If you are bending the plywood sort of paneling the best way I know of is to work from the bad side so as to preserve the finished side, form it around a simulated negative form. Then what I have done is thoroughly soak towels and apply them over the back side of the sheet to be bent. I usually use hot water and lay the towel over the surface and apply gentle pressure to begin the bent. If in a hurry I will use an iron and heat the wet towels to drive steam into the wood. If the panel is thin enough this should be sufficient. It may take a few days to form it well and you don't want to force it too fast. You may lose some of the bend as you remove it from the form but because you now have the length right that will help hold it to the wall and a little liquid nail and a few tacks should hold it well.
You can encourage the bend by cutting partial thickness strips in the convex surface but be advised that this weakens the panel and it will tend to snap at that point if you apply too much bending force. I sometimes use that method to cut panels, score the good side fairly deeply then snap it off, clean up the edge and stick it up. The back side will be fairly ugly but the scored good side is wonderful and it can be easier than sawing. To make a negative model for bending, take a board wider than the distance of the overall curve, cut it to the height of the room then scribe it to form the shape you require. Like most things this is easier for the sighted using a pencil, you can use dividers or just a notched stick, hold the pencil into the notch and with the board stood up and the stick horizontal follow the curved wall with the end of the stick and the pencil will draw the parallel shape on the board. You then cut the shape with a jigsaw and can make a series of duplicate boards to be spaced near enough to support the panel while you bend it to form it ready for installation. There are probably other ways but this has worked for me. I have never refurbished a trailer, I have an idea it won't be a full 8 feet so getting the length of the panel will be a little more complicated unless you bend it before installing it. As for the floor, you had best check the structure under it. There may be rust or rot there to be repaired before the decking is tackled. You will probably be wanting to replace what ever floor covering is in place so cutting out any bad decking and inserting a patch if necessary shouldn't be anything unusual and you probably will need to do that. I am betting though that the supporting structure under the decking is inadequate. Hope this gives you some ideas. Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype DaleLeavens Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Berry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, December 26, 2006 11:12 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] fixing up a camper > Hello there, > > My sighted father and I are looking at fixing up a 1971 Trail Blazer > camper. We were wondering about the following questions: > > 1. How would you bend a piece of paneling the wall in the camper where > paneling needs to go is curved and what type of tool would suited for this > job? > 2. What is the best way to replace a piece of flooring that is in front > of the door and very weak due to trafic going in and out? > > Thanks for all suggestions. > Scott Berry > > Scott Berry > AIM: electronicman4 > > > > > Add me to your address book... Want a signature like this? > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > To listen to the show archives go to link > http://acbradio.org/handyman.html > or > ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ > > The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. > http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday > > The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. > http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml > > Visit the new archives page at the following address > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man > list just send a blank message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.409 / Virus Database: 268.15.28/604 - Release Date: > 26/12/2006 > > To listen to the show archives go to link http://acbradio.org/handyman.html or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml Visit the new archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
