Hello from Central NC

[gold27701]

Newbie here, been searching through the forums, to see if anybody had a similar thought for a teardrop foamie/hybrid. I haven't found anything yet, but there is a lot of knowledge and cool ideas in these forums. So still lurking...

Basically my idea is to use, osb and foam, my idea is to ply the wood and foam together and shape the form of the teardrop lengthwise. I am probably not explaining this well, so I have attached some crude sketches to try to relate what I am saying. The overall form of the teardrop would be formed by the foam/osb method, as I tried to relate in sketch #2

The hope is, the foam would provide the weight savings and insulation needs, and the osb would provide the structural requirements, that is required. I am also thinking about away to attach the walls, for structural needs as well.

This is the very beginning of my design process, so open to ideas and suggestions for the design, any help is appreciated.

Thank you,
Goldie

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[tony.latham]

In my opinion, OSB has no place in trailer construction. Any water intrusion and it’s done.

Spend another $5 and use exterior plywood.

Tony


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[gold27701]

Thanks Tony, I was up in the air on OSB. At first I was looking at Baltic Birch, but that was a little pricey, I will look into other plywood as a solution.

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[edgeau]

Do I understand this right? You make a giant sandwich and hollow out the middle with the two outside layers remaining intact? Then cover with PMF? It seems you would have a lot of left over material but I guess it would work as long as you cut out the interior shape on each layer before glueing together.

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[gold27701]

No, not to sandwich immediately, I was thinking about waste as a well. But to cut out the form from the 4x8 OSB, then piece the foam similar to the wood form, maybe a little hangover. Adhere everything together, then shape the foam to the form to the final shape.

Now I am thinking about 1x3 pine or another wood, just thinking no research on it yet. I would join the pieces together to form the structural element, it would eliminate a lot of waste. I have a vision, similar to a truss system in a house, again just brain storming.

The foam, if I plan right, waste would be more conservative, because I can piece it together. I would adhere the foam to the wood then shape it to the final form.

I still need to skin it, with what I haven't decided yet.



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[pchast]

You need to define what you want the structure for.
I used little wood with my foam build. I could
have used less, I believe.

[gold27701]

Well that is a good point, I think the majority of the use would be lite gravel roads, typical for park use, maybe some boondocking too. So the majority of the use, would be used for mountain bike trips, those trips are centralized around state and federal park systems. Definitely not used for off-road 4 wheeling excursions....

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[campbellinaz]

Well that is a good point, I think the majority of the use would be lite gravel roads, typical for park use, maybe some boondocking too. So the majority of the use, would be used for mountain bike trips, those trips are centralized around state and federal park systems. Definitely not used for off-road 4 wheeling excursions....

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Check SIP (structural insulated panel) used in building construction. These are panels made up of plywood/osb bonded to a foam insulation core creating a “sandwich” of foam insulation between plywood/osb. I’ve not built a “foamie” but I would think that all you really need is wood “bucks” around any opening for mounting doors/hatches etc. Good luck with your build!