Cheap bastards attempt at DIY fiberglass structural panels .One person in tool shed

opp1

Member
. please provide cross sectional diagram of the door seal detail. Do you mitre and glue the bulb seal?

haven't forgot you Jwiereng .Hoping to finish a door this next week or so .I think pictures can explain it better than I can. also I use the Straight bulbs I like that big trough. most using L shape. I personally like to leave the seal one piece. If a sharp corner I just cut out the corner and then take a part of a soup can and then lay in with fiberglass that give you nice radius. can is used as tooling .Doesn't matter what the outside of the door jamb looks like because you're putting it in two pieces
 
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opp1

Member
What makes this cheapest you do your own skin you start with a bucket of resin and fiberglass material and anything flat.
The foam averages $ 22 US for a 1-inch piece. when you make your own skin you can add woven which makes them extremely strong.
YOU drill angle holes all the way through the foam locking it from any movement.
If you let the resin drizzle through it will try both skins together so the foam density means nothing . you don't have to fill the holes with resin just let it drizzle where hole gets a real small lining tying the Skins together. you have all these little tubes of resin in the foam on a 4 to 6 in grid.
t
The video just give you an idea of the process but you are making your own skin you don't have to use high density foam. Jess is great at making videos to me is so easy ten words would explain it.

By making an interior and exterior Bond beam fiberglass you're not paying that high price for aluminum, corners and you have made a fiberglass skeleton. everything .
pretty much expands the same.
the strength from the structural panel is the distance between the two skins.
You will be making your own skins mat is the bulk and the woven makes it extremely strong. .if you want to use a different type of foam then you can make your own skin because the store-bought ones are all polyester .then bond with epoxy . Also the door jamb will be adding quite a bit of strength
you are the factory for the skin and it has insulation where plywood would not

This way of building when the first start seems extremely flimsy but its strength is in the sum of all its parts.
you are making your own skin the density of the foam does not mean anything.
By making your own panels This Way you put an actual bowl shaped into the panel . so everything is under load it makes it extremely strong.

as that interior Bond beam pulled in just a little bit and when you revit and glue it together it is actually pulling the roof down onto the walls

with building anything you have to use your due diligence always great to read about perspectives from different parts of the world
you don't use epoxy The foam is cheap big box store insulation foam isocyanate. one of the businesses I am involved they use quite a bit of foam but it's $400 a sheet.
I figured out here in the US by buying off-the-shelf not wholesale . with increased cost. 4,5 by 9 foot 1 in foam about $120 a panel . you have insulation something that won't rot can take an impact light make with under 100 bucks in tools . it would be nice if you wax it once or twice a year and maybe every five to 10 years spray clear coat over it. if you have any damage you go to Walmart.

Has Prudential the last hundreds of years with little maintenance. Wood not so much. you could put a hole in it the size of a basketball and a few years you might have to think about fixing it cuz there's nothing to rot.
A s with any project you have to figure out the pros and cons. upfront cost yearly maintenance, cost of Towing. a big one storage if you have to pay the storage that's time
12.
All I can go by is cost here in the US.
From the repair shops that I am invested in and from trade manuals they say about from 55% to 70% of all manufactured RVs are going to need major repair within the next 10 years.
So it's no surprise that labor rates are high—they average between $150 and $170 an hour nationally. A price like that makes even simple, commonplace repairs expensive. Many RV repairs occur at dealerships, which may be even more expensive.. Most go by book rate Which is higher than the actual hour you work.
Even the most uncoordinated never built a thing would Excel.
$11 piece of hardboard works great for a flat surface
 
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opp1

Member
much cheaper to buy polyester resin, but then you can't use the polystyrene foams.. RIGHT foam cheap isocyanate insulation foam
sadly that has become one of the web's biggest lies from people that read bulshit on the web and don't do research. From what I've seen it used to be the ones that sell epoxy or maybe built a trailer from epoxy and are pissed and want everybody else to waste money there the one that spread the lie at first
now it's I read it on the web I've never done it but I'm an expert.
boats are made from polyester resin all the Skins you buy are made from polyester resin
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Thermas...-Rigid-Foam-Insulation-Board-787264/100549260
 

opp1

Member
it dam near did. waiting over 3 months to buy a gallon of red paint adding texture walnut shell imbedded with polyester resin
 

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opp1

Member
for a bit of a different look . and act like a bed liner a hardened surface to protect the fiberglass easier to fix any gouges
 

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opp1

Member
sorry for going so slow with this trailer it doesn't match other trailer so I'm either going to shove it in the back or trade it off for something. Also have an extra hundred eighty feet of 5 x 10 by one inch panels 18 ea 5x10 by1in
Sadly there is less than 10 hours to finish the pod.
add a rub rail along the bottom that way if there's any damage easy to fix remember this trailer can last hundreds of years. I don't know why more people don't do this.
in staled door jam
and brackets for interior shelving in the back
Will be making cot / shelf with netting on inside pod
I know I've gone a bit Wild on the rivets but he'll for $19 a thousand all by hand too lazy to go to the shop and get a air Riveter
 

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opp1

Member
finish the door jambs today for inside and out started working on the back door. would do them different next time I would just make a z shape other than the two piece that I made these out of fiberglass
made a fiberglass frame for vent as these are made for rental this way if somebody hits a tree they can tear the vent fan off and not mess up the fiberglass roof
 

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opp1

Member
sorry about up dates . Cant use trailer because back dose not look like others.


I decided to work on my about $50 door free form no mold. I see what other people are charging is basically right $400 for doors wacko
made a skin, added a eager for looks will add willey window . We use glass cut board for glass it tempered. when glue up will add foam round edge will add inserts for the door hinges and door handle lay up glass.
Need to make recessed door hinges I don't like the door to fit flush . I like it back little way makes it harder for animals to grab. I like the windows down low in the door that way you can get a breeze across your face for just a fan up on top and you can look out without having to move around too much
 

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