Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[vreihen]

Any one built a light weight trailer with armored sides?

Didn't think so.

Composites-grade Kevlar twill was about $15/yard when I bought it two years ago. It requires special scissors to cut it.....

[Conestoga]

Any one built a light weight trailer with armored sides?

Didn't think so.

Composites-grade Kevlar twill was about $15/yard when I bought it two years ago. It requires special scissors to cut it.....

Years ago I worked for a sailmaker, amazingly a lot of usable
remnants went into the dumpster outside the shop...
Kevlar, Dacron, Sunbrella ...
If you are lucky enough to be near a sailmaking shop
(one that doesn't have dumpster-diving employees, that is)
you may find some good scraps.

[Conestoga]

I walked by the fencing supplies outside my local Agway one day
last year, and here's what hit me...

...arch a cattle panel* and weld it to the frame.
One could arch it either way, front to back, or side-to-side.
Weld panels of the same stuff on the sides to strengthen it,
making basically a cage.

Now that you folks have me completely fixated on building with foamboard...

Cover the inside of the cage with 1" foam, and the outside with
the same, glue them together (sandwich the cattle panel).

Sorry, don't have a pic yet, only in my head.

* http://www.agway.com/catalog/rural/gates/corral_panels/08101049_cattle_fence_panel_1050-8_4_gauge_16ft.html

I just found a cool site with great pix to give the idea.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2879/

[eaglesdare]

I walked by the fencing supplies outside my local Agway one day
last year, and here's what hit me...

...arch a cattle panel* and weld it to the frame.
One could arch it either way, front to back, or side-to-side.
Weld panels of the same stuff on the sides to strengthen it,
making basically a cage.

Now that you folks have me completely fixated on building with foamboard...

Cover the inside of the cage with 1" foam, and the outside with
the same, glue them together (sandwich the cattle panel).

Sorry, don't have a pic yet, only in my head.

* http://www.agway.com/catalog/rural/gates/corral_panels/08101049_cattle_fence_panel_1050-8_4_gauge_16ft.html

I just found a cool site with great pix to give the idea.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2879/

you want to do a covered wagon? that sounds cool, and i bet it will work.

love that link to the gardening though! i have to sign up for that site. i think i might even give it a go this year.

[eaglesdare]

i have a dumb question. lets say you are doing 5x8, is there a limit to how high you can go?

[GPW]

I have a dumb answer.... Not really !!! You just have to watch the top doesn't get sheared off on overpasses and bridges ...
How high do you want to go ??? Standy ??? or just taller than 4' ... My Big TD was 5' tall inside ... Comfortable , and I could sit in a regular folding chair and still have headroom ... Nice ,not too tall We found if the floor is cushioned , crawling around in a TD is not so bad (old knees )...


Re: Gardening ... I'm starting a "container" garden to grow kitchen herbs that seem to be very expensive lately in the Produce aisle ... Old Big flowerpots recycled to grow food instead of decorative plants ...
You seen this ??? http://www.oregonlive.com/hg/index.ssf/ ... ble_p.html These work great !!! My brother built one and loves it ... I'm setting mine up on concrete blocks about waist high to keep out the Bunny Rabbits , which before ate all my young plants in the ground.... grrrrrr!!!

[eaglesdare]

thanks for the dumb answer i was just thinking a bit of room would be nice. and yes old bad knees don't like crawling anymore. plus the old bad back doesn't like to get back up once its down.

i love that idea for the salad tray. think i might have to give that a shot also. bunnies like lettuc here also. but fresh lettuc taste so good. ok now i am ready to start building a garden!
..NOT til this camper is done though.

[eaglesdare]

just thinking out loud here. but lets just say that build like a module unit. say you take both sides and rood and canvas each individually. to connect them, you just use hot glue? just curious if that would work. you could then use the canvas to go over all seems [of course this would be inside and outside]. i was just siting here thinking that is all, but i would think glueing that canvas to canvas would be a good way to connect them.

again, just thinking out loud.

[GPW]

More than one way to skin this cat (er, trailer) ... Sure that would work !!!

I dunno' about the Hot glue though ...?????

[eaglesdare]

i was just thinking from experience around her with craft glue guns and fabric. it really goes into the fabric threads. i find it pretty difficult to get material undone from material when using that. hence why i was wondering about it.

[GPW]

This may sound silly , but I do use Hot glue to assemble my little Foamie RC airplanes ... It works for me if the glue is hot enough to slightly melt the surface of the foam ... To cold and it doesn't stick well, too hot and the foam gets grooves melted by the hot glue ... Tricky to find the right temperature..

And as I found out , if I leave my planes in the car in the hot sun , the joints can soften and distort ... So you may want to use the HGG sparingly and only to tack the pieces together , while the real glue dries ...

[GPW]

Yesterday I got to meet a nice young gentleman, a very talented individual , who works at an RV place locally ... He had helped me with some information and inspiration with fixing my commercial TT ...
He was very Busy working on large motor coaches... But I was able to have a brief conversation about trailers ... To my surprise he's building a Foamie teardrop... His plan is to use the foam with paneling inside and aluminum outside ... He invited me to come over and see the progress when he starts building ... I can't wait to see what he comes up with , being a professional and all , and having access to everything RV and trailer ... Hope I can persuade him to post some pictures and descriptions here... Sure would be nice to see how the Pros do it !!!

[eaglesdare]

that would be fantastic. we can compare the pros to my amature build.

[GPW]

Mine too !! Still, the principle is the same ... the skins provide the strength .. the foam only keeps the skins apart (save the insulation factor) ...The greater the distance between skins , the stronger the structure ... to a point of course..

With so many RV/trailer resources available immediately to him , curious as to things like method of attachment (glue) and edge handling (trim)... Guessing it would be easy to produce professional results with the large assortment of materials available ... and of course having the skill to use it .... He works on those Huge motor mansions, a TD build should be just like a "walk in the park " for him ...I'll try to get some pics for us to enjoy ...

[GPW]

oops , double post ...