Itty Bitty Foamie Teardrop Test Build Thread

[GPW]

“ and my pressure treated wood “ …

[amandacreiglow]

“ and my pressure treated wood “ …

From my research, it seemed like pressure treated wood was the best option for the exterior bits. Would you disagree? And if so, why?

I'll be using non pressure treated for the interior bits, just to be extra safe, although the consensus seems to be that the chemicals they use in pressure treated wood nowadays doesn't pose a risk. But I can't see where improved durability/resistance to rot, etc wouldn't be an advantage here, even though it'll of course all be covered in canvas and never exposed.

[GPW]

Is anything safe these days ? Just so you’re aware of the nature of Pressure treated wood …
Looks Good though , you’re doing Great !!!

[amandacreiglow]

Whoa, it's been a while since I've updated here... but there has been some progress!

The wood framing for the skylight and the roof vent are all well in place, now, further supported/filled with great stuff and fairly smooth.

I've got fabric attached to all the interior surfaces except for the galley, which took longer than I thought it would, largely due, I think, to the method I adopted of attaching it by basically working the Childers through the thin sheet material in an exercise that feels like a mix between finger painting and giving my trailer a massage. Weirdly therapeutic, actually. :-D



I'm thinking a another coat on Childers, when some paint, and we should be in business for interior surfaces.

I've got the wooden portion of the back hatch embedded in the foam, with a gap let for the overhand from galley that should provide some additional protection from water, etc.



This picture is before I cut out that channel, but you can see how snugly it fits. Considering what an abysmal woodworker j am, I'm pretty happy with it. Now just have to attach the block that I'll mount my ratchet hardware on... now that I think I've got my head around how it should go.

Struggling with doors now. The plan I made calls for an outer frame and an inner frame, with a thin ring around it to give the inner frame something to seal against. Thought I had it figured out, but have somehow managed to get the numbers wrong... twice. :-/ eventually gave up last night, but will hopefully get some more progress in on it today.

One side-effect of struggling with the doors while I daydream about my bigger fold-down trailer to come, is I've started considering ordering some extruded aluminum framing instead. I'm thinking I'd go with the 10 series by 80/20, and all up the aluminum would probably cost about $150 for both doors. Not cheap, but if I can't get the wood to cooperate... plus, it would end up being as strong or stronger, but would allow me to leave a thicker layer of foam between the door frame and the interior of the cabin, which would be nice...

Has anyone used extruded aluminum framing for their builds and I've missed it? Not thrifty, but not toooooo expensive either, very light and straight and rot-proof... thoughts?


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[KCStudly]

Thanks for the update. "Weirdly therapeutic" in deed!

First thought on 80/20 is that AL wicks heat. In other words, it would defeat some of that insulation wherever the AL goes all the way from outside to in (minus a small factor for skinning. Lean against it in cold weather and it may be cold. Camp in cold weather and it might collect condensation from your breath/perspiration/damp clothes, etc.

The other thing, in my experience with 80/20 (usually on packaging equipment guarding and enclosures) is that the little screws and tab nuts that they provide (at extra cost) only ever seem to provide a pivot point and not a nice rigid two point connection. I can't tell you how many access doors and panels I've had get loose, skew and/or fall apart due to poorly designed joints. I'm sure they have surface mount 'L'-brackets and other solutions, but then those are surface mounted bumps to contend with during the skinning process. The stuff has it's place, but unless you have a ready supply of everything you need (i.e. surplus, cheap, with hardware), I'd stay away from it (YMMV). I mean, it is certainly not easier than wood, right? Less configurable, harder to cut, limited sizes, etc.

I realize you are keeping things simple and are doing square corners, so this comment is for the benefit of other's; I believe there is less chance for leaks with nice radius corners that the seals can sweep around, and 80/20 just isn't going to do that without added complexity.

Not trying to be a 'Debbie Downer' , but those are my initial thoughts... and you asked.

[amandacreiglow]

I knew there would be someone who had used it! Thanks for the input, KC, it's certainly appreciated. Most importantly the problem with the internal fasteners not being particularly rigid...

I think with my design I could accommodate the surface mount brackets for stability, facing them into the foam so I wouldn't have them sticking out to canvas over. They're more expensive, and more of a pain, though, so I definitely wouldn't have gone that route if you hadn't said that.

The thermal bridging, as well, wouldn't be as much of an issue with my build as there would be no places where the aluminum would be exposed to the interior. There'd be nearly an inch of foam between any heated space and the aluminum (except for a small crack, which would be remedy-able.

I can see how wood would be easier to work with for someone comfortable with it, but for someone like me, the constraints of the aluminum are what make it attractive. Being able to plan it out, and have them send me the lengths cut as specified, and then just bolting it together like self-designed IKEA furniture seems easier to me than working with dimensional lumber at small scale. No chance of misaligning or dealing with warped pieces. If I were dealing with curves, as you say, it would be more complicated, but for what I'm doing here, I don't know... and I feel like I'd end up with a more professional-looking and feeling end product than what my unskilled hands are going to be able to make out of wood.

That said, I'm giving the wood one last try tonight, and so far it seems to be going a bit better. We'll see. If anyone else has feedback/further concerns with the aluminum idea, I'd love to hear them.


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[KCStudly]

A lot of times when working with 80/20 you have to drill, mill (to counter bore for the head of a SHCS) and/or tap in order to get a fastener where you want it.

[amandacreiglow]

Did a bunch of painting yesterday, and it's starting to actually look like something! Have decided to more or less finish as much of the inside as possible before assembling, to try to avoid painting in cramped quarters.

I've got a couple coats of primer on the canvased interior walls, which has helped a lot. Was hoping the fabric, coats of Childers, and coats of primer would render the indentations from the markings on the foam unnoticeable, but unfortunately:



Trying to decide if I should try to spackle to even it out before I get my final paint on there. My concern is that it'll be a different texture than the rest of the wall (smoother, rather than the slightly rough fabric texture that I quite like), and I'll have done the extra work for only marginal improvement.

On the ceiling pieces, I got some fake beadboard wallpaper applied. Figured it would help with the roughness of the ceiling and add some nice contrast, and conspire with the molding to make the whole thing feel a bit more intentional and substantial. I was even hoping at one point to just use it instead of fabric, but my attempt to do so was a complete bust. Putting it on over the fabric just as though it was abnormal wall was a lot easier. We'll see what the final result looks like once it's dried and painted and has the cut outs cut out of it.


Got the first coat of paint on the floor. Some leftover high gloss "glass-like finish" enterprise/exterior stuff my parents luckily had laying around the garage. It's a super light green color, which I quite like. Will do a second coat on there today, but already looking a lot better. Made sure to tape off the edges to avoid anything that will interfere with the glue-up when the time comes.


On the doors, I've opted to go with the 80/20 aluminum framing. I was starting to get the frames into a shape that would technically work, eventually, but would be uneven enough that it would always bother me. I just have more confidence that I'm going to end up with something that looks not noticeably uneven with the aluminum. All KC's concerns are certainly valid, but in this situation, for me, it's the lesser of two evils,. Plus, with the design i'm going with, and the fact that it'll be all wrapped up with foam and canvas, they should mostly be mitigated. The only metal from the outside that reaches the inside will be the door handle, which would be the case with the handles I went with regardless of what I built the frame out of.

Got the acrylic for the stargazer skylight cut to size. 1/4" feels like a surprising amount of overkill, which I didn't expect. Was impossible to get the score deep enough to snap it, too, so I had to resort to the router -- my least favorite power tool, which is saying something. Not sure how to change the router but and don't plan to use the off cuts, so I ended up using a massive bit and got a ton of statically-charged, sharp plastic flakes EVERYWHERE. Glad that's over with!

Got the quarter inch ply for the shelves all cut out as well. The edges are all pretty rough, but my mantra at the moment is "sanding and molding will fix it." We'll see if it actually does. :-) I also discovered that the half-inch ply piece in the garage I had been planning to use for the countertop was actually way too small, so I'm giving it a go glueing together two quarter-inch pieces together. We'll see how that goes...


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[ghcoe]

On the doors, I've opted to go with the 80/20 aluminum framing. I was starting to get the frames into a shape that would technically work, eventually, but would be uneven enough that it would always bother me. I just have more confidence that I'm going to end up with something that looks not noticeably uneven with the aluminum. All KC's concerns are certainly valid, but in this situation, for me, it's the lesser of two evils,. Plus, with the design i'm going with, and the fact that it'll be all wrapped up with foam and canvas, they should mostly be mitigated. The only metal from the outside that reaches the inside will be the door handle, which would be the case with the handles I went with regardless of what I built the frame out of.

I guess I misread what was being discussed earlier. I 2"x1" flashing for my door edges. I also used pop rivets to attach hinges and hardware.

[KCStudly]

Trying to decide if I should try to spackle to even it out before I get my final paint on there. My concern is that it'll be a different texture than the rest of the wall (smoother, rather than the slightly rough fabric texture that I quite like), and I'll have done the extra work for only marginal improvement.

"What a tangled web we weave" - Marmion

Welcome to the club!

I am confident in your ability to work your way through any difficulties. Stick to your plan to keep things as simple and thrifty as possible, and you will find your way to a good result. If you end up spending a bit more time and expense, then you are welcome to the club!

[amandacreiglow]

Thanks for the pep talk KC... it's much appreciated.

Eventually I got the idea to use removeable wallpaper. Sounds a little odd, but I used it for a room upstairs, and the slightly variegated pattern works amazingly well for disguising imperfections. It's expensive for wallpaper, but it's a pattern I really like, and the removeable aspect of it makes it both easy to reposition and get right when applying, and means I can always go for something else later if I change my mind. But I'm feeling pretty positive about it as a solution. Will give me a little taste of home out on the road.

Here's some leftover pieces from my last project in there, seeing if it would show the indentations through. As luck would have it, it actually matches beautifully with the blue paint left over from my parents' living room that I'm swiping for a few of the interior surfaces.

I guess I misread what was being discussed earlier. I 2"x1" flashing for my door edges. I also used pop rivets to attach hinges and hardware.

Oh, right, I'd forgotten about your flashing adventures... except that I remember you said the gripper stuck to it. Should go back and re-read that, since I'm working with aluminum now for a bit.

The stuff I'm going with is a bit more substantial than flashing. It's the stuff sold here: https://8020.net I'm using the 10 series, 1" by 1". It arrived today, and it's actually a lot more reassuringly strong than I was expecting. I like a certain amount of heft to my doors, and the hardware I went with is reasonably substantial, too, so it should all work together nicely. Looks like it will play nice with my hinges, too, which is a relief.

The design I'm going with is a larger frame, with a smaller frame nested within it. The larger frame will have aluminum angle anchored to it, which will give me 3/4" of overlap and uninterrupted, evenly compressed weather sealing, I'm hoping. There should be just shy of a full inch of insulation beneath the door, with only the handle and the thin gap where the door meets the interior wall conducting heat. That's the theory, anyway. I've also go acrylic already seated in the foam portion that I'll be attaching to the inner frame.

I'm not sure how well I described it, but hopefully you get the picture...

The last couple days have mostly been painting, as well as a shopping trip to pick up the untreated 2x2's for the inside. I also cut out the opening for the sink and have the sink and the cabin shelves weighted down, getting glued to their support beams. You can see some of the aluminum for the doors doing its part here in my unique weighting practices...



Got the undercarriage portion of the floor coated, too, while I had it out painting the floor. I went with this flex-seal stuff that has a big cheesy "as seen on tv" label, mostly because I've seen those commercials and I was curious. It looked... fun? Plus, didn't hurt that the tiny can of it that was all I was going to use anyway was about $10 cheaper than a gallon of the Henry's emulsion stuff.



Turned out I needed to use every drop, but once it dries it did feel rubbery and well weather sealed, and very stuck on there. And yes, it did turn out to be kind of fun. :-) smells awful, though, but doesn't everything? Left myself plenty of a gap for canvas adhesion.




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[John61CT]

Are you using the 80/20 profiles for interior fittings only or actually framing your outer shell?
Anyone know how it compares to MiniTec?

[amandacreiglow]

Are you using the 80/20 profiles for interior fittings only or actually framing your outer shell?
Anyone know how it compares to MiniTec?

Oh, minitec is the one with all the wonderful gifs! Forgot about those... basically another company's version of the same thing. There are like 4 companies that make them, I think. Ended up not doing with them because their smallest profile is still bigger than I wanted, and 1"X1" makes the math a lot simpler, which is important to my math-challenged brain. No personal experience with it, though, sorry.

I'm only using the 80/20 for the door frames, nothing else. Depending on how working with it goes, may use it more extensively for outer framing and potentially inner furnishings on the next one.


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[John61CT]

I was thinking a walls+roof box that can break down to pieces, made of profiles+foamie that supports a heavy roofrack load, sits on a flatbed trailer for travel, or can site on a raised deck or slab on the ground.

[amandacreiglow]

I was thinking a walls+roof box that can break down to pieces, made of profiles+foamie that supports a heavy roofrack load, sits on a flatbed trailer for travel, or can site on a raised deck or slab on the ground.

That sounds cool. Of course I can think of challenges with that right away, but I'm sure there are solutions, too. As for whether the 80/20 could be used, I would think so, you'd have to figure out how it comes apart or together. I'd almost think it would be overkill, but then I'm very much not to expert here.

I've been getting a bit more done over the last few days. Mainly I've been doing a lot of priming, and assembling the shelves and he cabinets, but a lot of sanding, and spackling, and sanding again. I've been planning out the kitchen in a little more detail, and everything feels like it's proportioned ok.



I've also tried some combinations of the faux-stone spray paint that I'm planning on using for the galley countertop... basically getting a sense of how well the grey and black mix and what color I want. Basically the tiny teardrop version of countertop samples. I'm happy with how they're looking, though it's a bit of a painstaking process, as you have to do thin coat after thin coat. But I'm optimistic about how it'll look when I have the pour over epoxy on it.



I've also got the frame for the skylight, both inside the well and around the interior surface cut and glued up. So far so good. I've dry-for both the rings and have them sitting gluing together now. I'll get them glued into the ceiling tomorrow, and should then be able to get the skylight itself installed in a couple days.



Trying to get the motivation to return to the dreaded doors. Hoping to get the pieces cut tonight, but it's a little intimidating. Step one is to figure out how to change the base on the chop saw... any second now I'll stop reading the forum and go out and do it... :-)


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