Jumping on the Foamiewagon

[burnskodie21]

This is my first build so things could get a little sketchy but here goes!!

I didn't make an account until now so I have some catching up to do on my build. So strap in and try to keep the cringes to a minimum .

I started out on a pop-up camper frame I got for free from a friend. All I had to do was buy some new wheels and tires and cut off some rails I wasn't going to use and it was good to go!

My plan was to make it at least 6ft wide, 8ft long and 4ft high so I wouldn't have to join anything together on the outside.



Here is my start to a floor frame on top of the trailer frame. I had to build it up a little to clear the tires.






Here it is after I finished insulating and adding the flooring. (Ignore the tiny chair on top, I fixed my daughter's chair while I had the wood glue out.)I sealed the bottom with the nasty black roofing tar. That took waaaaaaaay longer than I anticipated and was suuuuuuuuuuper messy but it's done now so I'm happy.

Next I finished wiring the trailer lights and I attached stabilizer jacks to the back.





I cut out the sides and sanded them to match. This is the dry fit!




I then cut out notches in the top to allow for the spars. And glued them into place.



And here is where I'm at Currently. Framing in the countertop and cabinets. We ended up not extending the countertop to the end so we could access the cooler without moving it.

I'm a little worried about the side doors and the galley hatch but I'll tackle those when I get there

[JazzVinyl]

And here is where I'm at Currently. Framing in the countertop and cabinets. We ended up not extending the countertop to the end so we could access the cooler without moving it.

I'm a little worried about the side doors and the galley hatch but I'll tackle those when I get there :frightened:

Looks great, burnsk...!

You plan to canvas the inside after basic assembly?

I have a popup frame in the yard, so will be watching with great interest to see what you come up with!

Cheers!!

~~JV~~

.

[pchast]

That's a good start.

You might use lighter framing for the counter
cabinet.... Are you going to add drawers?

[GPW]

The more wood you use the more it's like a regular trailer … HEAVY !!! The idea of a Foamie is to use FOAM to replace all that Timber framing …

[burnskodie21]

And here is where I'm at Currently. Framing in the countertop and cabinets. We ended up not extending the countertop to the end so we could access the cooler without moving it.

I'm a little worried about the side doors and the galley hatch but I'll tackle those when I get there

Looks great, burnsk...!

You plan to canvas the inside after basic assembly?

I have a popup frame in the yard, so will be watching with great interest to see what you come up with!

Cheers!!

~~JV~~

.

I'm planning on skinning the inside with 5mm plywood but I'll be doing the outside in canvas

[burnskodie21]

That's a good start.

You might use lighter framing for the counter
cabinet.... Are you going to add drawers?

Thank you!

No I'm just doing cabinet doors to the outside. I'm just trying to use what I have. The cheaper the better lol

[burnskodie21]

The more wood you use the more it's like a regular trailer … HEAVY !!! The idea of a Foamie is to use FOAM to replace all that Timber framing …

Yea, I know it will make it heavier I guess this is more of a hybrid.

My plan is to add a loft bed inside for my daughter so I'll have to do some timber to support her weight.

[GPW]

Burns , no worries , most are hybrids … mine is !!

[burnskodie21]

Burns , no worries , most are hybrids … mine is !!

And I have loved looking at your builds! A HUGE inspiration!

[burnskodie21]

GPW did I see that eagle had screwed his door hinges straight into his foam? I want to keep the curve in my doors but I'm not entirely sure how to do it

[GPW]

Burns , Eagle did that a long time ago !!! A lot of foam has passed down the highway since then !!!

Re: the door curve… I dunno’ ? Maybe a separate( wooden) door frame to screw to ? …. I really don’t think screwing directly into the foam will hold for long ….
But when in doubt , check out what everybody else is doing !  There have been some wonderful innovations by Foamie builders over the years …

[JazzVinyl]

George makes a channel in the foam with a soldering iron, and implants hardboard, to give you something solid to screw into.

Described in last message, here:

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=69320&p=1225101

[Pmullen503]

I've done a similar thing for my hatch hinge, inlaying a piece of wood. I used good plywood, 1/2" thick in a routed channel, from side to side to get maximum surface area for the foam to wood joint. It eventually telegraphed through the canvas. Probably because of different thermal expansion rates but the joint is still solid 5 years later.

Hardboard is not great at holding screws and isn't at all waterproof.

Another thing I did on the inside was cut 2" holes 1 1/2" deep and used (2) 3/4" plywood discs glued into those holes to create "hard points" that I could screw into. You are limited by the area of the wood to foam glue joint as far as strength but I wasn't hanging a lot of weight from those hard points.

I made a wood frame for my doors, again floor to ceiling, that I could mount the doors to. Again, those frames telegraphed through the canvas after a year.

Probably the ideal thing if you buy a commercial door is to get a clamp type frame with the hinges built in. I'd still have some wood behind it but narrow enough to hide behind the frame to avoid seeing it telegraph through.

[JazzVinyl]

[quote="Pmullen503"]I made a wood frame for my doors, again floor to ceiling, that I could mount the doors to. Again, those frames telegraphed through the canvas after a year.

Probably the ideal thing if you buy a commercial door is to get a clamp type frame with the hinges built in. I'd still have some wood behind it but narrow enough to hide behind the frame to avoid seeing it telegraph through.[/quote]

Excellent description of your technique. And interesting that it took a year to telegraph through the canvas.

[Pmullen503]

Pretty sure it was thermal expansion. From 100+ in the summer to -30 in the winter. You can look up the thermal expansion coefficients of wood vs foam and they are quite different. Calculations at the time were close to what I was seeing on the trailer.

With the right paint job you'd never notice. You only notice it at sunrise and sunset if the trailer is pointed into or away from the sun.