plans for a Tinstream?

Anything to do with mechanical, construction etc

Postby cuyeda » Fri Mar 21, 2008 3:36 am

Here is a snippet of text from an email I received from John Cronin, the owner of the Tinstream pictured above:

I wanted the Airstream look of the 30s; the computer was helpful. What I ended up with was pretty much what I wanted. The skin is .020" thick galvanized steel. At the time I built, I could buy a 4 x 8 sheet for $14. Like everything else, I learned a ton on this, my first build, and if I ever did another, I would change some things in both design and fabrication techniques. I'll explain all those things later.

When you look at my trailer up close it is clear that this is a 'homemade' job. The 'banana skin' [my term] corners were 'brute forced' in place. I tried to pre-form the corners at first, but had no luck. I could have done a nicer job with aluminum.


I contacted John Cronin in hopes to see the Tinstream up close. He lives in a neighboring community here in So. Cal. Just haven't made the appointment to visit him yet. A tip from another friend, if you were to apply the banna peel, there are fastener clamps that aircraft builders use called "cleco". These type clamps will hold the skins together while you align to each other.

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Angib posted these in an album on thread somewhere.
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Good luck if you decide to tackle a build like the Tinstream.
Why just dance, when you can Salsa!
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Hull Shareware

Postby Jstroke » Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:49 pm

There was at one time a shareware that a person could download for free call Hull Designer. It would allow you to design these kinds of panels and then lay them out with dimensions on a sheet of plywood. I think you could use the program for sheet metal. I think you could find it here.

http://www.carlsondesign.com

Look for shareware for boat design.
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