Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Well, my first "no success"... Tried to glue the 1/8" Birch door skin to the sidewall interior, using Titebond II... however, couldn't get the clamps all the way around everything (total perimeter, doors, windows, in the middle area) so tried brad nails.. to much flex pulled the brads through. Has anyone had success using contact cement (fomica glue) to glue the skins to the side walls. FYI: My side walls are not 100% solid, they are framed out w/ 1x2s, insulation in-between "studs", so I only have those studs as a glueing surface. Got the skins off, cleaned up the glue, will have to do something different tomorrow... dang, 1 day wasted...

ummmm you are saying side wall right? Why would the side wall pull brads out. Paneling nails should put it up. I didn't use glue on mine incase I wanted to change them. The old way is panel glue. Put the glue on press in place, remove for a few minutes then press back. Liquid Nails I believe. Been a few years.

You can use contact cement but if you get it wrong you are tough outta luck.

I was looking for a veneer "finish", like formica, where you can't see a gap between the wall and the birch.. yellow glue will simply not do this unless you can clamp the surface properly, which would take 100 clamps... I may be too critical on what I'm expecting the result to be. I know yellow glue, liquid nail, etc. is more than strong enough, it just doesn't have that initial BITE that holds it right were you put it and TIGHT... but I've never used contact cement wood to wood - don't think it's the right thing to do. I have lots of liquid nail, but I'd prefer not to nail any of it.. 1/8" is thin and that leave little to no room for filling and sanding later...

Keith I put panel nails where I know I am putting trim. Try the gluing method and if it doesn't give what you want you can always add trim later. You won't get intial bite, in spite of what some glues claim. But you can pull it away and put it back. That will hold the glue. Might need a couple of small nails where it isn't visible.

yeah, I guess I could do that... I guess I'm just to use to building furniture and the veneer look that's almost 100% seemless.... I need to remember I'm not building a piano here huh...

Keith...did you weight the panels when they were curing? I'd lay down a couple of wood strips on top of the skin on the sub frame supports and weight the skin, especially on the joint, and a clean routed edge to butt up against each other is a plus. just a thought. the other thing I do is back up anywhere I want to shoot a brad with another piece of the same material, the brad won't shoot through and you can pull them when it is done and a spot of putty will take care of the hole, as you don't have the whole head of the brad in it....Doug

I think I understand what you're up to and if you want to still do it...maybe try this....

Clamp some temporary hardwood stringers across the width of the panel. Clamp them so they correspond with the "studs" in your walls. Then go out and buy a bundle of some cheap shims...$4.00 even in Alaska...and there you go...you may have to go back and forth adjusting the shims, but you can go without nails and get a pretty good clamping force.

Do you have roof on ?Can you lay on side and use sand bag to hold tell glue drys are at lest jack one side and brace where bag won't slide are if flat how about a spare tire to hold the center?

Hey June.... I just came up w/ that idea myself too... went out the shop trying a "dry" fit.. seemed to work good... granted...the sheet is already marked up from the "first try"...but as Miriam said..I'm gonna have trim anyway, so it shouldn't matter... thanks for the tips guys... love this forum.... it's midnight here, but I just can't stand it.. heading out to the shop to give it a go... if I blow it.. my sides are shot ... so I just better not blow it.

June did I miss someone??? could be a Freudian slip, maybe she was the glue girl at Home Depot? ... Like you said, it's late.... Doug

"Houston to TearDrop...come in TearDrop..."
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"Houston, we have 1 skinned side"


Sorry Juneaudave, I didn't type your whole name... thanks for the tip as well... had good grip, a little seep out the side which tells you it's tight.. should look good... Not a big fan of the Birch, hopefully it will finish out better than it's natural state...but at $33 a sheet it's much better than 1/8" oak at $55.......

Now in 6 hours I get to do it all again on side two... but the wires are already ran and the insulation is already in, so it should go pretty quick. Then it's off to pick up some aluminum trim to "practice" anneal.

Doug... you're going to have to post your ancient chinese secret on finishing out birch.. your woodwork finish is glass, gorgeous.... all my furniture that I build is early american, danish and tounge oil.. I don't think that'd look good on this stuff.

sorry Keith...just didn't translate June to Juneau, late for me too...but then I'm an ex-Alaskan and spent a week in Juneau 1 night...on the interior birch...I just brushed on a couple of coats of Varathane in semi-gloss...everyone can do what they want, but I know I may have a dirty or wet dog in there as well as me, so wanted something that could take a beating and hold up, and be resistant to scratches...Doug

doug hodder wrote:June did I miss someone??? could be a Freudian slip, maybe she was the glue girl at Home Depot? ... Like you said, it's late.... Doug

I'm not sure...I've had these urges lately, and I don't know what they mean????

Dave...just take a cold shower and build the tear...they will go away!!! works for me anyway...and what was the name of that big "tourist trap" bar in Juneau that everyone flocked to, at least they did in the early 70's....can't remember right now, the Board of Trade was in Nome, but can't remember the biggie in Juneau... Doug