bgordon's 5 week cardboard & fiberglass build

...ask your questions in the appropriate forums BUT document your build here...preferably in a single thread...dates for updates, are appreciated....

Postby Woodstramp » Sun Aug 01, 2010 12:30 am

Barrie,

First, thanks for your blow by blow pics and explaination of the materials you used. The reason I mulled around foam was strictly for winter insulation. Now (in light of what others have mentioned about "expensive" foams), I'm thinking cardboard for the forming. Then cheap Home Depot sandwhiched on after resin curing.

Second....

(And of course, if your name is Sep Blatter from Fifa (soccer), you'll say "Soes Efrieka")

You lost me on that one, but a good Alabama pronunciation would be "South Africker". :lol:
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Postby bgordon » Sun Aug 01, 2010 3:33 pm

skuntz wrote: Great build and it has helped to bouy a number of conceptual ideas that I've had.

Question... does anyone know of a Canadian (Ontario specific) supplier of cardboard products such as the 6mm cardboard in this build??


The best place to look at is your largest box store manufacturer. The place I went to makes boxes for other companies. When I asked to buy the sheets, they were confused as to why someone would want 'clean' sheets without it being folded already. Anyway, I think obtaining the sheets are not nearly as much a challenge as getting it home! I used the same flatbed trailer as in the beginning of the thread to get the sheets home. But remember the sheets are 2.5m x 2.4m (about 8 feet by 8 feet), which is quite large! I had to take two large blankets along to cover the sheets, and then tie them down with ropes, because if I drove home and one of the sheets caught the wind, it would have ripped the cardboard to shreds (without the fiberglass the cardboard is still quite flimsy.

Here is a quick pic that I got off the Internet to show the differences between double wall and single wall cardboard.

Double wall (below)

Image

Single wall (below)

Image

Remember, you preferably want double wall. It is quite a bit stronger than single wall (and will keep the walls straighter).

Woodstramp wrote:Barrie,

First, thanks for your blow by blow pics and explaination of the materials you used. The reason I mulled around foam was strictly for winter insulation. Now (in light of what others have mentioned about "expensive" foams), I'm thinking cardboard for the forming. Then cheap Home Depot sandwhiched on after resin curing.

Second....

(And of course, if your name is Sep Blatter from Fifa (soccer), you'll say "Soes Efrieka")

You lost me on that one, but a good Alabama pronunciation would be "South Africker". :lol:


Woodstramp,

Your idea will work. No problem. But go and find out about the 'expensive' foams too. Here in South Africa the price difference between polystyrene and polyurethane is not nearly as much as one might think. Go to places that manufacture industrial cold rooms and refrigerators. They all use polyurethane sheets to insulate the cold rooms, because it is far superior to polystyrene.

Another option that might work (but try a test piece first) is to buy a roll of ordinary paper (brown paper or any other type of paper), and paste it to the foam. If you have patience you could also buy masking tape (the paper based type - not the plastics) and mask the entire tear, made out of foam, and then fiberglass it. The masking tape will act as a barrier between the resin and the foam, and you'll have an incredibly strong bond. But as I said, make a test piece first!

And o yes, the soccer world cup was in South Africa recently, so we heard Sepp Blatter on the news almost every night. He is the head of FIFA, and is a French first language speaker. If you are curious as to how he pronounces "South Africa", look at this short clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeqxxAsqyqw

I don't know whether I should laugh or cry! :lol: :cry: :?
Barrie

Keep moving forward.
Psalm 1:1-3.

Build Journal: bgordon's 5 week cardboard & fiberglass build
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=38781
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Postby Woodstramp » Sat Aug 07, 2010 10:51 pm

bgordon,

Thanks for the ideas. I'm currently trying to find some small amounts of materials to make test pieces. Enough for a doghouse, for starters.

As to the football references. You'd have to be from the southern US AND the state of Alabama to understand why I'm so ignorant about anything you referred to in the World Cup. No disrespect...it's just we're in our own little world here. :D

Congrats to SA, BTW.
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materials

Postby skuntz » Mon Aug 09, 2010 1:04 pm

Any estimates on the amount of cloth and resin you used?
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Postby glassice » Mon Aug 09, 2010 3:05 pm

:) how much sand paper did you use
It is not the return ON my investment that I am concerned about; it is the return OF my investment
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Re: materials

Postby bgordon » Wed Aug 11, 2010 1:46 pm

skuntz wrote:Any estimates on the amount of cloth and resin you used?


Cloth: about 30 meters (width 1.3m)
Resin, almost 2 kegs of 25kg (to be more exact, about 40kg of resin in total).
Body filler - almost 20Kg!!!

glassice wrote:how much sand paper did you use


Glassice, I can see you know the fiberglass business!

Although said in a joke, glassice emphasizes a major aspect. As mentioned before, building a trailer this way is not as easy as I have initially anticipated. I did not realize just how much sanding will be required. You will spend roughly half the time building, and the other half finishing, of which sanding will be a major part.
Barrie

Keep moving forward.
Psalm 1:1-3.

Build Journal: bgordon's 5 week cardboard & fiberglass build
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=38781
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Postby Jim55 » Fri Sep 03, 2010 6:47 pm

This weekend Barrie and his family are camping in the teardrop. Camping close to home, he thought of taking their big, comfortable factory made camper. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

His family override his idea to his surprise. :applause: :applause: They'd much rather use this one!

Jim :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
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Postby Cliffmeister2000 » Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:44 am

Way cool! Looking forward to some photos! :thumbsup:
God Bless

Cliff

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Postby bgordon » Mon Sep 06, 2010 4:27 am

Hi,

Yep. To my surprise my wife wanted to take the teardrop. :shock:

However, the camping weekend was short lived. My youngest daughter became ill on Friday night, and we decided to go home and keep her indoors. :thumbdown: :thumbdown:

However, it was not all a let down. Sunday was a very quiet day, and we all had a good rest in preparation of the work week.

So sorry, no photos!
Barrie

Keep moving forward.
Psalm 1:1-3.

Build Journal: bgordon's 5 week cardboard & fiberglass build
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=38781
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Postby Tadlan » Fri Sep 24, 2010 6:29 pm

Great build. I have been toying with some ideas regarding foam. Your build and several other posts about it have convinced me that my ideas are not far off-base. Now on to the test phase.
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Re: bgordon's 5 week cardboard & fiberglass build

Postby bgordon » Fri Jun 15, 2012 10:59 am

Hi all,

From another thread it seems that cardboard and fiberglass is discussed again. So I thought I would give you an update on the trailer.

Well, the trailer is holding up quite well. I have travelled more than 7000 km (about 4400 miles) with it in the last two years, and the fiberglass is still fine! After a good wash it still looks like new, although the hinges have started to rust. Luckily that is a quick fix.

Someone asked me about flex. Well, no part of the trailer flexes at all. And even though there are no spars in the trailer, it is strong enough that I could stand on it if I would have wanted.

Here is some of last year's (2011) photos. We travelled from Johannesburg to Cape Town in a roundabout trip.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Kind regards,
Barrie

Keep moving forward.
Psalm 1:1-3.

Build Journal: bgordon's 5 week cardboard & fiberglass build
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=38781
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Re: bgordon's 5 week cardboard & fiberglass build

Postby bgordon » Fri Jun 15, 2012 1:03 pm

This is what our trip looked like (more or less):

Image
Barrie

Keep moving forward.
Psalm 1:1-3.

Build Journal: bgordon's 5 week cardboard & fiberglass build
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=38781
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Re: bgordon's 5 week cardboard & fiberglass build

Postby Cliffmeister2000 » Fri Jun 15, 2012 1:35 pm

Hey, Barrie, it's great to hear from you! Glad to know the trailer is doing fine, and the kids are growing! :thumbsup:
God Bless

Cliff

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1 John 4:9-11

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Re: bgordon's 5 week cardboard & fiberglass build

Postby bgordon » Fri Jun 15, 2012 3:33 pm

Hi Cliff,

Great to hear from you again! Yes, the children are growing rapidly. As a matter of fact, I am working on the plans for the next trailer, because the four of us cannot fit in the tear anymore! :shock: :lol:

Kind regards,
Barrie

Keep moving forward.
Psalm 1:1-3.

Build Journal: bgordon's 5 week cardboard & fiberglass build
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=38781
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Re: bgordon's 5 week cardboard & fiberglass build

Postby mikeschn » Sun Jun 17, 2012 5:38 pm

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with Barrie!

Mike...
The quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten, so build your teardrop with the best materials...
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