A little piano hinge advice, please (help)

[Gage]

I've known Roly sense before he had the 1/2 Nelson Woody finished. You never know what he is going to come up with next. .........

[Kody]

Hmmmm, Ok, time to tell. I have posted at least two posts that someone should have picked up on instantly to question what I wrote but no-one has. I guess the posts were too subtle. And I was even using American English, no Aussie Strine. One was about Coleman lights and the other about camping in the winter. Wonder what they were about? Doesn't matter now, no-one saw them before, so no-one will see them now.

Kody

[nevadatear]

Expert builder, posted in off topic, self admitted practical joker. Ni go with he's pulling our collective chains!

[Roly Nelson]

Oh my gosh, the cat's out of the bag. I really feel bad about not waiting until April fool's day to post my piano hinge problem. Of course I am aware of the problem of making a less than straight, piano hinge work at all. So, folks, it was all a tongue in cheek post, and I am sorry that I didn't make it clear, that I was just expecting to be shut down by others that knew about my, sometimes strange, sense of humor. However, I do appreciate the input by those that were trying to help me, and I guess that is what I love about the helpfullness of our TnTTT family. If I ever get this "wild hair" again, I promise to end the post with a disclaimer about my sincerity. I guess my fellow highschool friends of 63 years ago, were not that far off, when they unanimously voted for me as their class clown. Hmmm, it has really been hard to live down, especially by going through life in construction management, where I was expected to be so damned prim and proper. (However, my tin-can and string telephone, got an unexpected laugh by all of the neckties visiting the jobsite)

On the bright side, I am truely busy sketching, and modeling this goofy thing, and going to sleep with visions of the "Good Year Blimp Sugarplumb", spinning around in my head. So far, I have completed a scale model of a ten footer, that is 4 ft high. There are a whole bunch of laminated circular bows and 10 bent, linear members, which also must be laminated to the proper curve from end to end. My model is covered with computer paper, and I must say, it looks kind of neat. Upon the side, I have taken the liberty to alter the standard, "GOOD YEAR" lettering to read: "WOOD TEAR" (seperated by the shoe or boot logo). If my scale dimensions are correct, the bed will be 6 1/2 ft long and 30 inches wide, with added sloping sides, which seems like plenty of roof for my slender frame.

One of the advantages of the many replys to my post, was some helpful clues about using auto trunk/style hinges, which I will look into. I stil have to work out a workable galley, and somehow I want to provide some under-counter storage space for all of my cooking junk. Another problem may be some sort of windows, (lest I feel I am sleeping in a coffin). A roof vent could probably be added, but I'll cross that hurdle when I get to it. This thing should be really lightweight, since the sides will be some sort of fabric, kind of like vintage aircraft wings. Now, seriously, does anyone have any helpful hints for me, to complete this project, so it won't fall apart or leak in the rain? Right now, I am kicking around using torsion axles, with no metal frame what-so-ever, just side angle irons to fasten them to. That should save some unwanted weight, but it will be uncharted territory for me, so we'll see how it goes.

Hmmm. it looks like Kody, Gage and Rmclark, were onto me all along....... Many thanks for the helpful advice of others.
Roly, plugging along on number 4, which keeps me off of the couch and out of the bars

[DriverOne]

Why did the original post date 1970?

[wagondude]

For simplicity, do your galley sideways with the hinge point along the length of the blimp. The hatch would open on the curb side. That would give the most usable counter space.


And put the least curve in your piano hinge.

[angib]

How about using self-aligning hinges which were made for exactly this sort of application. They tolerate some (but not unlimited) misalignment of the two halves of the hinge as they meet at a spherical brass ball.

hinge.JPG (46.55 KiB) Viewed 1837 times

I think on a horizontal-axis hinge it would be sensible to fit left- and right-handed hinges facing in to the centre. In the UK these are truck body fittings (they were once regular car door hinges) and they must be available n the US as Scamp use them on their trailers - they sell repair kits for them, so I bet they would sell a pair of complete hinges.

[sid]

..... That's a good one Roly.... I love the replies! You really pulled hard on their leg this time...

I just had to design and build another different kind of teardrop trailer. My latest creation is a teardrop shaped like the Good Year Blimp. However, I am having a real problem with the hatch lid and it's hinge. The hatchlid fits just fine, but when I bent the piano hinge around the curve on the roof and screwed it down to the roof and to the hatch lid, I can't get the damned thing open. No matter how I try, it seems to bind and won't move more than an inch or so. What am I doing wrong? Piano hinges may not be the answer, besides they leak, due to their joints every 1/2 inch or so.

All of the piano hinges on my other TDs have worked just fine, but this one has me stumped. I guess I flunked engineering, so I may have to trash the whole thing, if someone can't fill me in about my bendable, curved, impossable hatch-lid lifting proceedures. Another problem I fear I will have would be fighting this same situation when I build the door on the curved side. Ugh, this stinks and trying to solve this problem makes my head hurt, I'm too old for this crap.
Roly

[mezmo]

Hi Roly,

I'd at least use Andrew's Ultra Light Chassis:

http://www.angib.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/t ... tear57.htm

I think you'd at least need that to locate the wheels so it'd track
correctly behind your car.

You need to make sure the structure will be strong enough to
support itself - maybe look into how the old early airplanes were
constructed or introduce some triangulation into the design.

Would a 1/4in ply stitch-n-glue boat like structure be another approach ?
It'd be just like building two hulls or nutshell halves and then joining them
together. [I would suggest hinging that at the center (w/ spring assist
for opening it.) but that'd really probably be too coffin-like.] You could
include some ribs too if you need them for any attachments.

I should think that using fabric as the outer covering would make it very
hard to make it puncture proof - unless you used kevlar or carbon fiber
cloth and epoxy [very expensive !] But, using shrinking Dacron fabric over it as an
exterior covering, like they use on kayaks, may be another approach and
give you enough puncture resistance to be acceptable. Google 'skin-on-frame'
kayaks for info on that.

This website may have structure and covering methods you could adapt
for your design:

http://gaboats.com/

Will your design be totally "blimp shaped" or will you have a flat floor ? And
will the floor be rectangular or oval/ovoid shaped ?

You could make a sandwich panel or a gridded "honeycomb-like" panel [If you'd
emulate these: http://singcore.com/ ] for the base and attach the blimp-like
body to it. Using a perimeter frame in that panel with located inserts along that
and at other locations positioned for attaching the minimal frame-n-suspension
and other necessary things should work.

Are you going to have a gondola underneath it ? A faux one could be a way to
attach the blimp-like structure to a flat base, either by itself [oval shaped base] or
"grounded" on a nominally larger rectangular base that could be covered in astro-turf,
where the gondola isn't covering it, to simulate a portable landing field. That would
be easier to build and the extra flat space off the ground could come in handy when
camping.

'Just throwing out ideas since you asked...

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[Roly Nelson]

Thanks Norm, for the helpful hints. Now I really have some revised planning to do. I figured if I added a gondola, it would make it too top heavy, since it it 10 ft long and 4 ft high. I want to keep is as light as possible so my 4 banger Cruze can handle it. My model has the floor/framework recessed into the bottom of the body, to keep it as low as possible, and my 6 ft mattress will fit on it nicely.
Roly

[Gage]

Here ya go Roly. A couple of pictures borrowed from dandan’s gallery. Is it blimp or is it a Roswell? .............





PS: Not making fun of the trailer. It's a good looking Tiny Trailer and I would be proud to have it parked in my drive way.

[sagebrush]

I'm thinking Roly should sit quietly ,have 2 or 3 or more chocolate cookies and a big glass of milk while he thinks how he took advantage of us!

Roly, I work with a fellow who was an A&P mech. in the 60's. He has experience with fabric and dope airframes. PM me if you have questions and we will pick his brain

Will

[Gage]

blimp or a rosewell. its made out of WOOD knowing roly!

slow

But Roly didn't build that one.

[S. Heisley]

Roly wrote:

Oh my gosh, the cat's out of the bag. I really feel bad about not waiting until April fool's day to post my piano hinge problem.

I stayed out of it, up 'til now. However, if I had tried to pull that one on the forum, I think I would have gotten dumped on and creamed.

[S. Heisley]

I never noticed it before; but, Dale's Jelly Belly and Dan's Roswell are quite similar in shapes.