Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[GPW]

We’ve been experimenting with the gripper lately and laminating 1/4” fanfold foam (Blu) and even foam meat trays (RC planes)... Gripper used as a lamination adhesive , just seems to take longer to really dry well ...foam to foam ... foam to anything porous dries pretty quick ...
Here’s some pics of a recent plane we made using foam meat trays (chicken) , and laminated with Gripper ... very strong ... and even used the Gripper for joining the sections ... butt joins..

[GPW]

And with a little colored packing tape ... Just a little “decoration” much as is possible with our Foamie’ Trailers ... The Decor is what makes it look good ... a few stripes here and there distract from many "imperfections” ...

[kudzu]

I had a hard time with PL300 when I was doing the floor SIP. ... Of course, it stuck to my hair and skin just fine !!!

Ain't that always the way?

For big panels, I think a latex contact cement is the way to go. The glue is dry before the panels go together so that 'sealed cure' isn't a problem.

Have never had to laminate anything before except paper onto paper or wood so I've never dealt with contact cement. Usually I stick to screws, nails or old fashioned Elmer's white. My years of watching "This Old House" is bringing back a memory of people applying contact cement to the surfaces of the items needing to be bonded. They let the items dry/cure/set/whatever individually. Once ready they then laid item one over item two with something like dowels separating the layers so they could carefully line the items up before the surfaces made contac. Then they made it look oh so easy as they started pressing the surfaces together, pulling the dowels out one by one, & using some type of roller to ensure proper contact was made. And the odds I will get things lines up properly on the first try are about 1:1,000,000,000.

So I think I'll try to get a few extra of the small cheap sheets so I can play with it a bit & see if I can actually accomplish such a daunting task.

It goes on as a thin liquid so it would key to sanded foam really well - ...

What I'm getting is "post consumer" so I would likely need to clean & sand it anyway.

And I while I'm at it I'll test to see if Gripper will work to hold plywood to foam.

That'd be nice.

Of course, none of this addresses a purely foam-foam bond but, because contact is a dry adhesive, it ought to work fine....

I'll test it. Seems we're all required to do at least a little independent testing.

[kudzu]

GPW, do you think Gripper might work on large areas of foam on foam if I was just patient enough? It is 2' wide sheets not 4' but I'm not sure that's going to make so much difference. I'm OK with just waiting it out as long as that is ways or maybe a week. Not sure I'm up for weeks & weeks of waiting though. I can try a test layup. HEY! Do you think running a dehumidifier in the "curing" area would help draw some of the moisture out? Um, another test for me? Guess so.

And with a little colored packing tape ... Just a little “decoration” much as is possible with our Foamie’ Trailers ... The Decor is what makes it look good ... a few stripes here and there distract from many "imperfections” ...

Well I was already telling BF I wanted a zebra striped camper & it just so happens there is zebra print Duck Tape.

[GPW]

From experiences laminating balsa wood to foam with contact cement ... we had problems later on with some contact cements outgassing in the heat and melting some of the foam inside, long after it had “dried” ... Only the latex based contact cements seemed to not do that ... but that is under our intense southern Sun ( same latitude as Cairo Egypt ) People living north of the Mason-Dixon line ( I think that’s Baton Rouge huh ??? ) may not experience such effects ... more testing is indicated ...

K’... I’d give it a try , especially if you’re willing to wait a long time ... I think all foams are very slightly porous (they do seem to soak up water to a small degree), so anything will dry , eventually ...

Tape could be a great seasonal decoration ...change it when you get tired of it ... I recall in my youth doing many “trim tape jobs" on cars , vans and motorcycles ... so that’s a valid time tested method .. stick some tape on and call it Retro ...

[kudzu]

Latex contact cement is what KC mentioned & a quick net search makes me think I can handle that. Not up to the smelly stuff which I believe is also the foam melting variety. (But what do I know... nothin')

Have never lived North of the Mason Dixon line. To me the North starts with North Carolina. It's not as humid here in GA as it is in NOLA but it gets just as hot. And since one of the things I'd want to use the camper for eventually are trips to LA & MS I think I'd want it to hold up in those climates. Oh man, just had a flashback to Summer visits to my grandparents' in NOLA. I think we got third degree burns sometimes just from touching metal in my grandmother's 1970's Novas. And the vinyl seats which scorched their patterns into the back of our legs... Visiting the other side of the family in Lafayette & Abbeville wasn't necessarily any better. We did get tough feet from walking on those crushed oyster shells.

OK, I've got to go back outside & work on the porch now that it's cooled off to 90. Can't start serious camper building until we finish the porch. The joy of a wrap around porch is pretty much gone right now. Once the paint stripping is done & we're able to actually just paint it will feel easy peasy.

Hmmm... I wonder how many rolls of Duck tape...

[GPW]

QUOTE: " I wonder how many rolls of Duck tape...” Just one to start with ...

[Wolffarmer]

To me "Southern" is Utah. That is a different country down there.



Randy

[bonnie]

GPW, you could use an icepick to get the skewers, started, too much pressure on them to start ....didn't someone use them before or was I dreaming again?

Mary C.

I believe Catherine used them.

[KCStudly]

Kudzu, the foam prices you mentioned sound great! If it is not too beat up or "soiled" (dirt and junk pressed into it... surface dirt is okay and will wipe or rinse off okay) it sounds like a deal.

Small dents and scratches in the face are not a big deal and can be filled easily with spackle (or maybe GPW's steam/iron trick), but busted up edges and missing corners would be harder to deal with.

IMO the 4x8 x 1-1/2 is ideal for flat panels; maybe just my experience, TLAR, and what I think will suit my climate; wider than 5 ft might like the 2 inch or more. But on the other hand, even with the 2x2 wood sill, the 5 mm inner panels, and the 1-1/2 inch thk foam (no outer skin yet) if I pick up one corner of my wall, it behaves very similar to ply; I am able to lift the corner about 4 inches before the opposite corner on the long side lifts off of the table. That's after I cut the door out, and before I have laminated the galley inner skin on. W/o the door, I'm guessing that the wall currently weighs around 38 - 40 lbs.

The 1 inch stuff would probably work great for shelving, maybe bulkheads, depending on how well you integrate all of the different structures.

Re: The 3M 30NF, it's expensive, I'm almost out of it, not sure I want to spring for another gallon. It came highly recommended by Linuxman and I'm still not convinced that it is not a great product, but I did not bag it at that stage of the build and I think it really needs to have a good solid uniform press. Not sure that a 100 lb or "J" roller would do the thin plywood any favors. Not sure how I would bag the curved surface of the roof successfully.

If I had it to do over I would have bagged the floor and bulkhead skins.

There’s lots of info and a record of my ongoing experiences in TPCE build thread that I can’t possibly repeat here, so skim thru that if you haven’t already. I’m no expert and this is the first major project like this that I have ever taken on, but I have learned many things on the forum, and in my build, and you may be able to get something out of that, too.

[Jack B.]

So all this talk about bagging - I understand what it is and all but I'm curious as to how all ya'll is doin' it. I don't see me:
A.) finding a huge plastic bag and then sticking the vacuum hose in one end to evacuate the air

[Jack B.]

or:

2.) Investing a van full of cash for an industrial machine.

Back to the question then. How ya'll doin' it.

And it seems there's a key command to post replies that I hit by accident and don't know what it is. Oh well, life is a cabaret old chum.

Jack

[GPW]

JMHO , for THRIFTY Foamie’ trailer building ,vacuum bagging is unnecessary , more for the exotic trailer builds ...consider the source... No offense KC , but your build is far beyond the Thrifty margins in time and labor and complexity ... and the bucks ... A Most EXCELLENT build , Yes !!! But you have a shop with many fine tools , we have a Turkey carving knife and an ancient jigsaw ...

[bonnie]

I used a space bag for a vac bag test. Worked pretty well. It was suggested to remove the port and attach it to a drop cloth plastic to make a bigger bag. I may try that. I haven't updated my build thread but I've ordered some parts for BUB

[kudzu]

Was just thinking of using large sheets of plastic either taped or folded together. Wasn't going to find large bags. Also, would only do it for pieces with the 5mm ply on one side. Anything that is just canvas wrapped will not need it. The layer of plywood is strictly for a little extra protection on the interior of the trailer so "bull in china shop" self or BIL don't ram something through a wall. Ex. The chain rings on my recumbent trike could make a goodly sized gouge if it accidentally rolled forward into the wall. Sure, that would mark up the ply but it's not likely to go through it. If it was just holding camping gear instead of the toys I wouldn't bother with a plywood skin. (And as a woman, I reserve the right to change my mind about material used for skinning.)