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12-30-2018, 09:16 PM
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#1
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 30
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Lighter and stronger cabinets
So I was lurking around on another DIY camper site and found this:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...A&&FORM=VDRVRV
They are building cabinets from foam. I wonder how you attach doors and drawer all slides.
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12-31-2018, 11:02 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Brentwood, CA
Posts: 1,051
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brianf7028
I wonder how you attach doors and drawer all slides.
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There's a technique that boat guys use on fiberglass skin and foam filled Boston Whalers, I've used it and it held up to 5 seasons of hard duck hunting use. Essentially you drill a small hole where you want to anchor a screw, hollow out the inner foam core by fishing an allen wrench into the hole, spin the allen wrench with a drill motor, making a 1" or so diameter cavity. Inject epoxy into the cavity, forming a plug, that you can drill and tap, of use self tapping screws to anchor into.
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1995 E350 7.3 Diesel, 4x4 high roof camper, UJOR 4" lift
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12-31-2018, 11:03 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 800
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I watched that video the other evening as well. My thought is that the foam takes up a lot of precious space, but I like the concept.
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Josh
2009 Express AWD, CCV Top & 50-ish home build. Daily driver/camper/kid hauler
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01-06-2019, 11:25 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: PNW or maybe Baja Sur
Posts: 382
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Sportsmobile has switched over to Corelight corelite? cabinet material that is a plywood structure. My 350 cabinets were made with it from Austin. Much lighter than the particleboard, and a bit better around moisture. Trouble is, the manufacturer will not sell retail, so it has to come from Sportsmobile or other OEM....
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Pac NW and warmer places
1995 E250 EB 5.8 2WD on to a new owner
2006 E350 EB Elect Top 2WD
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01-06-2019, 12:11 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Indy
Posts: 571
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SMB Texas had a van at Expo East in November with the new cabinets. They looked pretty good and now have an aluminum trim on the edges instead of the PVC trim. It shouldn't shrink or expand as much as the older PVC trim, but had a fairly sharp corner. They indicated that future versions would have a softer edge on the aluminum trim corners.
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2008 Ford E-350 Quigley 4x4 V10 - 164,000 miles
RB50, PH Top, Dual AGM Group 27 Deka, 2000 Tripplite Inv., No Propane or Water Systems
Van Weight 8,100 pounds, added one rear leaf spring, BFG AT KO LT265/70R17 E Tire press 50psi.
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01-06-2019, 12:12 PM
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#6
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Member
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brianf7028
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They have reinvented composite sandwich panels with inferior and possibly cheaper materials. IMO, that is a lot of time and effort to sink into something that would be a lot better with an upgrade of materials. A standard composite sandwich panel would use resin and fiberglass instead of primer and bug screen and core foam (or core balsa, honeycomb, etc.) instead of polyiso foam (much less likely to delaminate).
One way to attach fasteners in a panel made like this is to embed wood wherever you know you'll want to attach fasteners. Another is, as suggested previously, to use epoxy. Another way to epoxy items onto sandwich panels is to use epoxy to one of the skins as the primary bond, but use fasteners though one skin to register and hold the parts in place while the epoxy dries. The strongest way is to sandwich the sandwich panel with metal plates on each side and bolts all the way through.
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01-06-2019, 12:21 PM
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#7
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Member
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 42
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We build cabinets out of welded 1" aluminum angle. The frames are strong on their own, so they could be paneled with anything. Our basic paneling is silver corrugated plastic. The countertops are molded sandwich panels. The molds allow us to use gelcoat as out standard finished surface (like a boat hull). To attach things like doors and drawer slides, we weld angles into the frames. This type of construction isn't for everybody, but it is strong, lightweight, refinishable and should last a long time.
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