Club 80-90 Forums

The name of the finish is what I needed. Chipboard is chipboard (I think).

Chickenkoop and I have a rule when we put ANYTHING in the campers now and primarily it is down to weight. Everything should where possible have more than one use and chipboard or MDF should be avoided wherever possible - it is SO damned heavy. When you consider the weight-saving of a hollow but braced panel it starts to really stack up. My buddy seat for instance can be lifted with my little finger and it was merely a case of thinking carefully about the construction and whether a solid board actually served any useful purpose or whether it was being used because it was 'easier'. After all, you end up paying for all that weight in petrol. If a heavy chipboard panel is serving no real purpose then we throw it out and come up with something far lighter. A lot of cupboard panels, partcularly uprights, don't need to be anywhere near that thick and would be better as ply and softwood frame construction. You can drop the weight to less than a third by doing that.

Today for instance, it fairly whipped along after throwing out one of my earlier attempts at storage cupboards using a recycled IKEA chipboard wardrobe. It will NOT be going back in there.

meggles wrote:The name of the finish is what I needed. Chipboard is chipboard (I think).

get a pic up then, let us guess!!!!!

CovKid wrote:Chickenkoop and I have a rule when we put ANYTHING in the campers now and primarily it is down to weight. Everything should where possible have more than one use and chipboard or MDF should be avoided wherever possible - it is SO damned heavy. When you consider the weight-saving of a hollow but braced panel it starts to really stack up. My buddy seat for instance can be lifted with my little finger and it was merely a case of thinking carefully about the construction and whether a solid board actually served any useful purpose or whether it was being used because it was 'easier'. After all, you end up paying for all that weight in petrol. If a heavy chipboard panel is serving no real purpose then we throw it out and come up with something far lighter. A lot of cupboard panels, partcularly uprights, don't need to be anywhere near that thick and would be better as ply and softwood frame construction. You can drop the weight to less than a third by doing that.

Today for instance, it fairly whipped along after throwing out one of my earlier attempts at storage cupboards using a recycled IKEA chipboard wardrobe. It will NOT be going back in there.

i dream of "whipping along" i've nothing in the back, not even all the floor( a touch of welding wil sort that though) like the framed panel idea though. how come there are so many people from cov on here anyway!!!!!!!!

I'll put a pic up SAP. Tend to agree about weight but you sometimes have to use what you have, including skills. Easier to fasten chipboard together by drilling through edge to facilitate screwing without splits, rather than cutting softwood to length, drilling it and then fastening ply to the frame etc etc. This is the opinion of a really poor, impatient, joiner. (with no joinery skills whatsoever). But give me a nursing task! Well, there we go!!!

woodmonkey wrote:how come there are so many people from cov on here anyway!!!!!!!!

No idea - I never meet any of them Maybe its an engineering thing. The frame concept can work thoroughout if you do it right. I have access to a big bench circular saw so I can run lengths of pine across the blade with it set to about 1/4" and create a channel. That way when you assemble four sides, you can fit a piece of hardboard in it - light as a feather and more than strong enough for most cupboards and cabinets. Even tiny changes can add up. Noticed on some of my cupboards, the kickboard was made of 1/2" MDF for goodness sake - swapped those for ply. Does same job and weighs next to nothing. I tell you. with a camper full of chipboard, pulling away is not much faster than a slug and it all sits there. mostly supporting nothing, weighing a ton and taking up space.

I don't think you need too much in skills. I didn't cut the sides with chamfered angles, nothing fancy, just four strips end to end, drill into each joint and whack a piece of dowel in there to hold each corner together. These days places like Aldi do very workable bench saws for under £50.

Found it: - basically three panels made that way (as rear is bulkhead behind passenger seat), and not one screw or nail - all glue, dowels and then screwed to floor. Seat base has liftout piece of ply that sits on a ridge so you have storage. Size to suit and you can store a portaloo in there. Very easy to make - no fancy wood joints. Finish in carpet, paint or whatever.