Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I went through a whole stack of plywood to get flat ones. Ends up the back end of my tear now is a little warped to the drivers side between 1/4 to 3/8 out. Luckliy both pieces went the same way. Now I just have to figure out how to bend them back to straight to get the hatch to fit properly. Guess I am going to need a GIANT clamp (bar clamp maybe) to bring one over and then when I put in the galley, square it up and screw the heck out if it (that didn't sound proper, now did it?) Hopefully that will work.

WOW!
This thread really took off!
I found 1/2" Luan made from Honduran Mohogany. This stuff is beautiful and it is perfectly flat. I knew that 2X4s, 2X6s and so on were undercut, but it did not occur to me that the hardwood finish pieces were also undercut.
It was sickening how warped the 15/32 and 21/32 plywood was. The more I looked at it the sicker I got. At luck today, I found the Luan and then went right home, found my receipts and returned the7 pieces of plywood back to Lowe's. I now have enough money to buy the Luan and all my spar material.
I will also use the 1/4 Luan for my interior walls and ceiling!
I am so glad I found this before I attempted to cut the Chi-Ply!!!!!!!!!

THUMBS UP for Bandit's great find . . . .


Jim,

The way I look at it. Is if it is not exactly what I want, I don't buy it. I just keep looking. So it takes a little longer. In the end, I'll be happier and you will to. Sometimes it may cost a little more, but you'll have a better teardrop in the end.

An example: I have been looking for some vinyl pipping/beading for almost 6 years now to finished off the interior of my teardrop. I found it just the first of this month and now have it in the tear ready to install and finish.

Have a good day and enjoy your build.

Wow, that IS crappy plywood,I've never seen something like that before. It's like there wasn't enough glue when they laminated it! I wouldn't even have a clue how to stop your delamination problem.

Know the feeling. I bought 4 sheets of US made "almost"1/2 " plywood from the "orange store for the floor in my tear, took it home and leaned it against the wall of my heated shop and 5 days later I had 4 large wooden "potato chips" 1/2 hour of work with a skill saw I has a bin of expensive firewood. I buy my stuff from a small local lumber yard now.

Check out this stuff. Price is high but quality is higher.
http://alliedveneer.com/marine_plywood/ ... 16133.html

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:lcs ... =clnk&cd=2

http://www.fanweb.org/archives/actionvan/homedepot.html

:snow

That is disheartening to read but you have to take it with a grain of salt. When you consider that the source is Rainforest.org and Rainforest Relief it has to give you pause.

That would be like reading an aritcle for the beef producers touting all the positive attributes of beef, but neglecting to mention elevated chloesterol (among others).

Gosh !!! My ply didn't look like that .... I got the Chi-Birch (?) the one with the paper thin outer veneer... Here in New Orleans , you can't be so picky about what you get , because most of the Good Lumberyards , were destroyed in the flood , along with everything else ... if ya' aint been here, ya' just don't know ...

Whatever , if it's just aesthetics , cool !!! If glue is a problem then do as we do here ... with our HIGH humidity , we as a mater of course , slather the wood/ ply with a mixture of 33% cheap poly /66% thinner.... waterproofs everything , and really sinks in .... let dry completely...
Hey , if we're stuck with it , have to make it work and be safe , eh ? But next time we won't be fooled again !!!!!

This must be a demographic thing. My local Lowe's still has high quality flat birch plywood but if they change - Somerville Plywood is only a mile down the road and they have just about any ply and size imaginable although slightly more $$'s.

Denny

...we have bought birch chi-ply twice...both times it was a 14ply cabinet grade product. The first time was for a counter top/cabinet job we were doing and it worked out fine. The second time was for the tear sides and we had 3 severe problems withit that will cause me to never buy again...1) while it was seemeingly stable...after we cut it, the ply started to delam...2) it started to warp and worst 3) mildew set in almost immediately so that if used, we would of had to use a green dye to match...it got scrapped in favor of some good ol' Merikan made ply
madjack

This is almost enough to make you scrap the ply idea alltogether (Chi-Ply anyway) , and start using a framing system made out of real wood ... I guess I just couldn't see the forest for the Plywood.....hahahahahaha gotta' laugh , can't cry ....

G, it is like ya said, ya use what ya got...with the chi-ply, if I were to use it again, it would get sealed as soon as I got it and resealed everytime I cut it...the poly/thinner solution you spoke of would get used quickly and regularly...
madjack

dacrazyrn wrote:I went through a whole stack of plywood to get flat ones. Ends up the back end of my tear now is a little warped to the drivers side between 1/4 to 3/8 out. Luckliy both pieces went the same way. Now I just have to figure out how to bend them back to straight to get the hatch to fit properly. Guess I am going to need a GIANT clamp (bar clamp maybe) to bring one over and then when I put in the galley, square it up and screw the heck out if it (that didn't sound proper, now did it?) Hopefully that will work.

Anyone ever look at Tracy's photos? (See link.) They're awesome!