thinking of building a foamie...

[GPW]

Trog , sourcing the materials is probably the most difficult aspect of building a Foamie' ... My efforts were a matter of salvage , using what I had on hand , and as a last resort actually buying the materials ... in that order... The “Thrifty” manner...
If you want a smooth finish , whilst speaking of masonry products , “block filler “ for cinder blocks , is a very thick water based primer that does a good job of smoothing the texture ... and is not that dear ... here anyway ... you may want to check construction sites , where there is usually an excess of materials ,usually consigned to the skip .. That or finding a community re-cycling effort , where many good building materials (and paint) can be obtained for a pittance... Thrifty, it’s the Foamie’ way...

[GPW]

Here’s a site we found that may be of some help .... http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/

[Trogdor]

Hi gpw,

Thanks for the advice, I will keep an eye out but there is not much around here, and I have very little space to store stuff, I was spoilt with our last house as it had a decent garage (for the UK) and a long drive way (We had 6 cars at one stage, 4 of them not road worthy) and it was at the back of the house so the wife rarely saw it, (we had off road parking on the front too). However that house was rented and we have now just bought a brand new house (I say we, it all in my wife's name as being a student is no go for getting a mortgage). our new house is so much nicer inside but the downside is no garage and no where to put one. we do have the biggest drive in the street and can get two cars on it! (one has to be quite small).

I no longer have much inclination to work on cars, I did want a camper van but the costs of building/running one were going to be so much that I started looking for alternatives and found out about teardrops! as a family we are in the slightly embarrassing position of owning four trailers (I have a kayak trailer as well as my disassembled caravan chassis) but out of four available cars none of them can tow anything!

Anyway I am rambling loads, and I am sure you don't want to hear it all!

another UK oriented question, what is "luan" is it just 1/8" plywood or is it something different? I can't find any reference to it on uk sites so I am assuming its called something different. I am planning on using 1/8" ply to clad my interior but if luan is something different and cheaper than I may go for it! Currently a 5 x10 piece of 1/8" ply is 18.95 pounds and I would need about four? Hmmm maybe using bedsheets/canvas is a better idea!

[GPW]

The really Good thing is , Foamies' live outside very well ... no garage necessary ...

Luan , which I believe to be a type of thin Mahogany plywood ... is usually not the best choice for the outside ... especially bent as it tends to split grain wise over time ... I used that on my first TD , and it did indeed split in short order though well painted ... But all is not lost ... a thin canvas (or even bed sheet) covering over that does an adequate job of protecting the plywood ... Since then , we’ve eliminated the use of plywood entirely , the expense ,the weight, the tendency to split and de-laminate , all no longer a concern ... Foam and canvas alone does an outstanding job , with little or No maintenance , a good saving of Coin ... and all whilst living outside too ....

[Trogdor]

Actually I have been reading your foam stream thread again, (its so addictive, I really should be working! Typical student!) and you used something similar to hardboard on your interior? Thats really cheap here, like 5.00 pounds for an 3mm x 4x8 piece if I attached that I could then paint it? or cover it in headlining material or something? Would I need to canvas/bedsheet it or is bonding it to the foam enough for it to act as the interior skin?

I have also been pondering the floor, since I have a 5x10 tear its a bit of a pain to get hold of wood in that size, so I am tempted to build a sandwich floor using 2x1's, foam and thin ply. Does this sound sensible? Is it worth insulating the floor or should I just get a 3/4" 5x10 piece of ply for 60.00 pounds and have done with it?

P.S this forum is great for quick replies! most forums I frequent are much slower!

[GPW]

That board on the inside should be fine ... worked for me eh !!! We’ve even discussed (somewhere here ? ) using it on the outside of the foam ... it’s easy to waterproof with “the Mixture” ... crumbs for thought ... Many possibilities ...

The plywood floor is the most “convenient” .. but here , where it’s always WET in the summer (likely there too ) , we have had some de-lamination issues in the past ..nothing major as yet , just annoying... Went different on the FS floor using OSB (oriented strand board) for the floor , it’s a bit cheaper than plywood and doesn’t show any signs of deterioration or swelling as yet ... It does seem to be a little bit heavier than the ply , and denser too ...which explains the slight weight gain .. Waterproofing it is always a good idea ...
A composite floor is a lot of work and engineering to get right (IMHO) and probably not worth the extra effort ... JMHO , although that point is arguable by many ...

[ghcoe]

ghoe, I have been reading your build with great interest, I am intending to copy your construction methods as it looks a very good way of building! I am also currently trying to find corner flashing like you have been using but again I am struggling, honestly this country is useless sometimes!

Flashing or beading? Flashing is used for the edges on roofs here, beading is used on the corners of interior walls.


For canvas attachment you might see if you can find one of these in the UK, CHIL-SEAL® CP-50A MV1 or BAKOR® 120-09 lagging compounds. Seems they are common in Canada, but not so much here in the States. I will be ordering some in to try on mine. Sounds perfect, fills voids, is a adhesive, is fire resistant, does not attack foam and not too expensive.

More info here:

http://canoeguybc.wordpress.com/tag/canvas/
http://www.wayfair.com/Foster-Products- ... I1005.html

[Trogdor]

Hi ghcoe,

I meant the flashing used on roofs, here it seems to mostly an adhesive tape, well from the local hardware stores anyway! I imagine I can get the metal flashing similar to what you have used from a trade place, I have found places that have it online they just don't sell it online! or provide prices.

Anyway I had a go at hot wire cutting, I made a quick jig for the wire and attached to the transformer I had found, it didn't work but looking at the output it only provides 1 amp at 12VDC which is clearly not enough to heat the wire. I found my dads old battery charger that we rehoused in a roses tin a few years ago (the original casing was damaged). Anyway that pushed out 6 amps and melted the wire!

So I tried my own more modern charger which was no good as its far to clever for it own good, it requires a voltage across its terminals to work. So I pulled the battery from my car and tried that. That worked well but its still too hot and the wire is not strong enough (I used welding wire) as it keeps bending. I also couldn't keep the battery constantly connected as the wire would get too hot. So I need to find a power source that provides about 3-4 amps? Hopefully there is something kicking around here somewhere.

On the plus side I totally see the attraction in using a hot wire cutter as it so easy to cut through the foam with no mess!

I am planning on using the 5x10 plywood for the floor as it will be sealed in by the canvas and will be waterproofed, so much easier than trying make a sandwich floor. I can also put down camping mats if the floor gets too cold. Also the sandwich construction would cost much more.

I have had a look for the CHIL-SEAL stuff before, I think from the first reading of your thread ghcoe but I haven't found any UK sites that mention it.

Thanks for the replies so far everyone I really appreciate it!

[GPW]

Trog , try stainless steel solid fishing leader wire ...

[Trogdor]

Hi,

Have bought a coil of stainless steel wire from E to the Bay, thanks for the tip! 1.2mm should be strong enough I think?

Up to page 244 now...............

[ghcoe]

If you are using welding wire try to go with a longer wire until you get the wire just hot enough to cut. My battery charger puts out, so it says, 5 amps on low setting. I found 3 feet of wire to be just about right to get the temp able to cut the foam, but not to get the wire hot enough to melt through or get soft. If the wire glows red you have to little wire between the connections. To cool to cut you have the wire to long. Should be a happy medium in there somewhere with the amps you have.

[GPW]

Try running the bow through a loooong extension cord (50’ +) to help cut down on the current ... Mains > charger> extension cord > bow ... That was an old trick we used to charge Nicad batteries off a car battery ... but then DC losses through a long wire are much greater than AC ...

I’ve had a 5A variac we’ve used for many years now , well justifying the extra expense (~150USD) ... so easy to dial in the heat you need on most any length cutting wire ... If you plan to do a Lot of foam cutting , that really is the way to go ....

[Trogdor]

Hi gpw (Glenn?)

Yes would love a variac, I used to have access to all sorts of different power supplies, even PWM controllers which would work quite well on the wire. This was all stuff we had at my last job but now I am a student so I don't have anything! Lost most of my electrical tools too And my company car But enough moaning, I love being a student! (Lack of money aside)

I have been reading further through the big thread, have just passed bubblegate! And am at the point where its getting very complicated.I am tempted to use contact cement to bond the canvas to the foam, with a layer of TB2 on top. That way the canvas stays stuck on the foam? I haven't tried TB2 on the foam I have yet. But the unibond stuff I used seems to work ok. How much contact cement do you think I would need? For a 4x10x5 trailer, a litre costs the best part of twenty squid which is ok if I only need a litre or two but if I need a gallon, (US or worse UK!) its going to be quite pricey!

Final question how is your first foamie holding up now GPW it must be about two years old? And the climate in New Orleans must be pretty brutal!

Cheers

[GPW]

Trog , aside from the dulling of the cheap paint , it’s just fine ... Inside , dry as toast ... the outside pretty much healed itself from that Most brutal Hail storm we’ve Ever had ... (Blu-Foam) ... No leaks , no worries , and due to a well sealed door , no little critters inside ... The window hinge does need replacing as it was a cheap ferrous metal one from the local ironmonger (rusted ) ... screws too ... I now have a proper Aluminum hinge and SS screws to replace it ... Aside from that I need to paint the HF trailer frame ... it turned pink in the sub-tropical sunlight (we’re the same latitude as Cairo , Egypt ) , a tin of RED Rustoleum awaits the task ... Other than the above mentioned, everything is still “ sound as a pound” ...

Once I get the FoamStream all finished , I’ll get back on the little one and do a total re-paint .... with Good paint this time ...
So far , the local storms haven’t appeared , giving us more time to work on both of these ...

Note: We’ve never (not Ever) had a trailer before that went two years without having to do anything to it ... I’ve never even washed it ... The daily deluge does a good job of that ... Foamies do last !!! No question of that !!!

Contact cement sounds a bit pricy eh ? We’ve had great Luck with TB2 over foam (not so much so with "the Gripper” )... that canvas stays attached ... No use painting TB2 over the already attached canvas... Primer is the way there , then a Good Latex Exterior paint on top ...

[Trogdor]

So would you recommend tb2 on the foam, lay canvas on top, then a coat of diluted tb2 then primer then top coat? I am planning on overlapping the side pieces over the top and bottom and then over laying the top and bottom canvas pieces but these pieces wont overlap the edge but will overlap the canvas from the sides. Hope that makes sense? Will that create the "sock" effect? Should I still use reenforcing strips of glassfibre on the edges? If so, is it best to put them on before the canvas?

Do you pull the canvas tight on top of the glue or should i just smooth it out?

I found a halogen power supply which puts out 5A at 12VDC which works well, the wire still gets a tad hot tho, but I was thinking of wiring in a dimmer switch before the transformer which would allow me to reduce the current? That should work?

The stainless wire will also help I think!

Cheers