foundation finished

Another productive day today. I had hoped to finish the bottom platform on the caravan today, and guess what? We did. We used some long pieces of quaking aspen wood for the overhanging sides. I like aspen because though it is very light in weight, it is very resistant to bowing or sagging. We also used aspen for the corbel blocks that support these side pieces. Every part of the caravan base has been glued and screwed together for added strength. No nails so far. I will use some staples on the wall panels, but they will also be glued.
Tomorow I hope to build the two end panels or walls. I'd love to go as far as notching the curved tops of the panels for rafters, and standing it all up, but we'll see.
My son Seth was a great help today. He amazes me with how fast he can learn something he has only seen once. I was cutting the curves on the corbel blocks with the jig saw, and asked Seth if he would finish cutting out the next six corbels while I sanded them. Without any further instruction, or coaching, he not only cut out the rest faster than I could sand them, but did it better and smoother than I did. And that's saying something. I have a pretty steady hand at that sort of thing.
We cut off the extra foot and a half of the trailer that stuck out past the wood structure this morning. The whole thing is so much more easily handled now. As a result of the metal cutting, there was a lot of metal shavings left on the plywood. I sent my nine year old wagon pulling son to the house for a couple of magnets, and he was entertained all day with what you can do with metal shavings and magnets. I didn't realize how many different hair styles a magnet could wear.
That all for now.
Talk to you tomorrow.
Michael

Editor's Note: 
Pictures again! I highly recommend clicking on them so you can see the great details. 

Beautiful curved corbel blocks. The details are what really make a Gypsy Wagon!

The Foundation

Magnets and Metal Shavings: 9-year-old heaven.