Sides cut out

[jlrelp]

Hi Everyone

Finally got the sides cut out. Starting to look like a TD.

Have seen different shapes of the doors round and square and in between.

Is one shape any better over another?? or just what the builder likes.

have photos at http://www.richajl.itgo.com

have learned at lot from the board. Thanks John

[jlrelp]

Sorry the site is

http://richarjl.itgo.com

Sorry about that can't wait to get home and work on the TD making tpye ooooo.

[R Keller]

My personal opinion is why go the the trouble of doing a curved profile and then stick a rectangular door and/or window it it? It seems out of place aesthetically to me. Of course, I don't know why I went to the trouble of making that statement since I'm bound to get in huge trouble on this board for it (let it fly folks: I'm already ducking!).

Rectangular is easier and cheaper. And it's easier to weatherproof. If you do a door with radiused/curved "corners" on the hinge side for example, you won't be able to seal it easily using T-molding on the outside of the door, so you will need to use a seal on the door frame (see Camp-Inn for example).

Rik

[Chip]

Rik,,OK here it is in a verry few words,,Keep It Simple,,,,for building and user friendly,,and on your statement about square being easier to waterproof,,I doo like a dry bed,,,later

chip

[beverlyt]

John,
Your trailer is coming along and looking really good!

I personally love the weird/tear-shaped doors (like KuffelCreek's)
My trailer was going to be pretty plain-jane and I thought the door shape gave it that little "extra" that it needed.
Rik's points about ease/etc.. are good ones though. Guess it's just what you like!

Bev

[Shrug53]

My preference is just curved corners with the bulk of the door straight. That way you get a little visual interest but overall it is easier to hinge, seal, etc.

[R Keller]

Chip: I like K.I.S.S as much as the next person. Unfortunately I also have been bitten by the I.A.J.W.D.I.W.O.D ("if a job's worth doing, it's worth over doing") bug. For an extreme example of this, see Rob Gray's W.O.R.T (Weird Off-Road Truck) AKA the "wothahellizat" at:
http://www.robgray.com/motorhoes/big_wort/index.htm

By the way, the wothahellizat is now for sale! Only $175,000 ($AUS) and free delivery (in Australia)!

I did curved doors for my trailer along with an straight angled hatch. Go figure. But I like radiused corners on the door and the windows better. More like a vehicle and less like a house, IMHO.

With respect to Shrug53, I think the curved (radiused) corners are probably a bit more tricky to deal with than just a curve on the side away from the hinge (ala Benroy). Whichever way you choose, make sure you figure out your trim/seal construction details ahead of time.

My theory is that if I was going the K.I.S.S. route, I would have built a plywood box on wheels. And I was really going K.I.S.S., I would still be in a tent...

Rik

[mikeschn]

For those of you that remember, I started with a curved door. It really would have looked nicer... but I was having a major problem with the placement of the window, the extrusion for the door handle, and the sealing of the door...

I ended up with a rectangular door. Although it's not as pretty, it does work!!!

Mike...

[Cary Winch]

If using a door frame with a seal you may need to have a shrinking machine to radius the corners. This is what we do. Square corners are easier to do if not so equiped because you can just miter them.

There is one down side we found to a square door. The door needs to be stiffer for the non hinge side corners to seal good. They tend to be too far away from the latch and flex the door out a bit. So, if using a big square door there may need to be some stiffening of the door done. Of course this is mainly true if using rubber seals. Doors with just an outer flap are less sensitive to this problem.

By the way, if you are interested we sell our door frame parts as a kit for $66.73 per door. This would get you a flush door that uses internal rubber seals and is meant for a 3/4" plywood wall/door. This is a new door frame for us that is only found on Camp-Inn units built since January. Older units used a multi piece built up door frame.


Cary

[mikeschn]

Cary,

Got any pictures of your kit, or the door you can share with us? What size is the finished door?

Mike...

[R Keller]

By the way, if you are interested we sell our door frame parts as a kit for $66.73 per door. This would get you a flush door that uses internal rubber seals and is meant for a 3/4" plywood wall/door. This is a new door frame for us that is only found on Camp-Inn units built since January. Older units used a multi piece built up door frame.
Cary

Cary: now you tell us (me)! That's a great deal. I think you have the best looking doors around.

For home builders without access to a shrinking machine, I was able to bend by hand 3/4" leg T-molding from RW Johnson at a 5" radius for my door frames with no puckering . Thanks to Grant for teaching me the zen of t-molding bending for that.

Rik

[mikeschn]

Hey I wanna learn the zen of bending t-molding without puckering too! When is Grant's next session? Maybe an mpeg file is in order?

Mike...

[R Keller]

Ah grasshopper...I cannot reveal all!

But I can tell you this... Bend it around a plywood circle cut at the radius that you want to bend. And bend everything verrrrrrry slowwwwwwwly. Feel the aluminum slowly start to stretch and keep it moving slow.

And if it puckers, bang the heck out of it with a mallet and use some steel wool to hide your mistakes!

Rik

[mikeschn]

You mean I don't need a 100 ton hydraulic press?

Mike...

[engled]

The "T" molding was a dream to work with companied to the 1"x1" "L" for the galley hatch...