my wife towing on all new parts. The old leaf springs were in great shape after taking them apart and cleaning them up. I replaced the wet bolts and bushings and waiting on my new axle to arrive.
I rebuilt the floor and have it ready to bolt to the frame. This Kenskill has a 2" thick floor and 1½" thick walls that attach to the sides of the floor.
I have moved an old metal framed table into my shop that I picked up at an auction many years ago and am in the process of setting it up to start building the walls on. The table will be 7' x 13' and perfect for the wall layout. I have the lumber and just need to decide on the plywood to use for the radiused outer wall frame. I am really hoping for 8' x 4' (barrel) bendable marine plywood in 1/2", 3/8", or 1/4". I know it is out there but not sure if any of my suppliers can get it.
I am having fun doing this project. It does consume a lot of my time between the actual work and the research involved. It is all new to me but I have an advantage as I have a large shop with about every woodworking tool you would ever need along with table saws, panel saws, and a large CNC router. I also have 40+ years in finish carpentry and construction.
It will be fun sharing my experience along the way and having this site as another resource for information. Other sites I go to have been great so adding this one to my list will be even better. I will post pictures at some point, they are all on my computer but apparently I cannot do a direct upload from my PC so I will deal with it another time.
Shane
Shane here and new to this site. I was thrown into the vintage trailer world by my wife who had an idea to purchase a small vintage trailer that needs a "Little" fix'n up. Well, I'm sure some of you are laughing about now, and know better than I did that it is usually more than a "Little" that needs to be done. She found a canned ham that she liked a 1956 Kenskill and after looking at it I was not a fan, but of course, it was perfect in her eyes. so her original plan was to get something "she" could fix up and decorate, a project that would not need much if any involvement from me. I have projects of my own and she wanted this for her project. Fast forward about three months, the trailer is down to the frame. This is not my wife's project anymore, at least at this stage. As I looked into the trailer I found more and more rot and poor repairs that were done and finally decided to take on the complete rebuild.
During the project, we have had some unfortunate delays, not from the trailer but other things that happened. I have started back on it now and so far I have repaired the frame, welded on 5 broken or missing outriggers, cleaned up and painted. I ended up ordering a new axle due to the old one needing brake parts I couldn't find and I just feel better having the peace of mind of my wife towing on all new parts. The old leaf springs were in great shape after taking them apart and cleaning them up. I replaced the wet bolts and bushings and waiting on my new axle to arrive.
I rebuilt the floor and have it ready to bolt to the frame. This Kenskill has a 2" thick floor and 1½" thick walls that attach to the sides of the floor.
I have moved an old metal framed table into my shop that I picked up at an auction many years ago and am in the process of setting it up to start building the walls on. The table will be 7' x 13' and perfect for the wall layout. I have the lumber and just need to decide on the plywood to use for the radiused outer wall frame. I am really hoping for 8' x 4' (barrel) bendable marine plywood in 1/2", 3/8", or 1/4". I know it is out there but not sure if any of my suppliers can get it.
I am having fun doing this project. It does consume a lot of my time between the actual work and the research involved. It is all new to me but I have an advantage as I have a large shop with about every woodworking tool you would ever need along with table saws, panel saws, and a large CNC router. I also have 40+ years in finish carpentry and construction.
It will be fun sharing my experience along the way and having this site as another resource for information. Other sites I go to have been great so adding this one to my list will be even better. I will post pictures at some point, they are all on my computer but apparently I cannot do a direct upload from my PC so I will deal with it another time.
Shane