Outer skins

[Mary C]

Gizzmo, I used 8 oz got it from Duck for $100 , 60 inches wide 25 yards, It goes on sale occasionally. I had no problem. The thing is you can use drop cloths too. I have found that they are a little more rough than Duck's. I wanted the cheapest I could get that was 60 inches. I have been pleased with the result. Canvas comes in different weights you may want to order samples or go to the local material store and check out what they may have. it is your choice on the weight, just remember wt is how heavy how close the threads are and how much money. I didn't find the differences worth the money invested.

GPW, My friend wants your opinion She wants to know on 8 oz cotton duck she wants to paint designs in brights colors for curtains but she wants a smoother finish behind the colors. What do you think????

Mary C.

[GPW]

Smoother finish ??? Like what ? Anything you paint it with will make the fabric stiffer , unless she dyes it in bright colors (maybe like a Batik) , but then it’s still a cotton finish ... once colored she could starch and iron it ...

[Gizzmo]

GPW
The best material on a roof by far is OSB I'm not sure that they make a good plywood for roofs. gets to hot up there. Of course they never use the expensive stuff for housing. Unless you are talking about the outer covering if so I much prefer the fifty year malarkey once and done. Hail nor sleet nor wind bothers it unless of course the house blows down

Will glue stick to the OSB after it is treated with the " mixture"

Mary
the main reason that I chose the 15 oz canvas is because 25 yards is the minimum that they sell and I think that the extra protection would be best for the fish house, hence the extra width. Fish house is going to be 6 x 8

[Mary C]

GPW, she is using fabric paint so as she says. oh well...........

Gizzmo I forgot about the fish house. What is your TD length and width? It took all but 2 yard to cover my TD.

Mary C.

[GPW]

Mo’, thanks for your experienced opinion ... !!! That just confirms what I thought about OSB...

Mary , you can lead a horse to curtains , but .... ....

[Gizzmo]

Mary
My teardrop is going to be 4 x 8 42 inches high

The way I have it figured it will be tight,
I might need to get out a pencil and calculator before ordering that's why I went with 84" wide

I wish I had some scrap luan and 1/4 ply for experiments. Oh well plenty of time to find some scrap lying around

[GPW]

That may be tight !!! Considering you lose 4” on the inside due to the thickness of the foam = 44” wide (really tight) ...not a problem if you’re skinny...

[Lonewolf42301]

Thanks again everyone.
Now I will just continue to stock up and wait for warmer temps 27 below this morning with wind brrrr!!!
One more ?
Not skin related
Do you think that if I laminated 1/4 plywood to each side of the foam that it would be sturdy enough to dance on?

I too, would love to hear if anyone has laminated foam with anything for use in the floor and what kind of strength they had.... I'm trying to find something strong enuf for floor but extra lightweight... On a side note, hope all had a great Christmas and wishing everyone a great Newyears....

[KCStudly]

I have used several methods to apply 5mm (3/16 inch) Okoume ply to 1-1/2 thk blue foam for my floor, doors, bulkhead and walls.

My floor is made up of 2x and 1x (on edge) clear cedar frame work infilled with foam, and skinned with the ply top and bottom. I used TB2 for the wood to wood joints and 3M 30NF "green" (water based) contact adhesive on the foam to wood. A few staples around the perimeter and weights stacked on for pressure. Rather than have a bunch of waste on my 64 inch wide floor, I optimized my plywood cutting schedule and ended up with a bunch of nearly square panels butt joined over the sub-frame, rather than a single monolithic skin, but I think it came out sturdy just the same. During construction I have rosin paper and a scrap piece of 1/2 ply laying in the cabin so that I can walk on it with impunity, but I have crawled and laid down on it by itself and am confident in it.

Initially I had heard that people were having a hard time with TB2 to foam because it wasn't drying well, which is why I went with the expensive 30NF at first, but after I ran low on it, and having heard about some better results that people were getting with the TB2, I did a test. I flat glued a 1x4 square block of pine (3-1/2 wide x 3-1/2 long) to the face of a piece of foam using a chip brush to paint the glue on and weights to clamp. Here I am with one foot lifted off of the floor putting a good portion of my considerable mass toward trying to shear the glue bond by pressing on the edge of the foam with the wood block on the edge of the bench.


So that worked great, but I was still concerned that the relatively small piece of wood could give different results, allowing air in from the edges more readily than a larger piece would, or perhaps the pine was more absorbent than the Okoume. So I did another larger test using the foam that I cut out of my door's window opening (about 18 inches x 24 inches) and laminated a piece of cheap luan underlay (I don't remember off the top of my head if I brushed or rolled the glue on, but I did put it on thin with no puddles or pooling); again, weight to clamp. Here is the test coupon on top of some 2x's the long way supporting all of my 260 +/-5 lbs.

(I figured that the luan and Okoume were more similar to each other than the pine, and I didn't want to waste such a big piece of the Okoume on this test.)

It's not touching the floor in the middle, and I don't think it would have bowed nearly as much if I had used the 5 opposing grains of the Okoume, instead of the punky core luan. If I laminated both sides I suspect it would hardly bow much at all.

I did dig out a chunk of foam from the middle of the back side of this test piece to see how the glue had dried and whether it had formed a complete bond. The little dark smudge in the very middle was just a little gummy; the streak down the middle where it looks like there was no glue is where I rubbed the stuck foam away with my finger; and the rest is just how it popped out with the foam breaking before the bond.


The conclusion I came to is that so long as you glue thin and even (no puddles or pooling, just a thin even coat), then the wood has sufficient capacity to absorb the water from the glue before the glue seals the wood and it stops taking moisture. If you use too much glue it doesn't dry, or takes a long, long time.

So, all that being said, I don't think I would try to dance on it (except for the Rondukie... it's kind of like dancing but you do it laying down ), especially not with a lady in high heeled shoes; but then this is a TD and it will have a mattress on it to help spread the load so...

If you want a little more cargo compatibility, or are looking at a slouchy/standy, then I would go a little thicker, but for under a TD mattress, I'm good.

On my walls I switched away from the 30NF and rolled TB2 on, then used shop vac and home made bag to vacuum press the panels. The second panel had some voids around some of the edges, and if I had it to do over I would try to make some improvements in how I sealed my bag, but all in all I am happy with the results.

There is a lot more detail and tons of pictures in my build thread, but the info is scattered throughout as I built along. Feel free to have a read.

[KCStudly]

I suppose that I should clarify: my experience skinning walls is with my inner panels. My outer skins will be canvas and TB2 glue, with paint.

[Gizzmo]

My wife am I can both sleep comfortably in a forty inch space, remember I'm a roofer. Light and strong that's 2 of the requirements. The big guys wear out their bodies to quickly.

I am running an experiment right now with a piece of 1/8 inch paneling glued with tb2 on each side of 1 1/2 foam about 7 inches wide by 2 1/2 feet long I will let it dry in the kitchen for a couple of days before I try to break it
I will report my results at that time hopefully I will be able to figure out how to post a

My plan right now is to use 1/4 wafer board ( OSB ) on each side of 1 1/2 inch foam torsion box style with 1 x 2 pine for the bottom of the fish house floor

For the TD I am planning on 5/8 inch OSB for the floor as there will be the cross members and with the inability to walk on it and the mattress to spread the weight I think I could get but with 1/2 but will go with the 5/8 just to be on the safe side

I can hardly wait to start

[KCStudly]

Size your photos to 800x600 pixels for the best fit and to meet the forum limits.

Select the 'Forum Problems" pull down menu in the header above^.

Select "Help With Photos" and start reading.

I prefer (and others have commented that they prefer) to use the "Image-URL" link and the [img] tags because this brings the photo into your post full size.

If you use the "BBC Code" it brings in a smaller clickable icon that can be opened, but then you have to click back to continue reading the post.

This assumes that you are on a desk or laptop, not a portable using tapatalk or whatever.

Some people don't use their photo gallery here, preferring to link from outside photo "buckets", but I can't help you there.

[wagondude]

The most complete information on posting pictures is here: viewtopic.php?p=911290#p911290 . There were a couple of videos posted awhile back (one for uploading and placing pictures in a post and one for youtube videos), but I cant seem to find them right now.

Edit: here it is--

[rowerwet]

I know I missed it by a few pages but, putting metal screen into the skin would give lightning protection, just make sure it is connected to the trailer frame. Most certified composite aircraft have metal mesh in the skin for lightning protection.
It really wouldn't have to be much either, metal mesh running from the hatch forward down to the frame at the front would do the job.

[Gizzmo]

As promised I said I would post my results
Material was one and a half inch foam 1/8 inch pressboard out of the bottom of the dresser drawer glued with tb2
Very strong I could put all of my 170 lbs on it with out bending at all then I jumped up and down on it, still fine then I really started to jump up and down on it with only one foot before the top layer broke it took a few more jumps before the bottom layer started to separate at witch point I stopped
Remember that this is only 7 inches wide and two and a 1/2 foot long I have no doubt that this would hold up extremely well if sandwiched between 1/4 inch wafer board OSB