PVC Foamie Cooler new pics 2/14

[depatty]

Take a look at Nick's latest way of heating the PVC for the bows! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkT2t46PVVo Thinking this can be built with cardboard, foam, lightbulbs, and an old computer fan to move the heated air round (like in a convection oven). Wonder how something along these lines would work for bending sheets of foam rather than PVC pipe?

[GPW]

Dave , bowyers have been using boxes like this for years to dry/cure their laminated bows ... I made one 20 years ago for bow-making , and it worked well ... mine even had a little thermostat that kept it at a pre-set constant temperature... (note: Not as high a temp as Nick’s ) I’m sure we could put something together that would work on Foam sheets the same way ... but making a device like that would be impractical for making just one camper... Overcoming the "bending hurdle" would allow you to go into production , easily making many nice curvy foamie’ trailers ... Just for one build, a 1500watt heat gun should work.
We have put a lot of thought into bending foam, and have easily bent/formed much thinner foam (1/4"-1/2”) in the past (heat formed) .. and the best results always involved a bending jig or form to shape the foam to ... The foam when heated is quite soft and only permanently assumes the new shape once fully cooled ...and on a “form” shaped to the bend/shape you want, is the best way to let it cool to THAT shape ... That’s another large fixture to build ... Starting to look like a Factory ...

[GPW]

... and just sayin’ ... there’s really nothing wrong about a more straight sided trailer ... (weekender -ish) The angled surfaces almost as good aerodynamically as the smoothly curved ones, and MUCH easier to build.... The thing to avoid with all trailers is the “Box" front ... That’s the worst!!! You’ll notice a lot of cargo trailers have gone to the V nose , and that works much better...