Replies

1. 
   bill_1010 | Jun 20, 2004 07:06pm | #1

   most of the older RVs ive seen was laminated particle board.  YOure going to pay out the wazoo for airplane grade plys.  Ultralite MDF or lite MDF with a veneer top or paint finish will work.  Be sure to seal all sides.  Solid wood would work as well.  Consider using 5/8ths and 1/2" stock for doors. 

   You really dont mention style or finish, but regardless youll need corner bracing and more glue due to the racking and vibration an RV/motorhome will produce. Screws and glue will be your best defense, and im not talking DW screws, they are weak and brittle.

2. 
   ScottPost | Jun 20, 2004 07:43pm | #2

   I re-did the interior of one that had suffered a fire. I had to remove everything - cabinets, walls, ceiling, and floor. RV's are built from the inside out, so in my case the cabinets were screwed to the walls from the outside before the outer skin was put on. This meant I had no access to the screw heads and had to use rather forceful methods, including a 3" air cutoff wheel and die grinder, to remove the cabinets. The walls were just tempered hardboard paneling that you can get at any home center with plenty of pattern/color choices. The RV I did had a wooden 2x2 frame so I attached the hardboard with screws with decorative covers. The cabinets need to be light weight so I built frames of 1x poplar with 1/4" cabinet grade plywood skins. Doors were regular 3/4" stile & rail with 1/4" panels. I replaced the ceiling with 1/4" bending plywood covered with headliner material from a body shop. The headliner attaches to the plywood with spray glue.

   Tearing out the old interior was by far the worst part of the job.

3. 
   Alan | Jun 21, 2004 02:57am | #3

   jmoonret,

   I think you're on the right track looking at boat makers as a source of both how-to and inspiration.  Many years ago I bought The Gougeon Brothers On Boat Construction and it has been an excellent reference.  I often return to it for things other than boats and wood/epoxy building methods.

   As you wrote that you would like to save weight I would suggest you steer away from MDF and its kindred.  Though I haven't used that stuff in at least twenty years, I still hate it--from afar.  But for your application, unless it's been completely reengineered, it's much heavier than plywood or solid stock--among its many other awful traits.

   I could be very wrong about MDF's weight.  Again, I haven't gone near it for many, many moons.  I'd like to know if I am mistaken.

   Alan

4. 
   grousemouse | Jun 21, 2004 04:55am | #4

   I would look at some wood property tables and try to find a wood species that strikes a good balance  between a low density (weight) and high modulus of elasticity "E" or allowable  bending stress "Fb" (indicators of strength).  I would use solid wood construction with slightly less thickness than typical.  I suspect Jon Arno could give you some good sugestions.

   Brian K.

5. 
   G3ne | Jun 23, 2004 12:21am | #5

   I've done lots of remodeling work in my motorhome.  The cabinet doors are all standard 3/4" red oak rail/stile with raised panels.  The new cabinets I made were the same construction, but I used Varathane Diamond water-borne polyurethane finish.  The original stuff was an oil-base that yellowed badly.  After five years in the heat of California's Central Valley, the water-base finish still looks great.