Hi All; Am refinishing the inside of an Airstream trailer. Going to use veneer throughout. Try to determine how to cut the two ends of the trailer pieces. Looks like I will need at least six pieces to make the complete curve at each end. Short of using lots of tar paper for templates, just not sure how to go about making straight wood fit into curved corners. Thanks for your time and efforts.
Don
I'm wondering what he is gluing the veneer to and how he got it to fit.
You are going to need to use some kind of template or risk wasting a lot of veneer.
You could use cardboard or pegboard type material which is easily available in 4ft x 8 ft sheets. You could cut the largest rectangle which will fit in the end and then use cardboad to get the curves to fill the gaps. I would then transfer this to another piece or two of the pegboard type material just so the final template was a single piece.
Sound like an interesting project.
Dave Paine.
The CW entity posted thusly:
Uh, he didn't get it to fit. That's why he wants to know the best way to figure out the cuts.
It would appear that I have to spell it out for some people. Try to fallow along. If he glues veneer directly to the aluminum shell of a trailer, it will buckle, split and come off. He will end up with an expensive mess. Coefficient of expansion of woold and aluminum is substantially different. Consequently, the only way of doing this and making it work is to put it on something besides the aluminum. Something more stable. Plain enough for you?
I think he stated "re-finishing" and thus I would assume the backing is the original from the factory at mfg....I've seen formed plywood before but cannot recall if it was an Airstream or not. In any case this is a challenging project.
Hi again;
Let me back up a little. I actually replace the plastic roof ends with new aluminum sheets, five total at each end. I was going to glue veneer to that. Found out as was stated earlier, that expansion is enough different in the two materials the glue would not hold. Another person has already done this kind of project but was not too clear about templates and such. The new idea is to sheet metal screw or rivot veneer onto the ribs of the trailer. There is a real possibility of condensation being aluminum and all. So by using a 1 inch spacer and thin insulation between the outside shell and the veneer this will be minumized. Also applying three coats of sealer on the back side of wood wil help. I found out with the aluminum that what was is straight laying of the table becomes concave when put into the trailer. Just don't know how to figure this curving in advance. Looks like a trail and error sort of thing. Thanks again for time and efforts and responses.
Don
Templates are the way to go, but I wouldn't use tar paper! Red rosin paper is fairly cheap and works nicely for templates.
The CW entity posted thusly:
I follow just fine. I followed both things you said. They are completely different. Try to say what you mean.
You are lost, aren't you?
The CW entity posted thusly:
Not at all.
If you know you need six pieces of veneer, you could tape them all to the interior using double-stick tape. Obviously they'll overlap to some extend, especially at the top and bottom.
Then, set up a self-leveling laser level which can draw a plumb line for you, and position it one sixth of the way around the circumference of the end of the trailer, and trace the line onto the veneer. Then move it over another sixth, then another, until you've gotten all of your lines traced onto the veneer. Then slice through the overlapping layers.
Josh
Neat, I just am not very creative. Thanks for you response and all of the others too.
Don
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