Build of a Teardop in Glasgow, Scotland.

[BigAl]

Hi Andrew, Is 3.6mm WBP plywood flexible or is it only plywood sold as flexible plywood that can tolerate these tighter radii?

[BigAl]

There has been a break in the weather and I have built my base and painted the underside with bitumen paint (Aquaseal).



In the picture you can see the progress so far. Please note that the base is sitting upside down on top of the trailer frame and is not in its correct position.

The frame is made from 1/2 inch Marine Ply on top of 2 x 2 pressure treated timber glued together with polyeurthane glue and some biscuit joints.

This is my first time using a biscuit jointer and I was really impressed on how easy it made building the framework.

Hopefully I will have good weather next weekend and perhaps make a start on the walls.

[Classic Finn]

Hi Andrew, Is 3.6mm WBP plywood flexible or is it only plywood sold as flexible plywood that can tolerate these tighter radii?

Hi BigAl

Ive bent 4 mm Finnish Ply by using steam, However here we have bendable ply specifically that is starting at normal thickness of 0,4 – 1,2 mm. to 3mm. Which also is called "Lentokone Vaneri" in Finnish or directly translated to English - Airplane Ply. Used for different design purpose such as furniture and modelsand products that need bending of the ply.

Looking very good on your build

[BigAl]

Thanks Finn, I might have to mail order flexible ply for the curved sections. A pity because I intended to use marine ply for its water resistant qualities.

[Classic Finn]

Thanks Finn, I might have to mail order flexible ply for the curved sections. A pity because I intended to use marine ply for its water resistant qualities.

Thats what I used is marine ply as well. On our next tears it will also be used

Depending on your radius normal ply can also be used..to an extent.

[jackdaw]

There has been a break in the weather and I have built my base and painted the underside with bitumen paint (Aquaseal).



In the picture you can see the progress so far. Please note that the base is sitting upside down on top of the trailer frame and is not in its correct position.

The frame is made from 1/2 inch Marine Ply on top of 2 x 2 pressure treated timber glued together with polyeurthane glue and some biscuit joints.

This is my first time using a biscuit jointer and I was really impressed on how easy it made building the framework.

Hopefully I will have good weather next weekend and perhaps make a start on the walls.

Looking good Al Looking forward to seeing your trailer come together.

I managed to bend 6mm ply around our Grumman2 profile by wetting it , and pulling it up on straps for a few days . A week of clamping worked wonders.

[BigAl]

Thanks Jackdaw! I changed the profile so that my smallest radius is 770mm (30") I am hoping I can bend 6mm ply around that without having to resort to plywood torture techniques.

If not I have an array of clamps and cargo straps that will frighten it into bending. :D

[BigAl]

Another gloriously sunny winter day has allowed me to do some more work on my trailer. Now I have the sides cut, both the inner and outer ply.

Here is a photo of one of the outer plys clamped to the trailer base to give an idea of size.

[Mini Renegade]

Its looking really good Al. Sometyhing for you to think about though. I bought 5mm bendy ply from a local timber merchants, not cheap at £18 a 8x4 sheet though. It can be ordered to bend lengthways or widthways, it easily bent around a 19" curve no probs.

[Mini Renegade]

I just read back through your thread and notice you are wanting to use a sandwich wall of 9mm ply with internal framing. I built my benroy with a single layer of 9mm ply for the sides with no framing other than the cupboards and shelves and a door frame, I have found that it is strong enough and about as light as you can build.

[BigAl]

Thanks Renegade. I go camping all through the year, so I need the sandwich for insulation rather than strength. However, based on what you have said I think I am going to really minimise the amount of frame in the sandwich and have mostly foam insulation.

Is your roof single skin? Do you have roof spars?

[Mini Renegade]

the rof is double skinned for strength using 22x44mm spars, I used 3mm pre finished hard board for the inner and the bendy ply for the outside. Have a look at my build thread on Tearjerkers for pics.

[BigAl]

That's both walls glued and screwed on. I will also use M8 bolts too. You cannot really see from the photo that the walls are an insulated sandwich. The weather is not so good this weekend so this all had to be performed in between rain and sleet showers.



Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow. I would like to get two sheets of the roof ply on.

[BigAl]

Better weather today, I got the first two sheets of the roof on. Bending that 6mm ply around a 770mm radius on my own was not at all easy, but bit by bit it bent to my will.

[jackdaw]

Nice one Al...I'll bet that's stiffened things up a bit.