by bobwhite215 » Thu Oct 13, 2016 12:50 pm
Aluminum Composite Material (ACM), is a material made of a plastic core, with finished aluminum faces bonded to both sides. It comes in various thicknesses, but I plan on using 3mm. It is sold under various brand names - dibond, maxmetal, and alupanel are a few.
The 3mm weighs about the same as 1/4" plywood. It is used primarily in the sign industry. I own a sign company, so it's easily available. I don't really know what it would retail for, but I get 4x8 sheets wholesale thru sign supply companies for about $35. It also comes in 4x10 and 5x10 sheets, which is what I will be using.
The big attraction for me, besides being something I'm used to, is that I get a clean, perfect finish in one step. I plan on vinyl wrapping the trailer. If I used traditional construction with wood exterior, I would still need to skin it in aluminum to get a good surface. With the ACM, its all done in one step. Should save time, money and weight.
Is it a perfect material for building a camper skin? Who knows, but I think it will work for me.
I should be picking up my frame next week, so the build will begin soon. I'll document it here along the way, so watch my progress here. I'll let you know how it works out.
Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk