The Poet Creek Express - Foamie Hybrid

[KCStudly]

Be sure to watch your weight too .... With nothing evaporating , what’s in the can stays on the trailer.

I know. Weight is always an issue to be aware of. I'm not scrimping for each and every oz, but having looked at Sharon's and Angib's camper weight data and chart I think we are still doing okay compared to the average build of this size.

As you may recall, the tests I did suggest that the unfinished FG cloth (2 plies of cured 6oz weave with the weave not filled in yet) weighed about the same as the cured (but not primed or painted) canvas. So the difference in weight should come down to the light weight filler used to fill the weave. Still undecided on primer and paint, but figure that is more or less a wash.

Rough estimation puts the weight of the unfinished glass shell at approximately 35 to 42 lbs for the whole camper, not including the tongue box, so even if the finishing adds another 10 lbs I'm going to be perfectly happy with that.

If you look at all of the composite materials I have bought (but not used up yet), plus the yardage Karl donated, it's equivalent to about 36 yrds of 60 wide 6oz and about 3-1/2 gal of epoxy. At a 1:1 wet out ratio that's 45 lbs of product. If I've been heavy on the wet, it may be as much as 56 lbs (1.5:1), but I think I have been leaner than that (on a typical 3 or 4 pump batch I rarely ever need more than an additional single pump batch to prewet and/or supplement the cloth wet out). Now probably 10 to 15/ct of that is wasted in trimmings, etc., so the rough shell shouldn't weigh more than about 41 to 48 lbs, assuming I use all of the product I have purchased.

I don't know what the cabin weighed before I started, so it is kind of a moot point, but having a hard outer shell that weighs less than 4/ct of the goal weight (48 / 1200 = 0.04 ) sounds pretty good to me.

[Atomic77]

Speaking from experience, it would take a lot of lightweight filler, primer and paint to make a weight difference on something that size. Weight is always a factor on the race boats. We weigh them regularly for balance and to meet rule requirements. I am constantly adding and removing filler, primer and paint to the race boat both during races and between races. I've got to see firsthand the difference it makes and trust me it's minimal. We're talking about layers that are measured in mils.

[SeaFoam-ie]

KC
Thank you for your reply. I really like your work with the cedar and FG. I will consider all your suggestions. I will take additional questions off your thread. I find the learning curve so steep that I can build a simple ttt cabin (right or wrong) and start another before I get this site figured out... My trailer base is a keeper in any case. The boo-boo can be used as a mini sleep shack. Steve, thanks for your input as well.

[KCStudly]

Thanks Michael, that's good to know. Like I said, I'm not too worried about weight at this point. There aren't really any places that I can make a big change now anyway.

Seafoam, it's all good. Keep that enthusiasm going and build on!

Thursday was cold and I was tired so I took the day off from the build. Yesterday was warm enough and the overnight temps weren’t going to be crazy low, so I went ahead and filled the curb side door frame corner.

Before adding the fillers I used some of the neat epoxy and painted it on part of the area to be filled; and on a couple of areas on the street side corner that needed a little touchup. While the mix was sitting in the cup it started to warm a bit, which, according to the West System literature, is good to do for cold weather usage. Apparently it insures that the chemical reaction, or rather the exothermic reaction needed for the cure has started before you spread it too thin for that to happen.

Once I added the fillers it seemed a little loose still, but I have been trying to dial in just how much filler to add for easy spreading while still being stiff enough to hold without slumping out, so I went ahead and loaded it into the zip bag anyway. I thought it would be better for the touchup work needed on the street side if it was a little looser, but once it is in the bag there would be no easy way to add more filler.

It did okay despite the slightly loose mix. I did have a little slumping here and there and it seemed to spread “outside the lines” more readily, but it held onto the header without dripping out, so I was happy. I used the leftovers to touchup the street side and fill in the screw holes there.

Today the street side just needed a little clean up sanding. The close up shots don’t show the difference, so here is an overall for a little perspective.


On the curb side, because of the small areas that had slumped, and the excess that smeared around on the jambs, I had a lot more work sanding it back to fair again; had to break out the medium sized boards and the coarser grits. Used the little football shaped block in the corners again.



The area where I had painted the wet epoxy on didn't seem any different than where I hadn't; in fact there was a little more suck out and it was one of the areas that had slumped a bit, so with the relatively wet mix, I don't think there was any benefit.

Here’s a spot that didn’t get fully packed that I will have to add a little to on the touchup pass. I dug this out with the utility knife to make sure the gloss was broken to insure a good bond for the next bit.


I spent some extra time scuffing out the gloss from all of the little low spots, and I probably should have stayed another hour or two to do the touchup fill; but I decided to let that wait for now.

I ticked a few things off the list of things needing to be completed before doing the wall glass, bringing that up to date. My next move is probably going to be keeling the cabin up and looking to see how close the countersinks for the wall to floor deck screws are to the edges of the floor. I had kind of forgotten about these. They might be close enough to the edge of the floor, on the underside, to be in the swath of the round over bit option. Certainly the bearing on the bit would drop in, so as a minimum I would have to run the router upside down with the shoe against the floor and the guide bearing along the edge of the floor; or I would have to fill them in. Something that had slipped my mind.

[GPW]

KC, no worries eh .... You’ve just Got to be Lighter than all those wooden trailers, especially the ones covered in Metal ... Think about that ...
No way to get around all that sanding huh ???

[KCStudly]

No way to get around all that sanding huh ???

Yes, there isn't. Not and have it come out half way decent. For this little stuff hand sanding is the only way I can see to do it. You know me by now, I prefer the control that hand work gives over power tools anyway. I make enough rework for myself as it is. One thing I have found, tho, is that this filled epoxy really likes a coarse grit to knock it down relatively fast. Another thing is when using a damp cloth to wipe the dust up, or after rinsing amine off, the sand paper tends to clog a lot more, so better to let it dry and use the shop vac instead.

[GPW]

Working on Vettes' in my brother’s shop (some time ago) , we used an air file to knock down the fillers quickly ( sometimes too quickly) ... mostly air tools to sand and finish , but then that was a harder surface ... and the Hand sanding though slower , is much more gratifying ...
Of course in those days when faced with a LOT of hand sanding , a 6 pack always relieved the tedium... hahahaha

[Atomic77]

Are you sanding fiberglass by hand?!

[KCStudly]

Are you sanding fiberglass by hand?!

Yes, so far. I prefer it for the control it gives. Everything I have done so far has been small, and I haven't really started any of the broad panel filler work. When I get to the bigger layups with bigger seams and more filling/fairing I am sure that I will step up to at least the palm sander. I think Karl may also have a pneumatic long board that I can use.

It doesn't really take any longer, just more work.

[eaglesdare]

Wow KC, your build is looking like a real teardrop now! Great work.

[GPW]

... a “real” teardrop ... ... ...

[KCStudly]

I wonder what it looked like before.

Just kidding. Good to see you around Eagle.

[eaglesdare]

I meant I can now see a camper. Its always been a zoomed in pic of some technical piece. Now that it is all coming together, it looks like a "real" tear drop.

Do you have any idea of timeframe when it might be finished? That was just a curious question.

I am around, just don't always make it known. I just went off into a different area (horses). Hard to haul a camper behind the horse trailer. Been toying with ideas to fix the horse trailer into a partial camper.

[wagondude]

Do you have any idea of timeframe when it might be finished? That was just a curious question.

3 years ago. (just poking the bear )

I really am enjoying the journey.

[KCStudly]

Do you have any idea of timeframe when it might be finished?

3 years ago.

That was my answer, too!!!

As I like to say, "I'm approaching my 4th annual deadline." (bah-dump-bump)

If it is a warm winter, I don't see any reason why it can't be 95/ct "done" by the middle of the summer.

If things turn cold and stay that way, it could be a while before I get the FG work done. The epoxy likes to start at at least 45 deg F (loft temp) and doesn't seem to like it when the overnight lows go below freezing.

We've been lucky so far this year with fairly mild temps and only one or two little snow squalls (...so far ).

I have purposely avoided running the kerosene heaters yet, trying to avoid any potential adhesion problems, and burning chemical fumes. I can't realistically maintain temps for the necessary cure times anyway. (Although Karl has a propane fueled salamander he has offered to let me use; no oily residue from that... not that I ever had a problem with the kero...)

Yeah, I want to get it done and I want to use it, but each day I work on it the tribute continues and grows, so ... I guess I'm not ready to be done yet. Dad was a maker, a doer and a tinkerer. When I am by myself working on this I feel like I've grown up to be more like him, and I am good with that feeling.

Either that or, as usual, I get blinded by the details and... literally... can't see the forest for the trees.

Either way, building occupies the brain cells with worthy technical puzzles to solve and hand eye coordination challenges. My own special version of Lumosity with a big prize at the end!

Again, thank you all for sticking with me through this and being so encouraging! It really is starting to feel like I'm getting into the home stretch!