Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[GPW]

Kinda Scary really , like Mothra !!!

[droid_ca]

Hey GPW you know lots about canvass , was wondering what I could do to it that would keep heat in...Any ideas...Thank I now return you to Mothera and other strange pets

[GPW]

Radiant barrier ... ??? Aluminized canvas ? ... makes me think of all the Aluminum paint the Old Timers used on their canvas.... maybe they were on to something ?

[droid_ca]

cause I'm thinking that if I do a vardo ish type of trailer and have a sleeve for some PVC curved tubes to go down I could make it some what collapsible and a good weight saver...but I don't want to loose heat through the canvas...Think it would work???

[Wobbly Wheels]

Hey droid, food for though...insulated boat covers are made from 1/4" foam stitched between two layers of canvas. Some mylar (space) blanket in the sandwich might also help if you can live with the crinkling.
I take it from the PVC comment that you're thinking of making it collapsible, a Vardo popup ?
Interesting...

[droid_ca]

Hey droid, food for though...insulated boat covers are made from 1/4" foam stitched between two layers of canvas. Some mylar (space) blanket in the sandwich might also help if you can live with the crinkling.
I take it from the PVC comment that you're thinking of making it collapsible, a Vardo popup ?
Interesting...

I was thinking of the foam idea myself just not sure if it would of worked but the mylar hmmm my idea is basicly a box that has the bows folded back and when you get to camp pop them up so to speak was thinking hat it would help for clearance and less drag while being towed just throughing around some ideas right now

[atahoekid]

I have found that HD and L have different qualities between themselves as well as prices. I think that they switch back and forth once they realize they are not fooling the public. We have lumber yards here, but their prices are way steeper than HD and L stores.

My guess is they need to stay competitive to stay in business so they may resort to selling crap from wherever they can get it cheap.

I'm thinking that "Made in America" may not mean what it used to in terms of quality but for the good of the U.S. economy and the environment (the Chinese are environmentally awful) I'd rather buy American made. That's not always easy.

[Wobbly Wheels]

...a box that has the bows folded back and when you get to camp pop them up...

Sounds functional enough - nothing wrong with kicking it around.
Have you ever seen the folding bimini tops on boats ?
They make fittings for 1" tube so you can bend up your own alum or stainless tubing and have bows that fold out of the way. You can stitch vinyl into them and, once they're closed up it doesn't take much to heat them.
Don't know about McBride, but I think one could comfortably camp three seasons in the interior that way...

Perko makes polished stainless ones that'll work without being brutally expensive (~$20 each) and Taco makes 'thriftier' nylon ones that would probably work for this purpose just as well for just a few bucks each. There are a whole bunch of different ones for different applications, but here are the basic hinges that you'd use at the base of the bows to fold them down.




There are two advantages I see over popping the bows into sleeves, then tenting it with the cloth.
1) The insulated canvas cover is going to be pretty heavy to wrestle over the bows and cinch it tight...especially when you've rolled into the campsite after dark on a Friday night.
2) These will allow you to leave the canvas permanently attached and just pull from one end and they'll all pull up and stay tight. Normally, you do that with a ratchet strap at each end: kind of a 'dynamic tension' thing...

[droid_ca]

Hey Wobbly Wheels some good ideas there one other one I was thinking of is if I use some struts maybe then I'd have to lock it in the down position and get to camp it would pop up all on it's own but that may take some engineering I like the idea of using the boat hardware though I'll have to look in some of the books I got and see what there is...I like the idea of it being in a sleeve of sorts so then you can't see what it is (metal/pvc/whatever) cause I'd like to go with a natural style of a camper so lots of wood try to stay away from the metals and plastics but with the fold down arch I might be able to have a 2.5 to 3 foot curve and that would add lots of extra space in a small trailer...But still concerned about the heat loss as I'd like to be able to use it year round even if it is in the backyard

[eaglesdare]

remember my agility pause table i made, with foam and pvc tubes? well the gorilla glue failed me on this project. i completely wrapped the foam with canvas, painted and gg'd it onto the pvc tube frame. the gg did not hold to either the pvc, or the painted canvas. just letting you all know there could be problems with using gg and pre-covered/painted foam.

[GPW]

Well that certainly is disappointing ... Certainly something to consider while gluing ...

[GPW]

Just an idea ... You may try overlapping the PVC with canvas “reinforcing strips” and using paint as the adhesive. locking the PVC, foam and canvas together as one unit (sock) ... a little light sanding of the previously painted surface couldn’t hurt ...

[eaglesdare]

yes, the sock could/probably would work.
but i think this causes me to rethink the pre-canvased panels. although, i do think its the paint that caused the failure. the gg can be peeled right off the paint, and on the pvc its the paint tha was still sticking to it.
i know from using this stuff though, that foam to foam with gg works. and i have pushed and tugged and shoved the heck out of my foamie and its still rock solid. so it does work, but i will not be doing my premade panels with paint on the second one.
i have the feeling it may work with just the canvas, because it would get into the fibers, unless of course the tb2 will be a problem. not sure the gg will adhere to the tb2 any better than the paint.

[GPW]

Out of the many ways we’ve all tried , some just work Better than others .... I’m still Old school on this ... since we’re not doing mass production , it’s easy enough to assemble the foam parts first , then cover it ... Never chancing a mis-matched glue or paint confrontation . There seems to be an order to this , which if followed, produces predictable results as you have experienced
Seems the thing to avoid is a glue to paint situation.. lots of glues don’t stick to paint , and then the paint film is so thin , it offers little strength compared to it’s substrate , so may easily tear away (shear) ... And , some glues don’t stick to themselves very well .. was reading about T3 which once cured doesn’t stick well to a fresh coat of the same ..
We do know conclusively (now) that GG works for foam to foam , and foam to wood . Paint sticks to wood and canvas and combinations of both Very well . The Paint becoming the primary adhesive for the skinning process. T2 works too, but must be painted ... Can’t wait to try some Grabber... going to get some today ...
We also know that pre assembled panels have a tendency to warp due to the uneven shrinkage of the skin materials, and both sides must be essentially covered at the same time (tricky) ... then dried evenly , or warps could possibly still happen . This is not a problem on the “assembled" structure, which when shrunk , the skin material compresses the foam slightly making the structure stronger and tighter... which is always a “Good Thing “ !!!

Eagle , Maybe roughing up the surface to give it some “tooth” might help ... a good many finish and repair jobs are preceded by much Sanding and surface preparation (de greasing) .. Then at least you have a rough , clean surface for attachments.

[GPW]

For a Thrifty de-greaser, we’ve been using common white Vinegar ... seems to work OK, not as nasty or expensive as acetone.. Good for cleaning glass and countertops too ....

Just remember , when you put your hand on something , you leave/deposit “body Oils “ , which paint or glue does not prefer to stick to ...