Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

So I made this nice foam-core door out of 1 Xs and luan. Got myself a SS piano hinge, hung her up and it is warped. I was so sure that it was square and straight but it is warped from corner to corner.

So, first of all, how the heck do you make a nice door? Maybe the side of my camper is warped. I guess I had better find out.

And I was really hoping to be one of you guys who writes "I was afraid of making the door(s) but it turned out to be easy". Not this time. Hours down the drain.

Ed

EZ wrote::x
So I made this nice foam-core door out of 1 Xs and luan. Got myself a SS piano hinge, hung her up and it is warped. I was so sure that it was square and straight but it is warped from corner to corner.

So, first of all, how the heck do you make a nice door? Maybe the side of my camper is warped. I guess I had better find out.

And I was really hoping to be one of you guys who writes "I was afraid of making the door(s) but it turned out to be easy". Not this time. Hours down the drain.

Ed

Ed...

I've learned that the only way to learn, is to do every thing wrong...

Why do I get the feeling you are learning too!

Okay, so your door is not flat... do you have a picture that would show us what's not flat... Don't shake your head, I'm serious here...

The last door I built was not flat, so I cut a strip off, and glued on a piece of oak that was warped in the other direction. The end result, was a flat door. Granted, I painted that door... if that's an option for you... let us know...

If you're doing an aluminum door, bolt a piece of structural aluminum to it...

But I'll wait for the pictures before I make any more suggestions...

Mike...

OK Mike, here is the only pic I could get to upload so far for some reason. I'll try another later.



You can see that the other parts of the door are pretty much lined up with the outside ply with one small exception.

It seems that the door is twisted a bit but I am not sure if it is the door ot the opening. I temporarily installed the side with the door on the floor and clamped it up good so I can check it in the doorway. That will help to decide what course of action to take or make a new door.

I am used to the school of hard knocks when building. But I was really cruising along. Oh well, if everyone could do it (or do it again, or hopefully not again) then everyone would build a teardrop camper.....

Ed

I have this little problem right now also. And mine has the aluminum already skinned and trimmed (not to mention temp hung). It is off about 3/8 of an inch in a corner, such as yours. I still have to decide on a window and figure when I cut out that area I can be sure to get it lined up and put in some reinforcement.

If it were me...I'd wait until I get the door cut out for the window...if you are putting a window in...any tweaking done then will be alot easier to do as you are going to remove a lot of material...I had a real problem with my plywood doors cupping on my first tear, (uninsulated) but 1" thick...the problem...I had cut them and leaned them up against the workbench for weeks on end at an angle...I had to pull out nearly 1" of cup...I cut a bunch of kerfs across the back side, clamped it up to the bench, slightly over bent and backfilled the kerfs with thickened epoxy...by the time I got the window in and the hinges from Grant...the cup was gone..hinges with an extra 90 degree bend like his really stiffen and straighten out a door...your's really don't look that bad...but I'd use a good straight grained dry hardwood to help pull out the twist, also by the time you get an inside flange on them and the latch, that will help too....just my thoughts on it...Doug PS I keep them laying flat all the time now while not on the tear and they are a lot better..but that is on build #2.

What I did was to cut my door out of the side. So if the door is warped, so is my side which makes for a perfect match.


Have a good day.

hey ez,
looks like about 2 quarts of gas and a match and then you could start all over.but iffan you burn it take lots a pics. no not relly what i have done is take it off and lay it flat with weights on it like 5 gal buckets of water or some thing and basicly un warp it other words lay it on the shop floor on plywood is what i would do if it didnt work after 1 day i would put a shim under the low side and try again.

I had about the same problem, except my door was almost finished when it warped, (dampness maybe?). already had all my trim cut and I was anxious to go camping so I said what the heck and finished it anyway. after attaching all the aluminum, installing the latch and weather stripping, I slammed the door shut and off we went. After two days of having to fight with the door, God felt sorry for me and the thing finally straightened out! It's been fine ever since! (Prayer and a little cussing does work somtimes! )

My door was warped exactly as your is. I clamped it with a block and a 1 by 4 and bent it back the other way. Left it like that for awhile. After the clamps were removed it fit fine.
After cutting out the doors I always laid the ply flat on the floor of the tear but I still managed to get a little bit of warp in the one door.
I also used a heat pad when bending. I dont really know if it helped or not.
But I had it handy so I threw it on there anyway.

There's a few good answers already...

Another option you could consider, since you are not that far along, is to buy a piece of maple plywood, and cut a new door out of that.

Don't want to spend another $29?

Okay grab that spare piece of oak out of the shed. You know, the one that's twisted a little bit. Cut a strip 2" wide.

Now cut a vertical strip 2" wide off the door, and glue this oak strip on, using biscuits. Make sure the twist pulls the door in.

Mike...

Ed, like Gage says, we used the cutout lumber frm the sides to make the doors, so if there was any warping, it matched!

It sounds like you're trying to make the door just by framing with 1 by 2's, and not using that lumber as part of your door.

Am I correct here?

The warped door is finished as in a complete box structure so it is really stiff. I actually did wet down the plywood and put a 1 X 2 under the door and put about 50 pounds on the opposite corners. After drying overnight it is a little better (from what I could tell half asleep this morning) but I don't know if it will come back enough to be useful. Also I need to check the side of the camper. I knew the door was going to be trouble....

Those are some good ideas to try, thank you!!!

Ed

Ed,

You probably already checked, but...

Is the door attached to the hinge, perfectly, or could it be out just a bit?
Same thought with how the hinge is attached to the body...just a slight difference from one end to the other can make the door seem warped/twisted.

Rob

So I went home for lunch today and checked the warped door. With 50 pound weights on each corner balancing on a 1 X 2 the door actually seems to be changing shape. For the better that is.

A guy here at work told me to press on and forget about the door for a while. His take is that it may change shape again along the way and then again when it gets wet with paint. Actually that sounds logical. I will concentrate on installing the sides and getting them plumb and work with the door later.

Rob, I know what you mean. I worked with it a little last night purposely changing the angle of the hinge to try and correct the problem.

Ed