Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi folks,

Hope to skin roof at end of week.

We epoxied the edge of the walls (eg sealed the edges of the ply)
Another thread here said that Titebond 3 folks say that's a no-no, glue won't work.

QUESTION: should I sand off the epoxy before skinning? I am hoping to avoid screws in the roof and hope to use only adhesive.

Would appreciate advice!!

Jim

Jim,

So you have epoxy ONLY on the edge of your plywood?

If so, then you should have no problem glueing your plywood to your spars and your sidewalls.

Glue/titebond III works best by penetrating the pores of the wood. Is that what you have where you want to put the glue?

Mike...

Mike,

I epoxied ALL the surfaces of my plywood walls, including the vertical edge that the roof ply will rest on. The SPARS are fine....there is no epoxy on them. It is the roof edge of the wall that is the problem.

Your note indicates that the correct thing to do would be to sand to bare wood before trying to glue the roof ply down...??

Thanks for your help,

Jim

Jim the advice I got when I asked was to sand (rough it up) so you get a mechanical bond. Use a respirator thingy. You don't want that in your lungs.

Roughing it up is a good plan. The more wood grain you can expose, the better your joint is going to be.

Another option, instead of using titebond III, is to use epoxy as a glue. Then you don't have to rough anything up.

Mike...

Aunty M,

So you did this too? By respirator I hope you mean a dusk mask...the respirators cost a zillion How did roughing it up work for you--were you able to get the roof tight to the walls?

I will be sealing the roof and the wall/roof seam with epoxy AFTER I put it on so I hope that the coatings of epoxy will also serve to bind the roof to the walls...

thanks,

Jim

Jim,

I wouldn't think that the epoxy coating you put on would help to bond the roof to the walls unless it is between the walls and the roof. But with that said, you must consider the source.

I was going to epoxy and paint mine but decided that I will get things sealed up and protected better by skinning it in AL. I think you considered this as well. Did you give up on that idea?

Jim

mikeschn wrote:Roughing it up is a good plan. The more wood grain you can expose, the better your joint is going to be.

Another option, instead of using titebond III, is to use epoxy as a glue. Then you don't have to rough anything up.
Mike...

Thats what I did.. Used epoxy as glue. Worked great.

Jim...the heck with the sanding...use epoxy or gorilla glue...with either it wouldn't hurt to do a quick scuff on the epoxied edges...
madjack

kayakrguy wrote:Aunty M,

So you did this too? By respirator I hope you mean a dusk mask...the respirators cost a zillion How did roughing it up work for you--were you able to get the roof tight to the walls?

I will be sealing the roof and the wall/roof seam with epoxy AFTER I put it on so I hope that the coatings of epoxy will also serve to bind the roof to the walls...

thanks,

Jim

I have a dust mask with the little breather on the front. Just don't get your face right in it. Easy to do if you are as short as me. The sander kicks out dust.

I sure hope roughing it worked cause if it didn't ---poof. Don't get behind me on the highway. I put tightbond on a board I had epoxy on and glued another board to it. The tightbond III held and the PL didn't so I used it. I think if is fine.

Epoxy on the top of a seam won't really hold anything unless your add fiberglass. It will make it water proof. You can use it as a glue but I would still rough it up. Just cause it can't hurt.

MJ, John and Auntie,

Thanks again for the help. I do understand how well epoxy would work as a glue...my only discouragement about that is that it is messy, hard to clean up. Gorilla glue is an attractive choice--simply because I would like to avoid sanding the edges if I can...

So, what is the best way to clean up gorilla glue--any urethane glue?

I may sound dum here but what is the difference between sanding and 'scuffing'--

I really appreciate the help, folks!

Jim

Jim...Gorilla glue...follow all directions on bottle...GG will foam as it sets up...this foam will be very HARD after setup and will haveta be scraped off OR you can take a rag, wet with mineral spirits (or other solvent) and about 15 minutes after putting the pieces together you should see the foam...take your rag and wipe it off NOW before it sets up...GG will clean up nicely in this manner

sanding/scuffing...sanding is an intensive exercise in elbow grease usage...scuffing is just a quick hit to rough up the surface
madjack

What he said. You do not have to do heavy sanding. Just scuff up the surface.

very important---If you use gorilla glue put the water on the skin not the epoxy.
You are looking for a mechanical bond. Remember that your edges aren't the only thing holding the skin on. The entire surface of the spars will be glued too.

On the off chance you find some edge that is not glued tight you can put more glue in that area. It will be fine.

Now take a deep breath and Back to work.

Ok, thanks guys.....I'll post the results when I get the roofing done...trying to finish inside trim, run wiring before closing up the T...

Thanks

Jim

Hi Jim,

In regards to your earlier comment ...

So you did this too? By respirator I hope you mean a dusk mask...the respirators cost a zillion How did roughing it up work for you--were you able to get the roof tight to the walls?

I recommend getting a respirator if you use anything with aerosol or fumes. A dust mask won't protect your lungs from those things. The investment in a respirator is worth every penny. I say this from personal experience with spray paint some time ago. When I took the dust mask off, my nose was covered in black paint that went right thru the mask.

Kris