Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[mezmo]

It's not nice to crucify Santa !

[GPW]

You don’t see any Crows eh ....

[GPW]

..not to worry , it’s just the re-decorated scarecrow left over from Halloween ( you all saw that ) ... Just a temporary yard ornament , built with twigs and scraps ... It will stand till Her Worship tires of it ... I removed a lot of the sticky out’y branches to make it look more “Welcoming” ... more friendly than the scare crow ...
It was Thrifty !!!

Ps. every now and again , my DUMB dog looks out the window and barks and growls at it .... What an Idiot !!!

[atahoekid]

you're not alone... My wife's dumb dog barked at the snowman the kids built next door...

[wagondude]

Mine barks at any animal on TV (have I mentioned I like watching old westerns?). Once, he even sat in the kitchen barking at the calander. It had a picture of another pug on it.

[Wolffarmer]

I had a cat once. Animals on the TV did not faze it one bit. until a nature program was about cheetas. The cat didn't do anything until the cheetas did their vocals. That cat's head and ears perked right up. It was kind of spooky really.

Randy

[GPW]

Did I mention that if you want the Glidden Gripper , you may want to get it Soon .... Seems the company got sold to PPG and product availability is uncertain for the future ...

[mezmo]

Here's another possible approach to building a Foamie shell.

It uses what looks like heavy gauge wire grid for either fencing
or concrete reinforcement. If you could find galvanized or plastic coated
wire like it you wouldn't have to be concerned about rusting. Make the
body arch(s) out of the wire, then cover them with foam-planks/cut-
pieces and glue/wire it to attach them, then the fabric/fiberglass &
coating(s). The Wire'd give a framework and ease of attachment for
hard points or interior fittings.
[Click to Enlarge]



http://tinyhouseblog.com/humanitarian/o ... more-26026

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[GPW]

Cool idea ... Thanks !!!

[droid_ca]

Norm I followed that link but couldn't find much info on the actual structure it's self do you have any more info on it please

[GPW]

That would be a heck of a way to make a foamie garage for your Foamie trailer, many shapes possible ....

[mezmo]

Hi droid,

I had the same success that you did when I looked at their website -
not much !

But to me it just looks like or very similar to what the method is for
a Bow-Top Vardo. The end walls are framed for door and window and
the round shape. Here, they look like they used a catenary arch shape,
then longitudinal [lengthwise - front to back] pulins or spars go from
front to back to define the roof shape. The metal wire grid/fencing
[or whatever it is - I'd make sure to use galvanized or the plastic coated
type to ensure no rusting problems] just gives a somewhat more rigid
base/support for their insulation layer and vinyl covering. A Foamie
builder would just lay their foam sheets over it, then their fabric and
fabric coating over that in place of the insulation and vinyl sheet.
Since the thinner foam sheets are bendable, maybe multi-layer staggered
overlapped sheets of them could be used glued together or just kerf
thicker sheets, If that is what you have, depending on each builders
circumstances/preferences.

It just occurred to me, that you could make the frames and purlins/spars
out of appropriate sized galvanized metal electrical conduit [EMT I think
it's called.] and then lash-wire the galvanized/coated grid over-n-to that,
then continue with the foam sheeting etc., My personal feeling is that PVC
conduit/piping wouldn't be strong enough or long-lived enough
for use as 'framing'. I once saw, somewhere online, where a small dome
was built by bending EMT into curves and the vertical and horizontal
curved tubing was then lashed together with a twine and then that lashing
was coated with epoxy. There's also a builder of bamboo framed bicycles
that lashes the frame pieces together with a hemp twine and then epoxies
that [they formerly used carbon fiber for lashing but found the difference
in thermal movement between the bamboo and carbon fiber caused problems
but the hemp twin and bamboo were thermally compatible for expansion
and contraction]. Maybe fiberglass 'twine' or ribbon [Are there such a things ?]
could be used for the lashing of a galvanized tubing frame and the galvanized/
coated wire grid and then use an epoxy suitable for metal to coat that and
lock them together in place.

Sorry - got to rambling there !

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[GPW]

Here’s a silly idea .... may Not be Thrifty (or pretty) .... What about putting the wire form up, plus end walls ... cover it with canvas , and then spray foam the inside , which would insulate , lock everything together , and provide an inner wall surface (albeit a little rough or rock-like ) ... Would be Quick to do ...

[GPW]

Further thinking .... ... with a rough foam interior , you could paint it to look like rocks , or ths inside of a cave , and do a sorta’ Fred Flintstone thing ... Nobody’s done that yet huh ?

[loaderman]

Instead of spray foam cut say 4" strips of 1" foam. Put then inside and out with the wire in the middle, Glue layers together with the canned foam.