EXPANDING FOAM

[Prem]

This is craftsmanship!

http://englishrussia.com/?p=1949

And his shop is WAY too big for his needs.

Prem

[Mightydog]

Lets see what kind of tear drop he can whup up to go behind that ride!

[planovet]

Just perfect for Dave's foam teardrop (Bluebonnet II)

[Prem]

Fellow Oregonian: Down here in the deep south of the state, we say Oragun. (With a Georgia-Pacific or Louisiana-Pacific twang or a straight California non-accent...err, or a hispanic accent "Oh ray GON." I use them all depending on the company.)

Prem

P.S. No expanding foam for me. I think I'll stick with aluminum exteriors. Less work and less maintenance is a good thing.

[High Desert]

Fellow Oregonian: Down here in the deep south of the state, we say Oragun. (With a Georgia-Pacific or Louisiana-Pacific twang or a straight California non-accent...err, or a hispanic accent "Oh ray GON." I use them all depending on the company.)

Prem

you tell 'em Prem (from an Oragun native)

[Prem]

Sorry about the thread drift there friends.

Feel free to talk expanding foam here even if you live in Oregon.

Mea culpa.

Prem

[Todah Tear]

This is how I built the front part of my tongue box, using Great Stuff!






Todah

[Prem]

Todah,

Is that fabric on top of wet foam pressed into it? Painted after?

Prem

[Todah Tear]

No. I formed a cavity of about 2" with wall paper and wire mesh from one of the wooden sides of the box to the other. I poked some expansion relief wholes for the excess to bleed off. I then Great Stuff filled the cavity with Great stuff. I glued that micro-bubbled drawer liner to the outside to form the basket texture, and then coated it with bedliner, spray painted it and then added several coats of Helmens Spar polyurethane for UV protection and shine. The wall paper was used to guide and control expansion. If I had have used just the wire mesh, the foam would have expanded right through it and then I would have to deal with spilliage control before it hardened or I would have had to sand everything down to match the contour.

One thing to remember with this stuff is DON'T GET IT ON YOUR SKIN or it is there for at least a week...provided you wash the area everday. If some of the stuff spills over on something, don't try to wip it up. Let it harden and it will just pop right up. If you smear it when it is wet, you have just made a problem for yourself.

Todah

[Prem]

Todah,

Cool!

What kind of wire mesh...expanded metal? (Looks like.)

You chose that method to insulate the box or to get the curve you wanted? Or both at once?

Prem

[Sparksalot]

An oldie, but a goodie

Adobe - very unsafe car, with a sticker price of $179; made entirely of clay, it combines German engineering and Mexican know-how.

[Todah Tear]

Todah,

Cool!

What kind of wire mesh...expanded metal? (Looks like.)

You chose that method to insulate the box or to get the curve you wanted? Or both at once?

Prem

Thanks, I actually chose it for both reasons, but more for the curve. The wire mesh is covered up. The pattern that you see is from the drawer liner (sold at Dollar General store, Wal-mart, etc.).

Todah

[Prem]

Adobe!!!

Prem

P.S. I especially like the hood ornament.

[High Desert]

I'd like to know what they guy with the foam covered car in the first post did to get the finish on it. I'm guessing fiberglass, but man is that a smoooth looking final finish.

[Prem]

Todah,

Back in ~1989-90, I used to get a bi-monthly newsletter in the mail called "The Paper Boater." It was about building compound curve boats out of everything from paper mache to 20-layers of shopping bags all epoxied together over a form of shaped PU foam.

I am mentally formulating my next build using some variant of those. Your method has reinvigorated my thinking. I have to have a conventional teardrop shape again to go to teardrop gatherings because a few curmudgeon "purists" at non-Tearjerker gatherings don't like my 12-foot standie cargo conversion showing up. I'm thinking of using the cardboard from large appliances for the basic cut-out (including doors), gluing and stapling a few sticks of wood to it to stiffen it, frame-in the doors and anchor it to the floor of the trailer. Next could be covering it all with Great Stuff foam and Kraft paper into the wet foam, and then painting it with exterior latex (desert camo colors and pattern).

Whadayathink?

Prem