Lightweight walls

[GPW]

Oicu ... Think about it .... Foam is about 2-3 lbs. per cubic foot ... plywood is 57 lbs cu.ft... Fiberglass is HEAVY unless used thin with the minimum of resin (the heavy part).. Filon is fiberglass and wood ... metal is just Heavy anyway ...

[tcolar]

Did anybody actually make a trailer with foam sandwich walls, as in no plywood in walls, except for some framing / wood anchors ?

That gotta be really light.

[GPW]

Some Boats are made that way !!!

[tcolar]

That's what I heard, apparently boats and even some planes are made that way, so you would think it's good enough for a teardrop.
Heck, one guy here even made a cardboard one (fascinating).

But I was wondering if there was a build journal here of somebody who made one that way ... would like to see how it's done.

[glassice]

I try to show how to do a foam glass tear with NO mold and little sanding but at the time ############## was trying to build some to sell so i got a lot of bs look in my alu then go to how i built a fiberglass trailer

[kennyrayandersen]

Does anybody know or have an estiment of what these different
construction methods wiegh per Sq. Ft. of finished wall?
Thanks in advance.

Tony.

since this is a real general question and there are a lot of similar ones, I created a thread that talks specifically about light-weight construction and techniques:

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... 930#712930

[angib]

Your average person was much thinner back then.

Yep, and they were Brits too, who were a bit smaller than Merkans back then.

My job takes me into people's lofts (US: roof space?) and on houses over 100 years old, loft hatches 12"x18" are not uncommon - presumably your average builder fitted through that hole back then.

One guy analysed all the orders for uniforms during World War 1 for a British regiment and worked out that the average height was 5'4" - which explains why we bump out heads in old British houses.

Andrew

[Cliffmeister2000]

My job takes me into people's lofts (US: roof space?) and on houses over 100 years old, loft hatches 12"x18" are not uncommon - presumably your average builder fitted through that hole back then.

We call them attics, or attic spaces, usually.

[Denisttt]

To answer tcolar's last question, someone did have a build journal of a trailer made of regular foam insulation and fiberglass on both sides. It also happened to be a pop up because he wanted standing height without the drag. Unfortunatly, I can't find the link but you should find it if you look hard enough. It was interesting because it hadn't been painted and you could see exactly what he had done. He pulled it with a Jetta if that helps.

[tcolar]

I'd be interested to see that, but searched a lot but no cookie.

Any idea how long ago that was ?

[GPW]

TC, Having done many Foam constructions in the past (just not a Foam TD) ... It would seem very easy to make a TD ( or variation) using 2" Blue foam for the sides , walls etc. , and it's easy to bend the 1/2" foam over the larger curves ,maybe several layers for a roof ... @190F it bends easily, stays that way when cooled .. Just FYI
We've covered several of our projects with inexpensive polyester Camo netting (Wal Mart or sporting goods ) ... using Titebond 2, and then painting over that with common latex house paint (outdoor)... very light , very durable , easy to patch if needed (rock guard is indicated on a TD ), and very INEXPENSIVE , and no toxic materials to fool with ... 2" blue foam (Dow) can be easily cut cleanly with a homemade hot wire, or jigsaw ... and it sands pretty well too ...
Best of all , seems you can just glue it to the plywood floor Then overlap the covering material under the floor bottom and inside ... Many possibilities ... Cheap enough to experiment with ...

[aggie79]

To answer tcolar's last question, someone did have a build journal of a trailer made of regular foam insulation and fiberglass on both sides. It also happened to be a pop up because he wanted standing height without the drag. Unfortunatly, I can't find the link but you should find it if you look hard enough. It was interesting because it hadn't been painted and you could see exactly what he had done. He pulled it with a Jetta if that helps.

This is the link to the build thread:

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=19227

Here is a link pictures of the Bluebonnet Teardrop. I've seen this one in person and it is a very nice build. They used the same glass over foam construction for walls and roof:

http://www.tearsoftexas.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=673

This is a link to a trailer with sides and roof also made of glass and foam:

http://www.goldbrand.info/motorcykelhusvagn2.html

[kennyrayandersen]

To answer tcolar's last question, someone did have a build journal of a trailer made of regular foam insulation and fiberglass on both sides. It also happened to be a pop up because he wanted standing height without the drag. Unfortunatly, I can't find the link but you should find it if you look hard enough. It was interesting because it hadn't been painted and you could see exactly what he had done. He pulled it with a Jetta if that helps.

This is the link to the build thread:

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=19227

Here is a link pictures of the Bluebonnet Teardrop. I've seen this one in person and it is a very nice build. They used the same glass over foam construction for walls and roof:

http://www.tearsoftexas.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=673

This is a link to a trailer with sides and roof also made of glass and foam:

http://www.goldbrand.info/motorcykelhusvagn2.html

That last one is pretty impressive! should be pretty light-weight as well!

[glassice]

I bet a $1.00 that the last one is a lot hever than they say alot
not a fan of the pink stuff there better and cheaper

[kennyrayandersen]

I bet a $1.00 that the last one is a lot hever than they say alot

not counting the frame of course -- that looked pretty beefy -- I was referring to the walls