Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I have decided to go with wood for the hatch frame instead of steel tubing for a few various reasons and that has brought up a question:

Which is better?

Hatch ribs from 3/4" ACX plywood or buying some 1x8s and use solid wood and if solid wood, what kind?

My ribs are going to be about 30" or so overall length and 1 1/2" deep.



What say you?

I vote for plywood. It's strongest in that dimension. There's no worry about the end grain tearing out because anything attached (ie: the outer skin)to it will likely not be subjected to a lot of force.

-Greg

Hi , a few things to think about.Solid wood can warp & twist , Plywood is not as susceptible . If I went with solid I would use poplar , it is a stable wood. You may want to double up on them also, what I mean is cut 2 & glue & screw them together. It will help with spring back & warping. I used 3/4 inch ply & glued 2 together & they are VERY strong.Never had any spring back or warping. Good luck!!

I'd say it depends on how you plan to attach everything. Can't reliably use screws or other mechanical fasteners in the edge of plywood like you can with solid wood. You could use Poplar and join two pieces with biscuits to make your dogleg, less expensive than a big piece of stock. You could use a combination of solid wood and plywood.

Mark

...no pics handy but on the 5wide, we used 3/4x2.5" ply ribs(13ply birch/poplar cabinet grade)...1x2.5" oak for top/bottom boards...skinned with 1/8th luan ply and .040 AL...living plastic piano hinge...no other bracing/blocking...weighs about 30 pounds...easy to lift...works ever so well for me(and wife)...........
madjack

Alright guys... thanks for the input. Plywood it is. I have a ton of scrap 3/4 so i guess some of it will get used...

Now all i need is for it to warm up a little...

I planed some Ash down to 1/8" and laminated my bows. Stronger than ply, and less chance of breakage with the grain. You could cut them down, to 1/8" on a table saw, instead of using a planer. Jim G

I see I am a little late to the question, but you made a good call.

Plywood is very strong and stable in that orientation, and the more plies, the better.

On my last build, the Giant Teardrop (aka the Generic ET) I glued the two outside ribs together... Worked perfectly!



Mike...

I KNOW a tear is always greater than the sum of it's parts, but after all the reading I've done here (on the entire site) on all the little bits and pieces that make a complete trailer, it reminds me of when I read somewhere the exact number of parts it took to build a 1957 Chevy Belair. Several thousand. That's how I feel about what I'm getting into. But I gotta' remember...one piece at a time.