Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[bonnie]

Glen's Foamstream has webbed areas for storage. Works really well, from what I saw. I like the tie up idea. Was thinking about doing the same sort of thing for a screen door. Hmmmm.

[GPW]

Mary, after intensely considering your cabinet idea ... I think Velcro sewn to a canvas cover/flap would work just fine for simulating a Cabinet door ... But would likely not contain heavier items under extreme acceleration or deceleration, depending on your shelf/cabinet placement ... Thinking how we normally drive , we don’t usually take off like a drag racer, so cabinets/shelves on the front of the cabin would likely be the best place to put them , only because of the idea that deceleration ( hard braking, a more likely possibility ) would only serve to push the contents further into the cabinet .. Cabinets in the rear , under hard braking would tend to empty themselves , inertia carrying them Forward into the cabin ...
As far as How it opens , it would seem that putting the Velcro on Top of the door and opening it downwards , would not only expose all the contents for perusal , but you wouldn’t need a place to stick it , as if it opened upwards , or sideways ...

And then there is the “Decorative” idea where it doesn’t have to be just a canvas flap for a door ... Giving way to the idea that you could do most ANYTHING there to dress it up a bit ... Nice material , quilts , padded , buttons , ...... who knows ... probably a Gazillion ways to make a “silk purse" out of a plain canvas door ...
Just sayin’ ...

[Mary C]

GPW, I was thinking about where I was going to put my clothes on my out west trip and decided that living with the in and out of a suitcase will get plenty tiring so I got to thinking that a shelf up front over my head would work then thought about the clothes just sitting folded and then thought about making cabinet doors. I thought about how I could make them out of foam and cover them with canvas like the shelf then there is the how to mount and to make a frame and all the rest of the typical building. I wont be putting much certainly not heavy, but mostly T shirts, shorts a couple of pair of jeans and towels and the expected undies. I may put a box up of my very inexpensive simulated gold jewelry with all those not so precious stones and a pair of inexpensive shoes and anyway you get the point. I also thought about a couple of other ways to make a cover door. I don't think things will go flying but if they do nothing is breakable and and a couple of minutes picking up will suffice. First I have to make the box for the front of the TD so I am getting very busy again. I have been just thinking. I am off to the HD to get 1x8 to repair/replace a window sill It is rotten and I need to replace it today.

Thanks for you input , like I said I was just thinking..........

Mary C.

[GPW]

Thinking is a “Good Thing “

[rowerwet]

kind of belt and suspenders, but how about adding some hooks inside so you could hook a bungee cord over the stack of clothes if the velcro isn't up to the job?

[GPW]

That makes sense !!!

[JThompson]

velcro and elastic are wonderful things. I hold laptops to table tops in a blood mobile with it. Another option to keep stuff on shelves is those bungee cargo nets they sell for the backs of suv's and cars. I picked up two at a yardsale a couple of weeks ago. a couple of cup hooks from hard points at the end of the shelf and its should go tight

[GPW]

On the FS with No cabinets , we used cargo nets everywhere ... No worries ... and some extra CN hooks (and all those holes) allows for better localized securing of most anything ... So Easy , so LIGHT , so Thrifty !!!

Just a pic for Fun... since then , more Cargo nets have been added ...

[Shar]

Love that!

[GPW]

Just being Thrifty , every time we’d go in HF, I’d buy a net , with a 20% off coupon ...

[mezmo]

Hi Mary,

I'm late to see your canvas cabinet door dilemma but thought
I'd throw out a possible method here:

If you sewed perimeter pockets in the canvas, and either a single
or double crossed diagonal pockets [better for triangulation reinforcement]
and use dowels as a frame inserted into the pockets [~1/4 or 3/8in diameter
dowels], you'd have a lightweight and 'rigid enough' cabinet door. [Drill small
holes close to the dowel ends [~ the diameter size from their ends] and wire
them together through the holes.] You could secure the corners with loops or
tabs sewn onto the canvas and attach to the shelf edges where needed. Velcro
could also be used to secure it, but perhaps an even simpler way would be to
have a couple dowel ends extend and use a tab with a large enough grommet
in it so that it could be slipped over the dowel end to 'close' or secure the
dowel-framed-canvas-bodied-door.

I propose this as I think the roll-up 'doors' would get to be a pain to
use after a while - everyone has their own frustration/aggravation
threshold with such things. Mine, would be pretty low with the
roll-up-roll-down doors. It's much easier to swing a door

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

06--07-2014 P.S. The joining method could be finessed some. If you're interested
I can explain - no time to do so now.

[eaglesdare]

That looks really good GPW!

[GPW]

Thanks !!!

[kudzu]

Have to finish the porch before I'll allow myself to start on the trailer. Needed to cut down some 2x4's. Have been scared of the table saw since it's loud, can bite you & I'm new using it. So I read the safety precautions, viewed some how to videos & read a view articles. Got started a few weeks ago but was stressed the whole time I used it. I'm not a fan of saws in general so this big thing... well, I needed more wood & kept procrastinating. Finally did the rest today. Was feeling much more comfortable with it after finishing making 2x2's from 2x4's. One should not get too comfortable with new & dangerous equipment.

OK, so I realized I needed some small blocks to use as feet/shims for the project. Had the perfect scraps to cut down & they were right by the table saw. Hmmm, is that plastic guard on at a slight angle? Might want to check that later. Put on all my protection for hands, ears, eyes, etc. Started cutting up the little boards into little blocks when... WHAM!! ... a little block came flying back out of the table saw in my direction. Thankfully it was a solid chunk, not splinters & hit a fleshy part of my arm. (Ah heck, I'm pretty fleshy all over these days.) I was left with just 2 inch shallow cut, not much more than a bad scratch, and a mildly painful contusion. Also saw lots of long, thin, plastic shavings. Apparently the plastic guard hit the blade & got shaved a bit. My arm will be many pretty colors in a few days but I consider myself lucky to have learned a lot of lessons in a dramatic feeling but mostly harmless way. Those lessons include, in no particular order:

a. Don't use a table saw for jobs better suited to the miter saw.
b. If you notice something may not be adjusted properly, fix it then instead of waiting.
c. All those safety items you're wearing are really necessary & longer sleeves wouldn't be a bad idea either.
d. Remember what you learned in everything you read & don't place portions of your anatomy directly behind the path of potential backwards flying debris.
e. Remember you are a beginner & should review those safety instructions before using the table saw.
f. Clear previously cut pieces off the saw before cutting the next piece if you choose to ignore lesson (a) above.
g. All those safety items you're wearing are really, REALLY necessary! Really!

Thus concludes this episode of the idiots guide to unsafe table saw practices. Hopefully there will not be another episode. Now I'm off to do something safer, riding the motorcycle.

[Just thinking that it's best I'll be doing a foamie so I can limit the use of saws.]

[pchast]

Hey! Long sleeves are nice for splinter protection BUT
they can be a hazard in that they hang and catch on
things.

The best situation is to remove the rip guide whenever
cross-cutting and use the miter gauge to push the waste
completely through the blade.

If you must use the rip fence when cross cutting set up a
start block clamped to the fence before the blade. This
allows extra space when the cutoff is past it.

ps,
(most of us have thrown the plastic thing out...)