The Poet Creek Express - Foamie Hybrid

[KCStudly]

Turned cold again today with flurries thru most of it. Too cold to do any epoxy work, but yesterday’s filler had set up fine before it got too cold.

Popped the filer dams off the street side door frame; scraped the little flashy bits and some of the overburden; greenie washed to remove any remaining amine; then sanded to clean and fair. There are a few spots that need a little touch up filler, but for the most part I am very happy with the result.

[OP827]

Looks perfect!

[dales133]

Looks perfect!

Ill second that

[Atomic77]

That looks outstanding

[GPW]

Like fine Furniture !!!

[KCStudly]

Thanks guys! I really do appreciate the kind words and positive feedback.

[SeaFoam-ie]

KC,
As an active "Foamie" builder, I am PMing you with my questions. I want to get this show on the road while I have the chance to work with a friend Robin (auto body man, welder) who is building his own more traditional frame/ply build, and who has the space and time right now to help me with mine. He lives in the boonies of SW GA with limited internet and limited Cell service. With his masterful welding, I have the frame built for my "Foamie". Expanded from a small HF trailer to 58 x 96". Frame weighs 196# with wheels and tires. Leaving me a self-imposed 300# body budget. I am not set up to get pics loaded to the site. I will get them on as soon as I can. I have TB2 and 8 oz canvas to cover. I have GG, GS and Gripper and a Gallon of deck "Restore" for the bottom, at least. Still hunting for exterior oops paint... For the floor, I have built a exterior (surround) 1X frame (58x 100") and glued a sheet of 3/4 XPS in it with GG. It is quite sturdy and light as is. I pulled the plastic off both sides, which is suppose is proper... I have some 5mm underlayment and 1/4" ply to put on top and bottom of this sandwich. 1/8" has been harder to find, although I did see some in the Dothan, AL H.Depot on Sunday. I had no way to haul it home that day...

My problem - The 1.5 to 2" XPS (pink or blue)that you guys use is not available in FL, GA, AL Lowes or HD. I have finally found a source for 1 1/2 ($30) and 2" ($41/sheet) from a supply warehouse. They also have 1.5" Isocyanurate foil faced board (with higher R value/inch) for $25/sheet. Does anyone use the ISO board for Foamie bodies?? If so what glue would work best? Would TB2/Canvas stick to it? I tried to search the site, but did not find a solid answer.
I will be able to go to the warehouse tomorrow. Any help with this would be appreciated. I like the comments you have posted. I find it easy to get lost on the tnttt site for hours and still not find what I need. Fun but Frustrating...
I am PMing you as I do not know the best place to post such questions. Can you help with that issue, also? Thanks. Brian

[SeaFoam-ie]

KC,
As an active "Foamie" builder, I am PMing you with my questions. I want to get this show on the road while I have the chance to work with a friend Robin (auto body man, welder) who is building his own more traditional frame/ply build, and who has the space and time right now to help me with mine. He lives in the boonies of SW GA with limited internet and limited Cell service. With his masterful welding, I have the frame built for my "Foamie". Expanded from a small HF trailer to 58 x 96". Frame weighs 196# with wheels and tires. Leaving me a self-imposed 300# body budget. I am not set up to get pics loaded to the site. I will get them on as soon as I can. I have TB2 and 8 oz canvas to cover. I have GG, GS and Gripper and a Gallon of deck "Restore" for the bottom, at least. Still hunting for exterior oops paint... For the floor, I have built a exterior (surround) 1X frame (58x 100") and glued a sheet of 3/4 XPS in it with GG. It is quite sturdy and light as is. I pulled the plastic off both sides, which is suppose is proper... I have some 5mm underlayment and 1/4" ply to put on top and bottom of this sandwich. 1/8" has been harder to find, although I did see some in the Dothan, AL H.Depot on Sunday. I had no way to haul it home that day...

My problem - The 1.5 to 2" XPS (pink or blue)that you guys use is not available in FL, GA, AL Lowes or HD. I have finally found a source for 1 1/2 ($30) and 2" ($41/sheet) from a supply warehouse. They also have 1.5" Isocyanurate foil faced board (with higher R value/inch) for $25/sheet. Does anyone use the ISO board for Foamie bodies?? If so what glue would work best? Would TB2/Canvas stick to it? I tried to search the site, but did not find a solid answer.
I will be able to go to the warehouse tomorrow. Any help with this would be appreciated. I like the comments you have posted. I find it easy to get lost on the tnttt site for hours and still not find what I need. Fun but Frustrating...
I am PMing you as I do not know the best place to post such questions. Can you help with that issue, also? Thanks. Brian

[SeaFoam-ie]

Sorry for the double post

I see you are building with 1.5" foam so it appears to be structurally sufficient...

[KCStudly]

I didn't receive a PM, so I guess you posted directly. That's okay, navigating the forum can be a steep learning curve. You'll get the hang of it. The best advice I can give is to not let your initial enthusiasm get the better of you. Take the time now to do your research and planning. There is so much valuable information and hard lessons learned here on the forums that you really can not afford not to soak it all in.

I would stay away from the ISO. My understanding is that it is less friendly to work with (crumbly and more fragile). I'm not familiar with the specifics of what glues are compatible with it, but seem to recall having read that it "is special".

Pink, blue or even green (Menards?) XPS is what I would stick to (pun intended). I have had success with TB2, GG, GS, PLP and epoxy. Each has their advantages and disadvantages in a given application. Regardless of the glue, best results are always achieved when the parts fit together properly and are held securely while the glue cures.

Regarding keeping a 5x8 cabin under 300 lbs, you are probably talking to the wrong guy! With all of the extra wood and features in TPCE, using hybrid construction, I will blow that number away!

You are going to want to keep things very simple and use as little wood as possible. Look at GPW's small foamie (now Bonnie's) and Eagles Mickey Mouse build. You will need to have no or very basic electrical; think head lamps and battery op puck lights with no on board system. You will also most likely have to make your own doors (tho I couldn't say what factory doors weigh, I bet they weigh more than mine... schmaybe).

[linuxmanxxx]

Just a quick note and if you want further info go off this thread to discuss it. I built a 4 x 8 40" interior height aluminum exterior glued to Luan and 1/8" paneling interior. Walls were 1 x 2 stick framing 3/4" foam sandwich using the water based 3M contact cement complete glue up inner and outer skins. With tractor supply trailer was 480 pounds curb weight. But this was straight box no galley one manufactured door for rear entrance. The Kicker is with 3/4" sandwich and the glue I could stand 200 pounds on the roof very little flexing. Sandwich complete adhesion is strong unreal strong.
Steve

[GPW]

Steve, been a while .... How’s it Goin’ Dude ???

[KCStudly]

Steve, been a while .... How’s it Goin’ Dude ???

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing! Welcome back.

[KCStudly]

Tonight I ran the chamfering bit around the curb side door opening, roughed the cut up a little with some coarse grit to be sure the epoxy bites, and installed the temporary dams over on that side. The packing tape released so easily on the street side that I didn't even have to refresh it.

It was a little warmer during the day today and is supposed to warm up again heading into the weekend, but the overnight lows are still dipping down into the freezing range. I’ll keep an eye on the weather to see when I can stuff this corner… hopefully tomorrow night, but more likely during the day on Saturday.

Still plenty of prep work to do.

Had a thought today on build sequence. I have been thinking that I would need to glass the walls and door jambs first before I can final fit the doors; and that I would need a bigger piece of cloth than the door opening in order to be able to cover both the door faces and edges with a single piece (actually 2 plies each, but you know what I mean). Now I realize that in order to keep the edges of the doors crisp, they will need to have flox corners, too, so their faces and edges will be laid up separately. That means that, in theory at least, I could lay the walls and doors up together, cutting the doors away again later to conserve cloth.

So looking back at my FG sequence list, after doing the flox corners around the door openings, I could jamb the door frames out (i.e. lay the glass around the jamb), trial fit the hardware, and do the edges of the doors independently from their faces and the walls. So once that is settled I could remove the hardware, shim the doors into position and do each wall and door face together in the same layup. The idea is that it would save about 4 yds of cloth, but it might also be more trouble than it is worth due to the extra complexity of trying to get things in place and avoid drips where they aren’t wanted. I’ll have to think about this some more.

Okay, I thought about it. Another option would be to do the walls in segments, only running the full width sheets up to and after the doors, overlapping slightly and piecing the areas above the header and below the sill with separate strips. This would conserve the cloth that would otherwise be wasted at the door openings, and would make it easier to do the door faces as separate layups. It also would give me the option of laying the walls up in multiple sessions, if I get overwhelmed by the size of the full layups. The down side would be having to make the extra seams nice and fair, so more body work. Still, I think this is probably the better way to go.

Thoughts or suggestions?

[GPW]

Overlap , just let one side dry , feather the edge , overlap the next segment , let that dry , feather that edge back to level with the first ... you’ll probably do a little filling anyway ... and more sanding ... Glass work is pretty involved .... as you now know ... but the finish will be very Nice .... Be sure to watch your weight too .... With nothing evaporating , what’s in the can stays on the trailer ...