pic: Another Cheap Wood Frame Idea

[GUI]

loading photo ...

[Bertman]

You might want to consider dovetail joints and internal corner blocks instead of gussets. The cost is about the same and the cornet blocks are much stronger.

Good luck with it.

[MrForbes]

We were discussing corner blocks, pretty easy to add them.

Gary and Steve and I spent an hour today at the fab shop and made this...



and the all important weight:

[gorrilla]

have you checked to see how much flexing there is?

is that oak?

[MrForbes]

Still waiting for the glue to dry completely....the sides and ends are 3/4 Birch plywood, the base and gussets are 7/32 normal cheap plywood. $20 of wood in this thing.

[gorrilla]

Originally Posted by squirrel

Still waiting for the glue to dry completely....the sides and ends are 3/4 Birch plywood, the base and gussets are 7/32 normal cheap plywood. $20 of wood in this thing.

you could fiberglass it(at least the base and corners if not the whole thing)


although its messy, i like using fiberglass, you can take wood, and make it very strong, and stiff

Originally Posted by gorrilla

although its messy, i like using fiberglass, you can take wood, and make it very strong, and stiff

And brittle.

[Bruceb]

If you intend to fiberglass anything and I mean anything I suggest you stay far away from the cheap polyester(automotive) resin and hardner and only use epoxy resins. Epoxy is a MUCH better adhesive than polyester resin. If properly prepaired it WILL NOT let go of most any material it gets on. I have built an entire 20 foot fishing boat from plywood and WEST system epoxy. I have been in some pretty ugly weather hopping 6 foot waves with it and I still haven't drowned. It is more expensive than polyester resin but you get what you pay for and you are not going to use a lot of it anyway. Don't cheap out here. Go to www.westsystem.com for all the information you will need. No, I am not affiliated with them but I am a true believer.
Bruce

[gorrilla]

Originally Posted by CraigHickman

And brittle.

in my expeireance with it, fiberglass only becomes brittle if you dont mix the resin right, or wait to long to apply it,


they switched to epoxy resin in surfboards because, polyester resin dosent stick to the new type of foam most companies use.


you dont even have to use the fiberglass mat, you could just take a paintbrush and dip it in the resin and "paint" it around the corners and edges


we're getting off topic now.......

[GUI]

In the past our chassis has been made of pultruded fiberglass and worked great, but it was a bit messy, and murdered drill bits and saw blades (we finally figured out that it should be cut with an abrasive blade in a chop saw, whic is veeeery messy). The idea for this chassis is to be cheap and easy to build. Wood has similar properties to the pultruded fiberglass, but is easier to work with, extremely cheap, and available locally.

[MrForbes]

The wood chassis by itself seems to be plenty strong and stiff, and like I said before it took us an hour to build it, and cost $20 for the materials.

If you think it could use improvement, I suggest you build one yourself, and see where the weaknesses are, and let us know how to make it better! After all, it only costs $20 and an hour of labor. (yes, I'm making a big assumption, that you have the machinery necessary to build it....but that is mostly the same machinery that has been required to build bumpers the past two years)

[Chris Fultz]

You might want to put on a "marketing hat" as you talk with people about this, or similar ideas -

Instead of a "Cheap Wood Frame", maybe a "Low Cost Wood Frame" or an "Inexpensive Wood Frame" or a "High Value Wood Frame".

The word "cheap" can imply junky, low value, and turn people away - when I think you really mean it is Low Cost..

[gorrilla]

Originally Posted by squirrel

The wood chassis by itself seems to be plenty strong and stiff, and like I said before it took us an hour to build it, and cost $20 for the materials.

If you think it could use improvement, I suggest you build one yourself, and see where the weaknesses are, and let us know how to make it better! After all, it only costs $20 and an hour of labor. (yes, I'm making a big assumption, that you have the machinery necessary to build it....but that is mostly the same machinery that has been required to build bumpers the past two years)

could you tell us the dimensions?

ill see if i can get to home depot today or tomorrow

did you apply the glue then staple it?

luckily gorrilla glue is cheap