best radius for a universal traditional tear drop trailer ?

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best radius for a universal traditional tear drop trailer ?

Postby saywhatthat » Fri Oct 16, 2020 12:33 pm

A strange question. After fire season is over .Will be receiving all the tooling for fiberglass trailtop components .At this time there more for square tops . .Been informed they make two more radius for me .As I am a bigger fan of the square top . What radius do you think be best for a universal traditional tear drop trailer . Think legos . Thank you . May take a bit to get back to you. will be using trailers as rentals. Je vous remercie
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Re: best radius for a universal traditional tear drop traile

Postby tony.latham » Fri Oct 16, 2020 8:44 pm

What radius do you think be best for a universal traditional tear drop trailer.


I'm not sure what you mean by unversal?

Most classic teardrops --except the Benroy-- are a curve, not a radius.

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:thinking:

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Re: best radius for a universal traditional tear drop traile

Postby saywhatthat » Sat Oct 17, 2020 11:13 am

thanks for the input Tony. Most classic teardrops --except the Benroy-- are a curve, not a radius .Trying to get the best looking trailer using radius are a combo of radius . This winter there going to do a kit profile on a old kit trailer they have at there shop Tony if you miss the smoke . there a bit extra out here this year. just a tiny bit so come on by
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Re: best radius for a universal traditional tear drop traile

Postby troubleScottie » Sun Oct 18, 2020 12:04 pm

The curve is part of an ellipse. Given the major and minor radius, the curves are easily reproduced. Alternatively, if you use large circles, you can get a similar look/feel.

Some of the curves are simple circles/arcs -- lower front edge, upper front edge, lower rear edge.

The attached pdf has the same design done with both. Finally, assuming you are copying the design, the design has the curves and their edges drawn over a grid. The difficulty of the grid design is it is more difficult to change the curve

The circles/arcs are easily cut with router and a simple radial arm. Ellipses require a more complex jig.

Alternatively, one can use splines -- long thin flexible wooden/metal bars 1-2" x 1/16-1/8". Fixing the ends at the same positions relative to each other with the same orientation will give the same continuous smooth curve.
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Grumman2 Profile: using circles and ellipse.
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Re: best radius for a universal traditional tear drop traile

Postby saywhatthat » Tue Oct 20, 2020 2:48 pm

thanks for the input. At this all time the place that makes the fiberglass trailtop components will only make simple radius . This winter there going to make a kit profile. they have real one in the shop So a glue & go component Kit kit
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Re: best radius for a universal traditional tear drop traile

Postby tony.latham » Tue Oct 20, 2020 9:04 pm

saywhatthat wrote:thanks for the input. At this all time the place that makes the fiberglass trailtop components will only make simple radius . This winter there going to make a kit profile. they have real one in the shop So a glue & go component Kit kit
Do a Benroy. They’re two radiuses I think. It should be in the design library.

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Re: best radius for a universal traditional tear drop traile

Postby noseoil » Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:49 am

We used a 24" radius in the front & a 30" radius in the back, with a sloping roof line (about 1 1/2" I think) to the rear. I didn't want the "tumble home" look in the front & rear, as it would take away some inches from the floor plan, which were needed to get the galley in place for the cooler, stove & other stuff with our mattress size. It's basically a Benroy type of design, as far as looks go.

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Re: best radius for a universal traditional tear drop traile

Postby Tom&Shelly » Wed Oct 21, 2020 8:16 am

We used the "generic Benroy plans" in the Design Resources folder for the general shape. The two radius's are 19 inches and 48 inches. Mike did something a little tricky in the back, using part of the 48 inch radius and part of the 19 inch radius to make the curves meet. He has all the dimensions in the pdf, which is all we used from that design. (We made our own design for the interior, and used the sandwiched walls and "inside out" construction method Tony and Steve Fredrick describe in their books.)

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