A little new news! (not much, but some!)

My father has been busy with other things (like family reunions and being temporary head cook at the local guest ranch) for the past little while, but he has been working on his new shop and is today working on the Gypsy Wagon, he plans to have the exterior finished by the end of the week
Interesting story about the new shop: previously in Garfield county, you only needed a permit for buildings with a foundation. This apparently changed recently, and my father was surprised to find a red ticket on his new shop telling him he needed a permit for it. So he called, to find out they were going to charge over a hundred dollars for an inspection! He argued that he had only spent $400 on the whole thing, so why would they charge over a quarter of the building's price for an inspection? Surprisingly, they relented and he got an inspection $25. Now he is inspected and permitted, completely legal and above board, and can build the Gypsy Wagon in peace!
Also, beginning in September my father will be returning to work as a Substance Abuse Counselor. The company he worked for before closed it's local branch at the beginning of the summer, but many of the fired employees banded together to build their own company doing what they used to do, but able to pay themselves better (aka, liveable) wages since they are no longer paying for the massive corporation they were previously attached to. Long story short: he will be away half the time (8 of every 14 days), but the remaining time will be building the Gypsy Wagon (and if it sells, more Gypsy Wagons).
I'll see if I can get anyone over in Utah to send me some pictures of the new shop and how the wagon is coming along... or maybe I'll be able to get my father to post an update or two again!
Slowly but surely, the Gypsy Wagon will be built!
-Zay

UPDATE 2!
More pictures. It seems my father got some work done on the Gypsy Wagon today!

Look at that window frame! My father is an Artist!

And the completed shed. Rough but serviceable.

Thanks for joining us for this special update. I am very pleased with it.
-Z

UPDATE! I managed to get a picture of the Shed in Progress.

My youngest brother (the famous wagon puller) has scaled the shed!

It has since been worked on more and is (I believe) complete, but they didn't have any pictures of that and were busy making chiles rellenos for dinner and canning pepper jelly... so we'll see if we can get pictures of the completed shed some other time.
-Z

Lots of Rain

I always knew I would have to build a shop to continue working on the gypsy caravans during the winter, still, I believed I could make it through the summer without a shop in this arid place. But, surprise! It's been raining nearly every day here. This is the dryest place I've ever lived, and after 12 years here I was kind of getting used to it. I certainly won't complain about getting more moisture, but I can't work out in the rain with unfinished new wood either. So, it was either put up a shop or postpone the caravans indefinitely.
Last week we went up Cottonwood canyon and brought down some fire killed cedar poles. This week my daughter Tishel and I set the posts, ten of them, three feet deep in the rockiest ground that exists anywhere. We tamped in the last one yesterday just before five. We're still tired this morning, but those posts are immovable. Today we will put up the top bands of the walls and hopefully install the rafters. The system of construction I'm using is called "pole barn construction"  It's a variation a timber framing, in which all the framing is connected directly to the posts instead of resting on the wall. This shop should outlast both myself and Tishel.
Last week I also received delivery on the wood stove for the caravan from Four dog stoves It's well built, and only about 50 pounds, it comes with a side shelf and an attached hot water tank.
I'll post pictures of the stove, the posts, and one of my daughter Tishel using the tallest post as a climbing wall.
That's it for today. It's time to start on the shop again. Wish us luck.

Michael

 

 

Standing up the walls

Today we stood up the front and end walls, and put on the rafters on the gypsy caravan. We have been held back by wind and rain (not at the same time.) But today felt like summer, and Seth strongly suggested we put up the walls today instead of going up the canyon to get lumber for building a new shop, (for the purpose of keeping us out of the said wind, rain, and also blazing sunshine.) I don't know if Seth was more excited to get the walls up, or if he was just looking for a reason to avoid hand carrying fire killed logs out of the canyon.
I like the way the gypsy caravan is shaping up. I like the way it doesn't creak at all when I push on the walls. I like the solidness of every joint glued and screwed. I like how it feels roomy inside both sideways and headspace wise. I like seeing the finished caravan in my mind, looking like a finely finished piece of furniture.
Well, we're taking a few days off for the long holiday weekend. Hope everyone has a good one.
Michael

Editor's Note:
I was talking to my mother, and apparently they need to build a new workshop because their previous workshop, the tent Gigantor, blew away. It may seem surprising that a tent that size blew away, but then I must explain something about the wind in Antimony. In Antimony, the wind blows so hard that the pressure differential causes windows to explode. In Antimony, the wind blows so hard that roofs blow off. A few years ago, the wind blew so hard my parent's greenhouse blew away. The neighbors have a wind speed meter that reads up to 90mph... and it tops out. My father was aware of the wind problem, so had buried the poles deeply in the rockpile that passes for soil in Antimony... the poles are still standing, but the ropes broke and Gigantor took to the sky in what I can only imagine was an awe-inspiring sight.  
Also, work has been slow on the caravan because they managed to sell (and therefor had to build) another picnic table. Since any money for the project helps, I can't really fault them for it!
Enjoy your holiday weekend everyone (who is in the US)
-Zay

End panels

The end panels are mostly done. I really wanted to attach them to the wagon and put up the roof rafters today, but I also want to go on a date with my beautiful wife Natalie, -- so, I'll put up the walls tomorow when Seth is home, and Natalie can be here to tell us all the stuff we're doing wrong before we do it. I wish she would have done that a couple of times today to save me from some re-dos. It's got a long way to go, but I'm pleased so far.
Michael

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.

 

We've started building the caravan!

I've been itching to start on this project for two months now. Finally the time has arrived. Some of the tables we made have sold, an industrious son has invested some funds, another son is helping with the labor, and today, we started the framing on our first gypsy caravan.
It didn't go as smoothly as I had unrealistically hoped, nor was it as difficult as paranoia had painted. It was just work. Some things came up that I hadn't anticipated, like moving the tail lights back to the end of the trailer because we lengthened it by three and a half feet, and then there was the realization that it was now too long, and we would have to cut off a foot and a half, and move the tail lights again. We've done a lot of customizing on this trailer that I hope to avoid in the next ones I'll have made from scratch for our purpose. The next trailer will be completely flat, and higher off the ground. But that's alright, we had to start somewhere, so we could learn what we want in the next ones.
We got the flooring bolted on today, and tomorrow we plan to put the corbel blocks on the sides, finish the platform, and be ready to start raising the walls. Building it heavy and sturdy would take very little thought, but our aim is to make it super sturdy, and extremely light. That's taking a little more thought, and planning, and some waiting for inspiration.
So far it's nice and light. My nine year old son is able to pull the trailer around, both up and down hills, (very gentle hills) If when we're finished, a compact car can pull it without endangering it's transmission, we will call it a success.
We really hope to have it closed in by the end of the week. I admit, I'm pretty excited about it. I can't wait to take it on the road for a test drive.
Oh yeah, my son did a bit of a CAD drawing of the wagon so we could see how things would fit inside. It will be much more ornate than the CAD drawing, but it does show the general location of the components. I welcome feedback on what you think should be inside.
Thanks,
Michael

Editor's Note: Pictures! Click to make them bigger so you can actually see what's happening!

CAD drawing of the interior. I'll try to get a hold one of the exterior.

Trailer with flooring

9 year old brother, Michael on the back corner, Gigantor the tent behind.

Pull! (No children were harmed in the making of this picture.)

 That's it for this exciting installment. Stay tuned for more!
-Zay

progress on the Vardo and stove musings

My father is making progress on the first Gypsy wagon. I was talking to him on the phone just yesterday. He doesn't want to post an update himself because my little brother borrowed the family camera for a trip... which I think might just be a handy excuse for a man who is far more comfortable working with tangible things than with any sort of technology.*
In any case, the trailer has been purchased, and I have it first hand from my little sister's facebook** that the giant wall tent (mentioned here) has been erected as an impromptu workshop so he can build the Vardo out of the weather.
As soon as the camera returns, you can believe I will be hounding every family member I can get a hold of to take some pictures for the blog. So there might be pictures early next week, but no promises.

I have also been thinking a little about cookstove options for a tiny house. I had previously been thinking about a tiny propane marine stove a la link, only because I am familiar with the technology. However, I recently ran across a tiny house article about alcohol marine stoves, and I must admit they have a few good points. I think I might have to reconsider my position, particularly if I could find a good local source of alcohol made from non-food sources... because using food as fuel is a whole other can of worms.

And that's all for today folks!
-Zay

* He doesn't understand the computer. He doesn't WANT to understand the computer. He is not shy about saying so. 
** The poor girl was the only one home to help put the tent up when he decided it was time. My father named it Gigantor, and it fell over on her twice. But despite the ever-present wind, they got it set up.

(Also, Yay for Terry Pratchet and Ursula Vernon style side notes! I feel so special!)