Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'd like to make the aluminum skin of my trailer look like a riveted airplane skin. Is anyone aware of fasteners or other hardware that I can drive through the skin into the underlying wood to give that appearance?

Larry

I don't have a good picture of it, but I used the stainless steel, square-drive, washer pan head screws Danny mentioned.



In addition to aesthetics, the screws are located where I had to overlap my aluminum sheets.

Google "upholstery nails" in image and this one of the pics you will get........

bobhenry wrote:Google "upholstery nails" in image and this one of the pics you will get........

I'd be afraid nails would pull out over time. I'd opt for screws. At ten feet or so I doubt you could tell the difference from screws and rivets.

Cheers,

Gus

bobhenry wrote:Google "upholstery nails" ...

Oh, DUH! ... upholstery nails! Who'd a thunk ... ...? Good call, Bob!
One thing to be sure of, though, is that there is material behind the skin that you can nail to ... and, don't forget to put a dab of sealant on the nail before you drive it in.

Geeeezzzzzzzzzz ... with all the members on this 'board, there are sure some crafty and unique solutions to all kinds of problems/challenges ... ...! Keep 'em coming!

CHEERS!

Every penetration is a, potential, leak

Guess I just live dangerously.......



Rip van Winkle is "penetrated"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


So is the wishbone wagon
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The Lexan roof on Chubby is held on with the same rosettes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Ice dam tape is self healing around penetrations if placed under the skin where nailing may be needed.A dab of 100% silicone as backup under the heads is a good bit of insurance also.



Funny some folks have no problem cutting a 14" x 14" hole in the roof for a fantastic fan and worry about a nail hole.

Me I was scared of the 14" x 14" "Penetration"

Pre drilling may prevent the inevetable dimple if you missfire with the hammer. Just make sure if you do predrill your bit is smaller than the stem of the nail, screw, tack or what ever. A dab of sealant and you should be ok.

Are the rivets purely aesthetic? If so, why put the holes in the skin - a potential leak. What about bonding on ally coloured screw caps, purely as decorative?

http://www.pro-dec.com/chrome-gold-copp ... -snap-caps

Just a thought

mallymal wrote:Are the rivets purely aesthetic? If so, why put the holes in the skin - a potential leak. What about bonding on ally coloured screw caps, purely as decorative?

http://www.pro-dec.com/chrome-gold-copp ... -snap-caps

Just a thought

My point exactly. If it is necessary to penetrate the skin, for attachment purposes, then so be it. To punch your trailer skin full of holes, to achieve a "look", could be a bit foolhardy.

What about riveting the two pieces together to make a full sheet. There are special rivets that look similar on both sides when installed. No leg sticking out the back. You need to order them based on the thickness of the two pieces you are joining. Not sure but I thought he called them blind rivets. If you overlap the 2 pieces and use a sealant between the sheets and then the rivets you get the look you want without the problems.

There is a type of fastener that has has a smooth head and a spirally ridged shank/body.
I believe the way it is installed is by drilling the appropriate sized hole for it and then driving
the fastener in and it looks like a rivet. It may be a type of rivet.

This may be it:
http://www.brattons.com/prodtype.asp?PT ... hCriteria=

This is even better - called a "Drive screw" [w/ round head]:
http://www.rivetsonline.com/drive-screw.html
http://www.rivetsonline.com/drive-screw ... crews.html

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

Drive screws will not work well in wood. They are intended for metal only. If you have a steel framed trailer, they will work well, but sealing them will require some thought. Another, potential, problem is the installation. With, say, 200-500 screws in a typical trailer and the necessity of pounding each one in tightly, how many times will you miss and whack the skin with your BFH???

CarlLaFong wrote: how many times will you miss and whack the skin with your BFH???

Once would be more than enough for me.

Cheers,

Gus