Forum Discussion
Dave_Pete
Feb 22, 2016Explorer II
And then - with the lion's share of my flat-footed work done, it was time to climb the ladder.
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And just like a well-oiled masseuse, I scratched Lil' Queeny's back - for hours - one area at a time before climbing back down and re-setting the ladder position, climbing back up and doing it all again - placement after placement. That was with 100 grit.
Then I did the same thing with 220. By this time the flow was "right in the groove" and I found the 220 doing a fine job after the 100 - no need for an in-between grit.
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Toward the end of the day I heard a sort of shuffle from the other side of the garage. It wasn't Smiley, DW's car; he's too dignified. I caught Lil' Willy looking my way.
I said, "Don't you worry none little fella, your time's coming. Since Finium only comes in gallons at smallest, we'll have extra paint left from your sister's color band! You wanna get gilded?"
He just rolled his headlights.
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And for the third day in a row, I made certain most light-weight objects were secured, and opened the wind-tunnel for cleanup. I emphasize most, but DW had my back, and she retrieved the extra pieces of foam-board from the yard.
Compressed air works good for this chore - and the assistance of the Wyoming wind. On this third day I did the interior up good too! Being deep inside the camper, how was I to know we had a Cumulonimbus moving in? My first clue was the pieces of kindling flying out of the wood bin, coming terrifyingly close to Lil' Queeny's recently softened and tender skin! I adjusted the wind-tunnel intake openings lesser, and obtained a manageable level.
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The next morning I knew I couldn't put it off any longer and concluded it was time for the front wall and under-bunk. I was finally able to get the lawn chair out and use it in conjunction with the camper. It wasn't as relaxing a setting as I'd been led to believe! Maybe there's something to that whole thing about the need for actual lawn at the campsite?
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Once again I removed the screws - in this case, one north-south row at a time - and got a good 100 then 220 scratch down. Or should I say up?
This angle is tough anytime, but I got me a whole new appreciation for Moses and Leonardo. I have this genetic thing (because my Dad had it too, even though at the time we thought it was something else - DS be forewarned); it's where you lose a bicep tendon and part of the muscle falls. It's generally from injury, but it can cause what they call "Pop-eye" muscle if you work out too much - kind of an empty spot in that one area, making the rest look taller by comparison. So I stopped working out - fixed. Now instead, my arms more closely resemble Olive Oyl's. ;)
Any way you cut it, it's kind of painful. But I find it's best to keep moving. Kind of like Fat Albert's car with the airplane engine.
And after today's workout, I was covered again from head to toe.
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But with that surface complete, most of the sanding is done.
I still have the back-wall and the front V-nose to check over one more time and fine-tune a 220 scratch - now that I'm on the upper side of the learning curve, and the whole camper to go over visually and hit with this and that as I discover things. Then there will be that one last general finish-sanding with 220 prior to paint, because aluminum oxidizes pretty fast and it's best to get it covered with paint prior to that happening too much.
But after that under-bunk area, I kind of took the next day off to recover.

And just like a well-oiled masseuse, I scratched Lil' Queeny's back - for hours - one area at a time before climbing back down and re-setting the ladder position, climbing back up and doing it all again - placement after placement. That was with 100 grit.
Then I did the same thing with 220. By this time the flow was "right in the groove" and I found the 220 doing a fine job after the 100 - no need for an in-between grit.

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Toward the end of the day I heard a sort of shuffle from the other side of the garage. It wasn't Smiley, DW's car; he's too dignified. I caught Lil' Willy looking my way.
I said, "Don't you worry none little fella, your time's coming. Since Finium only comes in gallons at smallest, we'll have extra paint left from your sister's color band! You wanna get gilded?"
He just rolled his headlights.

And for the third day in a row, I made certain most light-weight objects were secured, and opened the wind-tunnel for cleanup. I emphasize most, but DW had my back, and she retrieved the extra pieces of foam-board from the yard.
Compressed air works good for this chore - and the assistance of the Wyoming wind. On this third day I did the interior up good too! Being deep inside the camper, how was I to know we had a Cumulonimbus moving in? My first clue was the pieces of kindling flying out of the wood bin, coming terrifyingly close to Lil' Queeny's recently softened and tender skin! I adjusted the wind-tunnel intake openings lesser, and obtained a manageable level.

The next morning I knew I couldn't put it off any longer and concluded it was time for the front wall and under-bunk. I was finally able to get the lawn chair out and use it in conjunction with the camper. It wasn't as relaxing a setting as I'd been led to believe! Maybe there's something to that whole thing about the need for actual lawn at the campsite?

Once again I removed the screws - in this case, one north-south row at a time - and got a good 100 then 220 scratch down. Or should I say up?
This angle is tough anytime, but I got me a whole new appreciation for Moses and Leonardo. I have this genetic thing (because my Dad had it too, even though at the time we thought it was something else - DS be forewarned); it's where you lose a bicep tendon and part of the muscle falls. It's generally from injury, but it can cause what they call "Pop-eye" muscle if you work out too much - kind of an empty spot in that one area, making the rest look taller by comparison. So I stopped working out - fixed. Now instead, my arms more closely resemble Olive Oyl's. ;)
Any way you cut it, it's kind of painful. But I find it's best to keep moving. Kind of like Fat Albert's car with the airplane engine.
And after today's workout, I was covered again from head to toe.

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But with that surface complete, most of the sanding is done.
I still have the back-wall and the front V-nose to check over one more time and fine-tune a 220 scratch - now that I'm on the upper side of the learning curve, and the whole camper to go over visually and hit with this and that as I discover things. Then there will be that one last general finish-sanding with 220 prior to paint, because aluminum oxidizes pretty fast and it's best to get it covered with paint prior to that happening too much.
But after that under-bunk area, I kind of took the next day off to recover.
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