Another foam standie...

[Wolffarmer]

WW

You are right. It was Barkerville. I had a wonderful time on that trip, rain and flooding be da......rned. The river was mighty high. I remember it as being in flood stage at places and the guy piloting the ferry was dodging trees and junk. It was a great ride.



I will go out of my way to these small ferries.

The large car ferry to Prince Rupert was great also. It is an over night trip. A bit before Prince Rupert it went between some islands and the main land. It was wilderness on both sides of the ship and i swear there was not enough room for 2 to pass. That was back in the late 70's.

Maybe you should quit talking about where you live. We will end up moving there.

Randy

[Wobbly Wheels]

Hehe..well I did quit, Randy....for a few days anyway...

So, the door is glassed and I'll be interested to see what the panel is like once it cures.
But first, the pics:
Faired, sanded, glass on (should be green by tonight so I can trim it)


Some weapons of choice for shaping this stuff:


So now to get this sanded and primed, then finish prepping the bed for the Lexel that I'll be gluing the window in with. I coated the foam in resin thickened with cabosil. Unlike the microballons used for fairing, cabosil makes a gap filling structural adhesive. I smeared it on the foam in the rebate I made for the window and after I've cut the scrap cloth out of the opening I'll clean up the bed and get it ready to receive the window sealant.

After I pick up some more materials I can start on the floor - most likely next weekend...

I'm thinking of a frameless mount for the windows on the body, something like what one sees on fullsize vans. That way, I can simply drill three holes in the plexi and not have to incorporate a frame.
I have been looking at vans at the local wrecker's and some of them have some pretty long windows using those latches, and they're already tinted and tempered glass...and thrifty !!

[eaglesdare]

[DJT]

Brian, that door looks really good!

[GPW]

W2...NICE door !!! Really like how you incorporated the longitudinal "spines " in the structure... That's gotta' be STRONG !!!

Like your collection of shaping tools too !!! Cool window idea !!!

[Wobbly Wheels]

Thx folks.

I just went down to trim the edges and cut the glass out of the window opening. I had a little bit of delam on the hinge side, so I picked the door up to deal with it.

Man, is it ever light !!!!!

I'm going to be looking for some primer in the next couple days so I need to decide on what to use for a topcoat because I have to get the primer on the door to protect it from UV till I'm ready to paint it. UV is one of the few things epoxy doesn't tolerate well.

So....any thoughts on paint ?
Something that I can roll on is best, preferably something that will fill the weave in a coat or two (from where the primer leaves off).

If I lived anywhere near a WalMart, I'd try and get some of that great paint GPW used but I don't so I'll have to make do....maybe a marine enamel ?

[GPW]

W2, a Good (Quality) Exterior Latex house paint should work fine ... it does come in High Gloss !!! Easy to work with , easy to touch up .... if needed...
If you think the door is light , wait till you get the whole trailer built ... I can still pick up either end of mine with one hand ... Towing the empty trailer today (bouncing a bit with no weight) makes me think I'll need to ballast up for the trips.... More "spiritus fermenti " !!! Guess Big Mike was right about the 500 lbs. of Beer...


Wal Mart paint .... grrrrrrrrr!!!!

[Conedodger]

So....any thoughts on paint ?
Something that I can roll on is best, preferably something that will fill the weave in a coat or two (from where the primer leaves off).

Two part epoxy floor paint would work. They also use it to re-coat swimming pools, its would harden to a second solid skin

[Wobbly Wheels]

Epoxy floor paint...of course !


I used some Interlux a few years back when I was "re-purposing" some shipping containers. It took a while to cure but it was rock hard when it was done.
Just have to price it out now....fortunately it shouldn't take much.

I'll need to ballast up for the trips.... More "spiritus fermenti " !!! Guess Big Mike was right about the 500 lbs. of Beer

But you'd still have the same problem coming home. Every beer I take camping knows it's a one-way ticket.
Bag a moose on the way out of the bush, maybe ?

[eaglesdare]

now what is this epoxy floor paint? i used regular paint on mine. this epoxy paint, will that make a hard surface? flatter/smoother surface, if its filled the canvas weave?

just thinking that is all.

[GPW]

W2 , No troubles!!! Everywhere we go the wife does so much shopping , probably come back Heavier ... That's her idea of camping ... She'd be happy camping at the mall ... True !!! In fact , she's in NYC today .. Sardi's and Shopping ... Yesterday it was Brandywine ... and Shopping ... Day before Morrestown Mall, NJ .. That Girl can SHOP... She actually ships stuff back UPS , cause' it's TOO HEAVY for the plane ...

[pat g]

Hey WW,

Nice work. Obviously you know your glass work!

Pat G

[Wobbly Wheels]

That Girl can SHOP...

Hehe...that sounds like a pretty familiar story. My missus can single-handedly transform a credit card into a black hole from which nothing escapes. I could have bought a brand new 308 for what she just spent on a pair of boots...in June...and they were on sale BECAUSE it's June !
I can't really complain though...she's good enough about it that we always have enough to cover stuff like that...and the eventualities like having to get one of our dogs' canine teeth pulled.
That one's gonna cost about the same as a week at a fishing camp !

You mentioned about your trailer that that sometimes 'free' stuff isn't ?
Well...this dog was 'free' too....and right after getting her spayed, she had to have a toe amputated, then this. Still, when it's your dog you gotta do what you gotta do.
I wish I'd used my school years to study vet medicine though, lol !

Pat, thanks for the kind words. I spent a lot of time as a boatbuilder and learned early on that fiberglassing is a skill you NEVER admit to knowing...otherwise you wind up doing little else. I'm out of the production environment altogether now and, now that it's a sideline for me, I enjoy doing it again. Of course, epoxy is easy to work, really forgiving, and pleasant to work with.

And now...on to the pictures !!

Here's a quick test I did this morning to show how stiff this door is. What's especially impressive is that the weight feels like around 5 lbs !!!!
Those pavers are 8X16 and 16X16 and 2" thick.



It's a bit tough to see, but the deflection under that weight is only about 1/4" in over the 4' length of the level. For comparison, 1/4" per foot (1"over the same scale) is considered the minimum for decks and roofs to get water to run off.
I'm calling the 'shear web' stiffener experiment a success. Now, on with the build !!

[mikeschn]

Brian,

It's interesting that you talk about deflection. I've been eyeing my wall which is covered with canvas on one side, and I want to use the word "bowed".

This is not a real good picture showing the bow, but it's there none the less. I set a board up along the edge to show the bow... it looks worse in real life than it does in the picture.



So the question is, if I canvased the other side, would the bow go away? Or do I peel it off, and put on fiberglass instead? GPW, Rat & Louella, I know you are hanging out here too. What do you think?

Mike...

[GPW]

Mike , being one whose made his own canvas panels for painting on for a good many years (41 + ) ... We immediately noticed that the glue/canvas would shrink slightly as it dried , and on only one side and a warp was sure to result over time ... That and the fact that one side is now stabilized , whereas the other uncovered side is free to expand and contract in the normal manner with changes in heat and cold ... Covering Both sides solves this problem ... The reason I always recommend covering both the Outside and Inside of the Foam walls... Not just for decoration or reinforcement only that I do this I can show you many of my own paintings done on canvas covered panels (one side only ) that have warped seriously over the years ... and others , covered on both sides that haven't ...