Lightweight Homebuilt Camper for my Tacoma

[pods8]

It is amazing how many little things come up that need to be solved along the way doing a custom design.....

Yup.


With the type of door you're doing that is reminiscent of sonke's design have you considered overlapping hardsides for the popup? Looks like you have a thick cabover section as well... Edit: just read the reply above for the answer.


Not sure on the strength exact comparison of ply, but usually more and thinner plys are used so it'll tend to be inherently stronger. Don't know if that would mean 3/8" marine can be used for 1/2" cheapo ply or not.

 

[Billhilly]

Billhilly I like your design...I pondered the solid wall idea ..... Maybe on the next one....when do you start your build? I was thinking of using spacers where needed on the inside....but I like the tabs idea say for the cabinets.

Well my build has been delayed..... I may have over spent under budgeted under estimated the complexity wildly over estimated my spare time, on the truck part of 'truck camper'! Any 'camper' part is well in the future! I just draw plans while inside with my girls, while they do homework! I just watch guys like you and Pods and Yves out there doing it.

 

[DesertBoater]

Along the lines of what Hadley was saying with marine plywood, the biggest difference is the lack of voids in the marine plywood as well as the waterproof glue. I don't know if it's any stronger (I would assume so as there are no voids) maybe marginally. I remember Pods8 did a bunch of materials testing before he started construction on his camper, mostly the resilience of different types/styles of construction and lamination. Maybe not helpful immediately, but a good reference if you're planning on laminating the plywood/foam structure. Here. and Here

Cheers,
West

 

[monkeyshowpictures]

I tested Baltic burch and luan plywood for my camper and did a bunch of research on plywood. Marine grade has no voids and is actually the specified thickness (usually metric) instead of a nominal thickness. Also marine ply has thicker surface plies and very consistent thickness. If your project has complex bends the marine plywood will really shine as the consistency of the plies and lack of voids makes nice smooth bend. http://www.boulterplywood.com/ this place has marine plywood from 1.5mm to 25mm.

Most glues in plywood seem to hold up to water fine (see my boiling test in my camper build thread). I found that Baltic burch swells a bit when wet. I built a row boat when I was 11 out of 1/4" cdx glassed on one side only and it still floats today after spending most of its 24 year outdoors. My opinion is that marine grade is unnecessary for camper use unless you need its bending characteristics.

 

[riveroceanandmountain]

Thanks for the responses.... yes I agree marine plywood might be overkill.... but I was thinking/wondering if it is a better/ stronger plywood one could go with thinner material and save some weight and still achieve the same strength. I was wondering if the thinner interior plies make it stronger

I plan to use baltic birch for the cabinetry but want larger sheets than 5x5 for some of the interior pieces...

 

[monkeyshowpictures]

My Baltic birch samples are stiffer than my luan samples both 1/8". I have seen some thicknesses of Baltic birch in 4x8 sheets. The marine grade is stronger but I don't know if it is enough stronger that you could go down a thickness over other plywood grades.

 

[Humvette]

Great Build Suscribe ...

 

[Overland Hadley]

Okay, sorry for the delay.

I went through my bookmarks, a couple hundred for the camper, and did not find a lot for marine plywood. Mostly just marine flooring products. Thought I had a few, guess not or they are filed under another project. I did find this, www.marine-plywood.us


I can say that marine plywood, while better and stronger is not so much so that you should go down a size. Although I would not hesitate if it is specced at 1/2 or 5/8, going with 1/2 in a marine plywood.

You can always go down a size and see if it works. If it falls apart you know that it was too thin. It depends on how overbuilt the plans are and how much you will "work" the final product.

 

[Overland Hadley]

What is the thickness of your cabover section? I often wish my FWC was a little thicker at the cabover for better storage.

 

[DesertBoater]

:iagree:

 

[riveroceanandmountain]

Thanks Hadley for checking your bookmarks for me.... I will check that link you posted.... I am basically planning to see how thin I can go with the plywood.... and as you say.... if it fails then I know how to fix it!

I was amazed at how much 1/8 ply was in the travel trailers I used to own.... light light light is my mantra.... and convenient too.... convenience will often over ride weight for me.

to answer your question.... my cab over is 18 inches deep... I made it that deep for storage! I am planning four drawers that are 10 inches deep by 24 inches long ... one for each of us for clothes. the remainder will be accessed by lifting the mattresses. The drawers of course will not be accessible when the bed is pulled out but that is a small inconvenience.

You mention plans.... what plans??

the plans have changed so often I can't remember which version I am on.... and the plans seem to change even faster now that I am building it ...

I am researching flooring... since you mention it.... I want it light weight..... any winners in your search?

 

[Overland Hadley]

I am researching flooring... since you mention it.... I want it light weight..... any winners in your search?

I put iCore II composite flooring by Mannington in my camper, but it is not made anymore. Too bad as it was a great lightweight, waterproof and commercial grade product. Now I would look at cork or bamboo flooring. Or some other lightweight floating flooring.

 

[Overland Hadley]

If you want to go marine fancy with the floor, here are a couple links.

http://www.marine-plywood.us/Lonsealflooring.htm

http://www.worldpanel.com/marinelam.htm

 

[crawldit]

Great build. Can't wait to see what you come up with for the awning. My wife and I were just discussing the possibility of building a Foxwing type clone for our camper.

 

[fluffyprinceton]

Thanks for the responses.... yes I agree marine plywood might be overkill.... but I was thinking/wondering if it is a better/ stronger plywood one could go with thinner material and save some weight and still achieve the same strength. I was wondering if the thinner interior plies make it stronger

I plan to use baltic birch for the cabinetry but want larger sheets than 5x5 for some of the interior pieces...

I assume you are comparing baltic birch & okume marine ply to regular fir plywood - crappy CDX is definitely weaker but in any higher grade A/B, B/B the fir would be somewhat stronger than Okume ply & somewhat weaker that baltic birch - (this is based on the underlying strength of the wood species) but not enough to switch sizes however...Firs good stuff! Baltic is the heaviest & okume is the lightest.
Basically you go with marine or baltic birch for durability, looks & with okume - weight savings. The durability comes from no voids in the core & the weight savings come from how you use the stuff. The exposed bare edges of fir need a solid wood edging (for looks & splinters) and the rotary cut fir face veneers don't finish well at all - baltic & okumne don't have either problem. Because it finishes so nicely baltic & okume can be left clear or painted so they can be used both as structural & finishing members. Of course A faced fir ply can look ok too...as long as you deal with the edges - get it paper faced if you want to paint fir...

I wouldn't think twice about baltic birch in a wet environment - as long as it's epoxy sealed. My brother has a 21ft lapstrake skiff I built out of baltic birch 20 some years ago - no problems. I should of used okume however...

Check out Apple Ply - it's not apple...but's it's basically a North American sourced equivalent of baltic birch (that's my understanding anyway) the stuff I've used is noticeably lighter than the baltic birch I get... http://www.appleply.com/pdfs/specsheets/ApplePly_SpecSheet.pdf

To use baltic or okume in the structural/finished surface dual role make sure the face plys are at least 1.mm thick.http://www.noahsmarine.com/United_States/Plywoods-us/plywoods-us.html
http://www.boulterplywood.com/MarinePlywood_4.htm
The sub-1mm face plys are a pain to finish/repair because you sand through them so quickly...Of course the good stuff is more expensive...For what it's worth baltic birch is heavy for cabinets...okume is lighter. I suggest you explore using cabinets/drawers out of thin ply bonded with epoxy fillets as in stitch & glue boat building. Food drawers out of 4mm-6mm ply are plenty strong using this technique - tool or book drawers might need up to 12mm but no way do you need the standard 3/4 -18mm sheet used in home cabinets - but you can't use mechanical fasteners into the the edge grain of the thin stuff so that's why you need the "liquid joinery" with epoxy & fillers. Interior cabinets/furniture built this way will be 1/4 to 1/2 the weight of conventional stuff & much stronger.

Are you looking for floor coverings or a structural floor solution? Moe