POD: Homebuilt foam core fiberglass skin pop-up camper build thread
#1
Posted 28 March 2011 - 03:13 PM
General design concept picture:
NOTE: First off this is a spare time project in my garage, I work full time and have a 10mo old son needing attention as well so folks will need to bear with in terms of progress, it'll be what it will be.
Personally I've always wondered the time spent doing some of the builds I've read about so I'm going to try and keep a running hours log going as I post updates (this doesn't touch on design/research time). A lot of my initial progress will likely be a couple hours here and there, which for the time being works since I have to wait for epoxy to cure. I'll just give a quick summary and a picture or two.
UPDATE #1 (5hrs in): A bulk order of epoxy was placed last week which should be arriving this Friday. This likely won't be enough epoxy to finish things off but will go a long ways while I refine the final number needed later on. Friday I picked up a load of foamular 600 that I'll be using as the core. Over the weekend I ripped a sheet of plywood into 2" strips to use in my core build, cut the bulk floor foam pieces and started putting them together. I still have some epoxy left from testing so I was able to get going this weekend with that. The first pieces I put together made me realize I needed some long pipe clams so I stopped after the first seam and picked up some clamps the next day to finish putting the other chunks together. After this cures I'll cut this into slices and add wood strips in the other direction to form a grid. I plan to sheet the floor core with 1/8" plywood which I'll epoxy and narrow crown staple down, then I'll glass over the top of it. Probably more robust than needed but off all things the floor needs to be strong.
I also made up four final test laminates since my earlier pieces were made with foamular 250, also I'm trying another fabric in there. I'll make a final decision after these pieces cure for a week or so and place my bulk fiberglass fabric order.
2022 F350 7.3L; family trailer at the moment and some aluminum stuck together to eventually form another truck camper
#2
Posted 28 March 2011 - 05:14 PM
2003 Ford Ranger FX4 Level II 2013 ATC Bobcat SE "And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."- Abraham Lincoln http://ski3pin.blogspot.com/
#3
Posted 29 March 2011 - 03:50 AM
Congratulations on the first steps! Exhilerating isn't it? I also appreciate the fact that I am not alone in the "crazy enough to do something like this" category
It will be a ton of fun to watch your well thought out project take shape.
Boy, that pink stuff brings back some memories. PS. your garage looks about the same size as mine, I had to spend about half my time staying organized just so I had space to work.
Home Skillet
Drive far away then stand in the water slinging bugs
#4
Posted 29 March 2011 - 02:03 PM
2022 F350 7.3L; family trailer at the moment and some aluminum stuck together to eventually form another truck camper
#5
Posted 31 March 2011 - 08:28 PM
......and my kegorator (which is unfortunately busted).
What the? Stop work on the camper immediately and fix the kegorator! What's wrong with you man?
Just kidding, sorta.
I pulled the trigger on the 12V rams. They will be here next week. Also, I came across a really cool 4-way control device (my Dad turned me on to it). It is made by "happy jack" and used for their camper jacks, but would work really well for the actuators for our pop-ups well too. There are other brands as well and I bet you could build one up from Radio Shack parts.
Atwood
Happijac
Reico Titan
There is a solution here somewhere.
Home Skillet
Drive far away then stand in the water slinging bugs
#6
Posted 01 April 2011 - 02:12 PM
On the actuators, I'm not so interested in wireless (however it would allow you to walk around the perimeter while lifting if you wanted) so a 5 switch panel (1 master and then 4 independent for adjustment) would accomplish the same for notably less. My big goal if I went with actuators though would be to see about doing up a PWM board so the speed of each one could get dialed in properly, then going forward there wouldn't be need to watch the 4 independently. I was doing a little reading yesterday and I think the electrical components would be fairly cheap I'd just need to bring myself up to speed on assembling/solder a board together. But I'm getting ahead of myself on that front, its just good to know there is potential options available as long as I leave space for a panel later.
2022 F350 7.3L; family trailer at the moment and some aluminum stuck together to eventually form another truck camper
#7
Posted 04 April 2011 - 12:22 AM
So what I have going here: 1/2" plywood grid which I'll attached the plywood sheets to (along with surface gluing to the whole floor pack), this serves to make sure the two skins stay well connected to each other and don't just relay on the bond to the foam alone. The corners have wood hard points that I can attach the eventual jack brackets into (the sides will have similar hard points in the corners for the brackets). There is also a plywood chunk in each corner to distribute the vertical load if I go with hydraulic rams. There is a 10"x10" 1/2" plywood chunk recessed into the foam to mount the table base to. The other 4 plywood chunks (forward set closer to the center, rear set farther apart) are in case I want to bolt through the floor to attach this to the flat bed. There is a 3.5"x3.5" 1.5" thick block centered under the 6"x6" 1/2" plywood. Right now I'll see about using the jack brackets to mount the camper but in case that doesn't work out I've got these bolt through points to fall back on. The 2" wide flat plywood strips around the perimeter is a theme I plan to carry through the interface points between all the various panels. I plan to screw the panels together while temporarily assembled, then strip apart to do the fiberglass work in the horizontal and then reassemble. They will again allow me to screw things together while the epoxy sets up joining things together, the screw holes will be filled and covered over when I lay down the fiberglass strips over all the joints which will really tie things fully together.
2022 F350 7.3L; family trailer at the moment and some aluminum stuck together to eventually form another truck camper
#8
Posted 06 April 2011 - 03:40 PM
Below is the photo of the 4 test pieces with a HARD hammer hit to the center, all performed in a manner I'd generally be comfortable with using. The 2ply piece experiences more deformation but still fared okay. Three plys did well, yes there is cracking in the matrix but not a total failure. The 2 plys over 1/8" plywood held up the best as could be expected but its a definite weight trade off.
I know the questions will inevitably fly on weight, cost, etc. so I'll shine light on the information I put together to help decide on the path for the shell construction. I weighed each of those sample pieces as I assembled them. The results below show the component weights. I had to make an assumed correction for the glass weight since the pieces are cut oversized and then trimmed after the epoxy has set up a bit. I used the published weight figures for the cloth to make the correction. I was expecting a realistic glass ratio of near 50% so the 55% is appealing and I believe realistic for these flat pieces.
Below that is a summary matrix of which type of ply schedule on interior and exterior verse the weight. This is based on a rough estimate of 400ft^2 for my shell. This is the weight before the weave is filled/faired and painted. There is no allowance for windows, fittings, etc, etc. Just gives a ballpark weight for foam panel construction on its own. Also no allowance for the wood inserts I'm doing in my build but that would be the same no matter with ply schedule I went with.
And finally the cost of just the foam, glass, and epoxy to make those shell configurations. Again no allowance for shipping, tax, application supplies, etc. These are just rough decision guidance calculations.
Enough with the caveats here's the numbers:
2022 F350 7.3L; family trailer at the moment and some aluminum stuck together to eventually form another truck camper
#9
Posted 11 April 2011 - 04:36 AM
1/8" ply was epoxied down top and bottom with narrow crown staples & some pavers to hold things in place in the meantime. I had one mild bonehead move in that I drew out where the wood was on the upper 1/8" ply for easier reference later but then proceeded to staple down the first sheet mirrored in the wrong direction (front to back) due to the core being in a different position after I had flipped it from doing the bottom and me not thinking about it till after some staples had left the gun. Easy enough to just transfer the marks later though so no real harm other than a bit of wasted time.
The 1/8" ply is slightly oversized right now. I'll use a flush trim router bit along the top edge and a 1/2" radius bit along the bottom foam edge to trim it up later.
2022 F350 7.3L; family trailer at the moment and some aluminum stuck together to eventually form another truck camper
#10
Posted 17 April 2011 - 11:44 PM
The floor creates a nice work platform in the meantime as well. I quickly did the rough outline of most of the lower walls and cut/fit the chunks of foam in the sections that aren't question marks. The other areas have windows/heater vents/propane hatch, etc. that I need final dimensions on so I can fit the wood/foam accordingly. Once I know that I'll glue the cores all together and fair them out to prep them for glassing (they are just friction fit, taped/clamped together right now). But it is good to see some shape coming together.
Sections mocked up together
Broken back down for the day
2022 F350 7.3L; family trailer at the moment and some aluminum stuck together to eventually form another truck camper
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