Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[eaglesdare]

ok i am going out to empty the foamie. the only thing that will still be in there for the weight will be the mattress, and blankets. but it should be weighed here shortly.

i'm lovin the foamie followers.

[eaglesdare]

oh i forgot to mention this, but i bought weather stripping from lowes, and some from walmart. same thickness. the lowes does not stick well, i had to use hot glue.
the walmart one sticks much much better. i did not have to use hot glue. so if anyone is considering buying weather stripping use walmarts.

[swampjeep]

Hey Eagle, can you give details on teh mattress you have, maybe we can find a weight on it. I know around here I can get about a dozen different futon matresses, biggest difference is over all size and thickness. I've had the standard 4" thick, and the upgraded 8" ones. I could even weigh my 8" that's here at the house if that helps figure things out.

glad to hear you're getting it weighed today we've all been very curious

[GPW]

Eagle , how about some close up pics of your doors ... Just thinking we'd all would like to see how you did that ...




and the weight ...

[mikeschn]

I'm out of town this weekend, or I'd be outback building something.

I have a basic plan in my mind, but I have to sit down tomorrow when I get home and draw it up in cad. By the time I'm done there won't be much time for cutting...

Mike...

[Ratkity]

I posted some picts of the doors getting done on the foamie thread:

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... c&start=15

They are almost at the end of the page.

Basically, we inset 3/4 inch scrap wood where the hinges were to go in and secured the wood with gorilla glue. The entire foam door was covered in canvas with T2 and then primed, painted and gone over again in diluted T2. There is matching wood scraps on the foamie door entrance for the other side of the hinges and latches.

We used the cutouts of the door, but in retrospec, perhaps getting another piece of foam to make the doors would have been better so we could make a lip inside. Another thought is to place a wood frame around the door entry way and then make the doors out of wood so there is a tight fit (water tight). Would be easier to put in the windows with a wood door as well.

Hugs,
Ratkity

[eaglesdare]

ok are you all ready? we went to the weigh station and it was closed!

but then hubby said they have a scale at the dump. so off we went to the dump. the guy asked "you throwing that out?" rick and i both at the same time says "oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh nooooooooooooooo!"

so the guy said its off by 20 lbs give or take. but the overall weight including the mattress is 540. but it could be 520 with the scale not being exact. and you have to take at least 20lb or more off for the mattress. it is memory foam 4 or 5 inches queen size. and there is also another mattress underneath it. so total is about 6 inches of memory foam queeen. i looked on the box but did not find a weight.
so minus the trailer weight which is 265lb. the actual shell is pretty darn light.

but total overall weight i will say it is 500lbs and be done with it.

will come back later to catch up on the threads with more pics. but headed to the nusery now. planting and putting up fencing today.

[mikeschn]

I think that's safe to tow with an HHR.

You can even throw in 500 pounds worth of beer!

Mike...

[Catherine+twins]

Hey you guys (and gals),

All your foam talk is contagious!!!

See what you made me do today...



Now I just gotta figure out what I am going to cut...

I found the 8 oz canvas at Home Depot. A 9x12' piece is $19. And the glue is $15 a gallon. I think you got me... hook, line and sinker!

Mike...

Haha, that looks just like my trailer! I've been sitting on the fence since March, trailer ready and 4 sheets of plywood purchased for the floor and the beginnings of the back wall (I'm planning a rear-entry standy). But I've been worried about weight, and the more I read about the foamy project, the more I liked it! As originally planned it was probably going to be a little tail-heavy, and with foam that will just get worse, so I have to re-think the galley. Ah, well, I'll work it out.



Time to get cutting!

Catherine

[GPW]

Eagle , for all you (and Hubby)went through to weigh it .... a BIG THANKS !!!!
500 lbs... that 's about what we guessed/calculated , so this Is pretty predictable ...
No Wonder it's so easy to tow !!! Gee, that works out Great with all the gear you want to carry , and the 500lbs. of Beer too ...
C&T ... welcome to the Foamie Club !!!

Big Mike , anxious to see what you've got drawn up !!!

[eaglesdare]

yup the hhr can pull this. and i don't have tons of gear, so this weight is perfect.

gpw, i your welcome, but i wanted to know as much as you did.

off to watch the derby now.

[GPW]

Rat and Eagle ... saw the doors ... That was Brilliant , just insetting the blocks where needed!!!! ... I was planning on lining the Whole door and frame ... I like your method much better .... less wood ...

[RAYVILLIAN]

Just a thought on gluing wood to the foam for the inside. I've had good luck with latex contact cement. At least in experimentation. I used some on the current Warrior but I'm not going to try to tear it apart to see if it sticks good but it did work fine on the test panel I made. It's not cheap so when I ran out of what I had I tried latex vinyl floor adhesive. It's cheaper and I've had to tear some vinyl floor up with my work and it doesn't come up without a lot of effort so I would think that it should stick paneling to the foam fine.

Gary

[mikeschn]

Hi Gary,

does one of these ring a bell?

[img]http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?image_id=78405\[/img]

Mike...

[GPW]

Mike , we tried that water based CC from Wally World (Duro) it was awful ... didn't stick worth a hoot ... scratch that one off the list ...
Years ago we used an excellent WB CC for model work ... Southern RC Sorghum ... still available but too Pricy to consider for TD use... unless they sell it by the gallon (much cheaper) It stuck like Crazy and didn't out gas later like some CCs ... just perfect for foam to wood joining , well tested on many foam wings ... I think it was even "Organic" ...

BTW , I still design and fly small RC models ... even got a couple videos on You Tube ... but then , doesn't EVERYBODY ... NBD