Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

After spending $65 for just 2 quarts of Pratt and Lambert Spar Varnish this morning for my side skins (the store had to special-order it), I figured it's time to go roof shopping. The Crab might still be a full woody, but I'm also looking at aluminum.

Thanks for the info on Wrisco, Bruce. They helped me find a local dealer of their painted aluminum in .032 gauges. But...

They also distribute (for wholesale) a product called Apolic, which are composite material aluminum sheets that are 1/8" thick. (I think the gauge is like .123, .124, something like that.) Because they're composite, they're not necessarily heavier--they're just thicker.

The product is designed for exterior signage (bars, gas stations, more bars), which means it's built to really hold up. It's also designed for intense BENDING. And it comes in a bunch of cool colors and finishes.

If you want some free samples that they'll ship to you FedEx ground (free shipping, too!), go here:

http://www.alpolic-usa.com/main/index.p ... atalogview

I brought you right to the showroom here. You can pass by the first listing of Corporate ID (that just shows you what they've done for past clients). You don't even have to register; just look for the button to request samples.

Did I say FREE???

The samples--not the actual sheets.

I requested some samples. On the upside, it is available up to 62" wide and as long as you need. On the down side, I'm not sure what I'd do with 1000 sq ft of it. Not sure they will do orders small enough to do just one trailer.

Nitetimes wrote:On the down side, I'm not sure what I'd do with 1000 sq ft of it. Not sure they will do orders small enough to do just one trailer.

I'm sure they can point us to local dealers if we think we like the stuff. It might be totally inappropriate for ANY of our uses, but what the heck, we might as well see.

My thinking for this now also involves the galley. I know that's going to be a high moisture, smoky, dirty area to deal with. While I love the great wood looks on a lot of the galleys I've seen here, I want to look into alternative, indestructible and easy to maintain surface materials.

I worked for a sign company for 15 years and used a lot of alpolic. It has a neoprene type sheet sandwiched between 2 pieces of aluminum. It is easy to work, with a saw or a router. I used it with a marble type finish on the backsplash in my last house. The real drawback to it is that it will dent relatively easily, and there isn't anything you can do to take care of the dent, especially if you have any special finish on the exterior. A lot of commercial buildings use this material on their exterior, lots of colors/finishes available. Just my experience with it. Get samples and check it out...maybe it's what will work for you.... Doug Hodder

Here is another source for you.

http://www.wrisco.com/alpolic/index.html

I talked to Wrisco friday for a quote on aluminum sheets. They were very nice!

Thanks for the tip, Doug. No, denting is NOT a good thing. But mabe that's NOT an issue when it's mounted like flush to a galley side wall? If a little ping puts a dent in it, then no good at all.

And Endo, I spoke with them at Wrisco too. They said a minimum of 5 sheets, something to do with damage when they ship less. Also, only a few of the colors come in .032.

They gave me the names of 2 dealers near me, so when I get a chance, I'm going to go and see if that bronze is what I want. They have a green too, but I think that may be a little too much for my taste.

Ira...here's an idea. Go to a local sign shop that is a manufacturer of cabinets, not just the vinyl guys. Ask the purchasing agent if you can tag on a sheet or 2 of what you want on their next order, that is if they get wrisco, or alpolic. They may or may not do it, I know I did it for people when I was in Denver, won't hurt to ask. I was real fortunate as I used to pick up lots of drop from the shop. Doug Hodder

Samples showed up today. I am not terribly impressed by them. The colors are on moderately nice (I do like the copper) but nothing like the website showed. It would be near impossible to roll this around a roof, waaay too stiff. It would probably work for sides tho. It's about 3/16" think and definately not lite, a 3 1/2" sq piece weighs an ounce and a half. My calculator figures it at around 55lb a 5X10 sheet. It would also need to be clearcoated because the finish scratches pretty easy. You can see on the brown on where I rub the tip of a pocket knife over it with very little pressure.
All in all I'd say not a very good choice for our application.
BTW - I am sure this is a very good product for it's intended purpose, the above is just my opinion of it for TD use.

Nitetimes wrote:Samples showed up today. I am not terribly impressed by them. The colors are on moderately nice (I do like the copper) but nothing like the website showed. It would be near impossible to roll this around a roof, waaay too stiff. It would probably work for sides tho. It's about 3/16" think and definately not lite, a 3 1/2" sq piece weighs an ounce and a half. My calculator figures it at around 55lb a 5X10 sheet. It would also need to be clearcoated because the finish scratches pretty easy. You can see on the brown on where I rub the tip of a pocket knife over it with very little pressure.
All in all I'd say not a very good choice for our application.
BTW - I am sure this is a very good product for it's intended purpose, the above is just my opinion of it for TD use.

Ohhhhh.....that means that MY samples are probably waiting for me at home too! As well as my porthole windows!

IT FEELS LIKE CHRISTMAS!!!

Heavy ain't good. Scratching ain't good. But I'm surprised by your analysis of the bending. I guess when they say it's easily bendable, they mean it will do right angle bending without actually cracking the sheet.

Oh well--we live and learn.

IraRat wrote:
Ohhhhh.....that means that MY samples are probably waiting for me at home too! As well as my porthole windows!

IT FEELS LIKE CHRISTMAS!!!

Heavy ain't good. Scratching ain't good. But I'm surprised by your analysis of the bending. I guess when they say it's easily bendable, they mean it will do right angle bending without actually cracking the sheet.

Oh well--we live and learn.

I think that's what they mean by bendable also because these samples are so stiff I just can't imagine getting them to curve around a shallow curve let alone a tight one without a whole lot of struggling. It may be a bit different with a full sheet but I still think it would kink before it would roll.

You may want to cut out a piece of 1/4" ply or 1/8" ply and see how it compares in bendability.

Night times. you're right. Alpolic can be bent in a break, but for some guy trying to bend it and fasten it on a tear, it's gonna be a challenge. Ideally it needs to be run through neoprene rollers to get a gradual curve to it. It was mostly meant to be used on the exteriors of buildings, lots of flat panel stuff. There are a lot more samples other than what is shown, I can't remember who the manufacturer is, but what is shown is mostly the industrial stuff. There are designer finishes, marble, jade, granite, red and black that has a high gloss to it. It was an alpolic product, I just can't remember the manufacturer of them now. somewhere in my pile of crap, I have the info. I've been out of the sign biz for 5 years now however. I'll see in I can scrape up the other manufacturers. You should have seen the buildings in Denver that had to be refaced after a major hail storm, 3"dia. stones, back in '91. Doug Hodder

Mitsubishi makes alpolic in their Chesapeake, VA plant.

Guy - on the road to my son's college graduation

Well, my samples didn't arrive yesterday, but as I see, no big deal.