Lightweight Homebuilt Camper for my Tacoma
- Thread starter riveroceanandmountain
- Start date
AeroNautiCal
Explorer
Overland Hadley
on a journey
Yes, beautiful.
Overland Hadley
on a journey
I have thought that about my camper build many times.
What was the "traditional" plywood you were comparing to, baltic birch? Can you post the weight difference you found between that and the Okume.
riveroceanandmountain
Adventurer
Thanks for the wonderful comments everyone
Hadley.....I am referring to lumber yard fir plywood or lumber yard 1/8 panelling etc.
I decided to go with 1/16 (1.5mm) ply on the walls.... it is a 3 ply material and only weighs 5 pounds per sheet! I have never used such thin plywood before but I will be sure to report on my impressions once I get it here and try it out.... call it an expensive experiment that could work or .....
For the floor I am going to make a foam sandwich floor to provide more insulation and save weight too.... I will glue 6mm plywood on top and 4mm plywood on the bottom of 1/2 foam.... it sounds good in theory....it will be less weight than a sheet of 1/2 marine plywood.... and only twice the cost:Wow1: I suppose I could glue the top sheet to foam above the frame and the bottom sheet to the foam and frame below.... ( this would be what you were saying I should do is it not Pods?)..... and save the weight of yet another sheet of plywood. Hmmmmm ......
Since it is one big prototype might as well try out every crazy idea I come up with !
check out boulterplywood.com for weights of marine plywood in different species
Hadley.....I am referring to lumber yard fir plywood or lumber yard 1/8 panelling etc.
I decided to go with 1/16 (1.5mm) ply on the walls.... it is a 3 ply material and only weighs 5 pounds per sheet! I have never used such thin plywood before but I will be sure to report on my impressions once I get it here and try it out.... call it an expensive experiment that could work or .....
For the floor I am going to make a foam sandwich floor to provide more insulation and save weight too.... I will glue 6mm plywood on top and 4mm plywood on the bottom of 1/2 foam.... it sounds good in theory....it will be less weight than a sheet of 1/2 marine plywood.... and only twice the cost:Wow1: I suppose I could glue the top sheet to foam above the frame and the bottom sheet to the foam and frame below.... ( this would be what you were saying I should do is it not Pods?)..... and save the weight of yet another sheet of plywood. Hmmmmm ......
Since it is one big prototype might as well try out every crazy idea I come up with !
check out boulterplywood.com for weights of marine plywood in different species
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Yes. But I'd think thicker than 4mm if you did it this way, in the other route 4mm sounds fine though.
What are you doing for "glue".
riveroceanandmountain
Adventurer
GCecchetto
Adventurer
I have used 3M's VHB tape extensively in the Dirt Sherpa build. You better make sure you have your panels where you want them when you put them on the tape, cause you won't be moving them once they contact the tape. It is what it is said to be, and the bond gets significantly stronger as the tape cures.
riveroceanandmountain
Adventurer
Yes.... I ended up pulling a couple small panels.... (I knew I had extra pieces to recut so I could replace them)... I used a heat gun... and the VHB tape did release using a heat gun but the .032 aluminum was still pretty much impossible to keep from bending. I am guessing a thicker panel that was heat proof like aluminum could be removed ... I won't say "without too much trouble"... because it would be a hassle for sure!
riveroceanandmountain
Adventurer
One of my crazy ideas is to use rotary latches on all the doors and hatches
I have had a few different design ideas... but now that I am putting in the time to make them work.... it is not looking so easy
I am on design idea number 4 at present
here are some pics of the mounting ideas that do not work for one reason or another.
routering openings in the door frame member to accept the rotary latch and strike pin.... now I know why most people don't do this!
I have had a few different design ideas... but now that I am putting in the time to make them work.... it is not looking so easy
I am on design idea number 4 at present
here are some pics of the mounting ideas that do not work for one reason or another.
routering openings in the door frame member to accept the rotary latch and strike pin.... now I know why most people don't do this!
riveroceanandmountain
Adventurer
Yes... slick is the idea.... but slick does take a lot more R and D work! I am cutting the aluminum with a router. I have broken a few cheap carbide router bits, but a better quality 1/2 carbide bit seems to be standing up fine. The trick is to use cutting fluid, otherwise the carbide bit simply gums up with aluminum.
The design piece is a challenge to get the thing to work. ..... back to the shop
The design piece is a challenge to get the thing to work. ..... back to the shop
riveroceanandmountain
Adventurer
Ok.... I think I am truly crazy... I dreamed about my camper build for too long! Two years of dreaming up all sorts of slick ideas...slick ideas take way more time to build!
Somewhere I came up with the idea of all the doors and hatches having rotary latches... like on vehicle doors.... this one is costing me a chunk of time... but I think I have it figured out.
Built the first door today.... tomorrow should be able to get a couple more done. Then the funky bent door for the entry... hope to have all the doors done this week.
I needed to go with 1.5 inch square tubing for the door frame to allow clearance for the handles and latch hardware. This is partly why I wanted 1.5 inch finished wall thickness.
the latch pin is a shoulder bolt... but I need to order bolts with a shorter shoulder. So glad I found McMaster-Carr..... they are glad too $$$$$
The cables are not connected to the handle yet... as I need to skin the door first
Of course I needed to solve the problem of the cables jumping off the pulleys.... so fabricated some UHMW little bits.. primitive but no one will see them.
Somewhere I came up with the idea of all the doors and hatches having rotary latches... like on vehicle doors.... this one is costing me a chunk of time... but I think I have it figured out.
Built the first door today.... tomorrow should be able to get a couple more done. Then the funky bent door for the entry... hope to have all the doors done this week.
I needed to go with 1.5 inch square tubing for the door frame to allow clearance for the handles and latch hardware. This is partly why I wanted 1.5 inch finished wall thickness.
the latch pin is a shoulder bolt... but I need to order bolts with a shorter shoulder. So glad I found McMaster-Carr..... they are glad too $$$$$
The cables are not connected to the handle yet... as I need to skin the door first
Of course I needed to solve the problem of the cables jumping off the pulleys.... so fabricated some UHMW little bits.. primitive but no one will see them.
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riveroceanandmountain
Adventurer
Three door frames are finished, just need to install the latch hardware
The bent entry door is underway... the latch/lock mechanism gets even more complicated as you need to be able to open it from inside or out and lock it from inside or out.... just like a car door.... I like a challenging design... lots of fun!
The bent entry door is underway... the latch/lock mechanism gets even more complicated as you need to be able to open it from inside or out and lock it from inside or out.... just like a car door.... I like a challenging design... lots of fun!
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