steel tube and steel sheet metal cabin???

[IamJerryP]

Has anyone built a cabin frame of steel tubing???
Airplanes use steel tubing and they are light.
I have access to thin wall tubing, at a good price, and sheet metal of any size I want.
and I am comfortable working with steel, as I make custom steel dog crate furniture as a side line
It would be a lot less money than aluminum, with a minor weight penalty if I can avoid over building.
I prefer steel over wood for siding and frame, plus, i can mig, or tig it together pretty strong, and then weld on the steel siding, or go with a aircraft fabric, and paint.
The steel siding would be easy to form the curves, and would not need the plywood.
some parts might be heavier individually, but some parts would not be needed either, because of the strength steel affords.
A bit of bed liner sprayed on would prevent oil canning, but then again, it is not like you would be in it when moving down the road.

[grant whipp]

It's been done, Jerry ... many times! The Five Wide Club out of the Cloverdale, CA, area have built all of their many many teardrops using steel tubing ... they even built one, start-to-finish in four days, at the 20th Dam Gathering of the Tears in May of 2013! Just make sure to insulate it and skin the inside with something that won't sweat or allow moisture to condense on it while you are sleeping in it ... ...!

CHEERS!

[IamJerryP]

Thanks.
Would you happen to have a link to some more info, or pictures on it ??????

[grant whipp]

Hey, Jerry!

None of the Five Wide folks have a website (that I know of), but Keith is a member here and might see this post and comment sometime ... Norm has a Facebook page at Norms' Speed Shop, Living the Dream ( http://www.facebook.com/pages/Norms-Spe ... The-Dream/ ) where he posted a youtube video of the 20th DG teardrop build last Summer ... other than that, I can't help you, sorry.

I'm sure there are several others who have built using steel tubing ... hopefully they will chime in here soon. Good luck, and as always ...

CHEERS!

[IamJerryP]

Thanks, It is more than I had to go on.
Really, it should be a relatively straight forward process to build one, but it is helpful to see what others have done, and avoid mistakes.

[KCStudly]

Alaska Teardrop builds very light weight TD's with steel cage frames. He uses VHB tape and rivets to install aluminum skins, and other modern materials for insulation and trim.

A page from his photo album: http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/album.php?album_id=2014&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&start=36

Also, he did the Glampette build for blogger Stacie Tamaki.

He has been very helpful sharing his build techniques; you would do well to search out his posts on the subject.