light at end of tunnel is . . . cardboard

[Tom Kurth]

Happy New Year!

I searched 'cardboard' but did not find much. Nevertheless, this may be treading old water.

I've been a daily reader and occasional poster here for five+ years. Wonder Woman and I are committed to the idea of a small camper, just waiting until the kid gets out of school to free up funding. He's a frosh in auto tech at a community college. Don't know if he'll seek a four year degree or not. Thus, we see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The idea of a foamie intrigues me but I have not followed the thread (I didn't know it would turn into a 115 page monster.) I will delve into it as I make plans.

The cardboard: At work I occasionally run into thick cardboard used as a protective packing material. It's about 1/2 inch thick, honeycombed rather than corrugated. I think it might be cheaper than foam, maybe easier to join, and possibly stronger. My thoughts: a 1/2 inch thick wood frame with additional nailers at appropriate spots, voids filled in with the cardboard. Line the interior with 1/8" ply. Clad the outside with a second layer of cardboard. Then weatherproof the whole thing with fiberglass or paint impregnated fabric a la old time canoes.

Immediate questions that come to mind:
1) To provide the necessary rigidity, would the inside need to be glassed or fabriced to form monocoque structure? (See woodstrip canoe construction.)
2) Does anybody know where to locate this product ?
3) What sizes and thicknesses are available?

Time to start some internet research, but eager to hear from anybody with concrete information.

Happy New Year,
Tom

P.S. Just told my wife what I was up to here. She tells me they use the product where she works. She's not an inches and feet kind of person so I'll have to seek further information there. How about that?

[DrCrash]

I read some where if not here a build where the guy built his teardrop out of cardboard then paper mache the outside of it. He was either from south africa or south america. It was a while back. I have tryed the search function on this site but it sucks and I can t seem to find it, I will keep looing. BTW it came out really good.

[Breytie]

Found it! I remembered the build too, so here it is
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=38781

[Pmullen503]

I've seen the honeycomb cardboard and it would make a good building material. Hollow core doors are made with the same stuff. Two things to consider: it's not waterproof so construction details are important. It's available from places like Uline.com but you have to buy a lot and shipping could wipe out any cost savings. You'll want skin it with something so figure that in your costs. If you can salvage enough from work.... I wouldn't hesitate to use it for internal structure to save weight.

[DrCrash]

That is the one. Thank you for finding it !

[warnmar10]

I read some where if not here a build where the guy built his teardrop out of cardboard then paper mache the outside of it. He was either from south africa or south america. It was a while back. I have tryed the search function on this site but it sucks and I can t seem to find it, I will keep looing. BTW it came out really good.

Do you know about this? Use google, enter your search terms site:tnttt.com
For example: paper mache site:tnttt.com

[DrCrash]

I read some where if not here a build where the guy built his teardrop out of cardboard then paper mache the outside of it. He was either from south africa or south america. It was a while back. I have tryed the search function on this site but it sucks and I can t seem to find it, I will keep looing. BTW it came out really good.

Do you know about this? Use google, enter your search terms site:tnttt.com
For example: paper mache site:tnttt.com

Now that is to funny. Google finds it but when you go to the top right search bar and put in " paper mache " it finds not a damn thing......

[warnmar10]

...

...

Now that is to funny. Google finds it but when you go to the top right search bar and put in " paper mache " it finds not a damn thing......

It might help if tnttt were to rebuild the search index but there are limitations. Google invested billions on their search algorithms and search daemons, that's why they're Google and we're not.

[lrrowe]

I read some where if not here a build where the guy built his teardrop out of cardboard then paper mache the outside of it. He was either from south africa or south america. It was a while back. I have tryed the search function on this site but it sucks and I can t seem to find it, I will keep looing. BTW it came out really good.

Do you know about this? Use google, enter your search terms site:tnttt.com
For example: paper mache site:tnttt.com

That is a great way to search. I knew of something sort of like that way back, but had forgotten all about it. Thanks for posting this.

[dales133]

There's an entire church built in Christchurch NZ that's the biggest cardboard building in the world and it's supposed to last 10 years or more so it should be achievable

[jandmz]

For the cardboard, in the South African build thread, there was a link to a product called "hexacomb". Is this what you are looking for?

http://www.hexacomb.com/hexacomb/custom.html

They are headquartered in Buffalo Grove, IL, with several plants around the country, and in Europe.

[Tom Kurth]

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah, the hexacomb is very similar to what I'm talking about. Did a little bit of searching yesterday. As mentioned above, available from U.line in quantity but also found it at Staples, I think it was in 40"x48" panels--damned near perfect size and available in small quantities. Best, there's a Staples within 45 miles.

Haven't looked at the paper mache build but will, though I'm more inclined to coat with cloth and paint or Titebond. One of the attractive points is that the cardboard should be easier to glue to than blueboard, not so?

Best,
Tom

[Tom Kurth]

Just looked at the South African build--had even posted on the thread myself but didn't remember it. That really impressed me, especially that he did cabinets and all. I'm a cabinetmaker who has worked for 15 years in the RV business. I've done some unique lightweight stuff but this opens up a lot of possibilities. Thanks for this link.

Best,
Tom

[felixx]

There's an entire church built in Christchurch NZ that's the biggest cardboard building in the world and it's supposed to last 10 years or more so it should be achievable

I drove past it yesterday
http://www.cardboardcathedral.org.nz/

[martymcfly]

cardboard is one of the least expensive things to build with. Here is a link to a youtube video of how to make a bicycle out of cardboard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITxXmo5MWFo