Canvas weight and type?

[steepski]

I've been working on my trailer for a few weeks now. I'm almost done with the trailer and floor, and am going to start gathering materials for the foam structure.

After reading through lots of posts, it seems that people have used several different weights, and types of canvas. Anywhere from 10oz to 18oz. Any thoughts on what works better, or the advantages/disadvantages?

Other than weight, any other tips/recomendations for the type of canvas? I'm looking at the artist canvas from Big Duck canvas here: [url]http://www.bigduckcanvas.com/10oz-72-unprimed-cotton-artist-canvas/
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Any thoughts on that?
Also, I'm thinking of getting pre-shrunk canvas to use on the interior surface, since it doesn't need to shrink and create the "sock" like the exterior surface does. Any reason not to do that?

Thanks for all the help so far, you guys are awesome.

[rowerwet]

Thicker canvas will weigh more and require more paint to fill the weave. I've never seen any advantages to using heavier canvas, 8 oz is fine for everything I do.
I've never seen that much shrinkage using the unshrunk canvas, not sure if preshrunk is worth it

[bonnie]

I prewashed my 10 oz canvas drop cloths. It was to remove any finishing sizing that may have been applied and to pre shrink the fabric. Sizing can impede the absorption of TBII or gripper or whatever you are using to stick things together. Just my two cents. YMMV


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[ghcoe]

I have had good luck with the HF 9"x12" drop cloths. http://www.harborfreight.com/9-ft-x-12- ... 38109.html . I just noticed that they are rated at 10oz. $16.99, use a 20% off coupon and the price drops to 13.59. It does have a seam down the middle, once you cut that out you have two 6'x9 pieces of canvas. Perfect for a standard 4x4x8 or 4x5x8 sized TD. I do not wash the canvas and like how it shrinks when applied. Wrinkles are easy to roll out.

canvas

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As far as prewashing for interior I did not bother. Came up with a good method for interior work. May take a few more steps, but real easy to do. If interested you can read about it in my build thread. Ceiling starts about halfway down and walls follow. http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=54099&start=600 .

Good luck

[steepski]

Thanks for the info. I think I'll get the 10oz stuff. My trailer is a bit bigger than some, and I think it might provide a bit extra strength to the foam.

Your method looks pretty good for the interior canvasing. It looks like you didn't have any issues with the fabric pulling away from the curved part of the roof when it dried and shrank?

[ghcoe]

It looks like you didn't have any issues with the fabric pulling away from the curved part of the roof when it dried and shrank?

I did have a bit of a issue. I had a small patch that had pulled away. Once it was dry I took a syringe with diluted glue and squirted it behind the area. Then I rolled it back down. As mentioned in the thread I was rolling the curved area about every 5 minutes. Thought it had all finally stuck down, but it had not. If I would have continued to roll it out for a bit longer I think it would have been fine. I think in the future I would glue small sections at a time and then wait for the glue to dry before doing the next section. Would take longer, but probably would not be as problematic as doing it all at once. It came out fine, just looking at easier ways.