Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[RAYVILLIAN]

Ok Mike I'll jump in I've been out working on the new trailer. PMF is house paint and bed sheet. At the first LCG there was a standy made from an old pop up trailer. They just built a box on top of the old trailer and covered it with house paint and muslin cloth.

I've used it on boxes to put camping stuff in and on the cover that is on the WW Air conditioner. The AC cover was covered with bed sheet and exterior primer than a coat of oil base paint to water seal it. The cover has been on the trailer for 3 years with no leaks or delamination problems.

I'm considering using it on the new trailer but I'm wondering how it will work with something that large since latex paint dries real fast in the heat we have right now.

Gary

[Miriam C.]

I used to get old coffee bags for ten cents a pound in the bale in Woodland CA Most 1 off molds where made from hemp Bags and plaster.


Is that MR.Jack trailer that out of the goodness of hart that he show how to fix the rot in

Yep that is the one. He has fabric over wood and multi layers of epoxy. In person it really looks so much better....

Think I'll send him a note....

[Nathan N]

Ok Mike I'll jump in I've been out working on the new trailer. PMF is house paint and bed sheet. At the first LCG there was a standy made from an old pop up trailer. They just built a box on top of the old trailer and covered it with house paint and muslin cloth.

I've used it on boxes to put camping stuff in and on the cover that is on the WW Air conditioner. The AC cover was covered with bed sheet and exterior primer than a coat of oil base paint to water seal it. The cover has been on the trailer for 3 years with no leaks or delamination problems.

I'm considering using it on the new trailer but I'm wondering how it will work with something that large since latex paint dries real fast in the heat we have right now.

Gary

Gary,
Is this it on the right?

[RAYVILLIAN]

Yep that's it Nathan Actually the one on the left is it too but you can't see it because the paint and bedsheet is on the bottom.

Gary

[TheOtherSean]

In 1934, Hawley Bowlus used painted canvas over wood or steel frames to produce the a few travel trailers. They were forerunners of his more famous aluminum-skinned Road Chief trailers; the canvas-skinned trailers were similar in shape but slightly smaller than the Road Chief.

[GPW]

Looks like there's a lot of ways to skin this cat eh ? It appears like any method of construction , except aluminum skinned , would benefit from some type of fabric covering ...
Another Thrifty idea !!! A friend gave me an old fire hose , which has a really thick canvas double construction, TOUGH stuff !!! ... I used that as an overlay on the piano hinge on my Big TD galley hatch .. Secured on each side with glue and a small Al trim strip and screws... The canvas turned out heavy enough , I didn't even need the piano hinge ... Might work well on a door too , non rusting , easily replaceable , and the fire hose canvas even has a rubber coating on the inside tube. Paintable as usual . Not leaky like a piano hinge alone .
Anybody wanting some fire hose , I have PLENTY left ... Free

[GPW]

Seems to be a wide variety of foams ... This stuff looks good , even some bendy (ribbed) panels too... http://building.dow.com/na/en/products/ ... idfoam.htm
here's some from the HD
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1 ... ogId=10053
Judging by their prices , a doubled 1 1/2" thick profile and roof material , which BTW fits standard lumber, would probably be under $100, including a gallon of glue ...
canvas is pretty cheap , just a few bucks for a linear yard 6' wide ..


... and I have a boat trailer ...

[aggie79]

:lol: Madjack used camo-cloth for his TD and it is very smooth and really beautiful. Glossy as can be but he used epoxy!

A couple of LCG's ago, I asked MJ about his trailer. I believe he used camo ripstop nylon fabric. That stuff runs about 8-9 bucks a square yard. (You probably don't want to use the fabric treated for water resistance.) I believe MJ said that he did a coat or two of epoxy before he epoxied the fabric.

[Hillmann]

I have heard of using polyester fabric (fleece) and poly paint as an alternative to fiberglass and resin in making center counsels or sub boxes, it may be able to be used to make fenders(might not be sturdy enough).

[GPW]

Decided to do a "test"... Have a styrofoam produce shipping box , going to cover it in old T shirts , in and out using T2 glue and latex paint over that ... If it works , it'll be a great little box for storage ... if not , then not much lost and information gained ...

[Hillmann]

Do you really think you need to bother with gluing the cloth to the foam first? The traditional way to do it (on wooden boats) was to put on a heavy coat of paint, put the cloth over the wet paint then another coat of paint over the cloth well it was still wet so that it is all becomes a one. I think the glue would prevent the paint from completely embedding itself into the fabric.

[GPW]

OK, Two tests ... one with paint , the other side with glue ... Thanks !!!!

[Postal_Dave]

Well, how did the tests turn out?
I'm looking for a cheap alternative to FG and this sounds very interesting.

[GPW]

Not done yet .... been too busy with a painting commission (portrait) and Jury Duty ... Grrrrrr !!!! Soon though !!!

Been Hot and rainy here EVERY day ... building season coming soon , we hope !!!

I'm sure this will be fine ... having done similar things before ... and , of course , everyone else's positive experiences...

[Big Dave]

Polyester based resin will eat the foam. If you look into how fiberglass speaker boxes are built you could build a frame stretch your fleece material tight over it and coat it. Afterwards you can glue your foam to the inside.

Here's a pretty good tutorial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8cz_5eP ... re=related