Wood You Build IT?

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Those 1/16th and 1/64th thicknesses sound more like veneers. I haven't looked around to see what thicknesses are available. What I started on a year or two back was around 1/4" 3-ply and quite quickly got too heavy. The ply looks pretty thick (read heavy) in the above pic.

It is certainly different and you can even turn it around in a football field. Rear wheel steer would be interesting.
 
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Hi there

Well a veneer is a single ' layer ' of wood [ or ply ], plywood is made of glued veneers obviously not many layers when you get down to those thicknesses , they are used in model making boats/aircraft and may be hard to find in 8ft x 4ft sheets.

If you used 1/4" and made large lightning cutouts in it , then could be clad in 1/16th making the whole lighter.

The RWS is a wooden prototype , the wood is a very cheap 3/4" building board as you can see multiply plies so is quite strong but ugly as you can see on some of the pictures faults in the veneers have been cut out and filled before laminating.



Terrys velomobile

Made from Luan ? [ an American term for cheap plywood designed for door skins ] and based on a paper model of a velomobile.

 
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1mm thick ABS plastic laminate should work fine to cover any aluminum or wood frame. Black is pretty uv resistant as well. ABS is used on a lot of car parts, and road cases. About $35 a 4x8 sheet on ebay.
 
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I did not know that plywood came so thin as I have never been into modelling. What it is boiling down to is how thick/strong do you need for structural strength and how thin/light you need the skin.

So many ideas and suggestions making this thread worthwhile. The potentials are piling up.

By the way, I haven't seen much from Brad lately. Is he busy making one?
 
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where can one download that yellow and black velomobiel plans? I can' t find it on the web site. please give a direct link!
I think they disappered years ago , just usual Pintrest rubbish left instead of something concrete , PM me an email address and I will look mine out should be archived somewhere...
 
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I don't think paper would be strong enough. Ah well, the first didn't quite work, now make it stronger.
Think again !





paper velomobile 1:1 scale !!!



I did correspond with the guy as I though this had merit , very good looking shell with low tech approach.

I think it would have lasted much longer if he had used polyurethane to glue the layers of paper on with ?
 
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Think again !

I did correspond with the guy as I though this had merit , very good looking shell with low tech approach.

I think it would have lasted much longer if he had used polyurethane to glue the layers of paper on with ?
Own up! Who made the Papier-Mache head out of a balloon covered in newspaper strips and wallpaper paste as a kid in primary school? Hard as nails they were when finished and painted. Would have been even harder if pasted with upva glue. :D
 
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The Trabant was a papier-mache bodied car IIRC. I can't think why anyone would paint one brown though like the example above! I suggest the mould required to make one would be quite hard to make and once made you'd be better off using fibreglass for both strength and weight not to mention it wouldn't go soggy in the rain.
 
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The Trabant was a papier-mache bodied car IIRC. I can't think why anyone would paint one brown though like the example above! I suggest the mould required to make one would be quite hard to make and once made you'd be better off using fibreglass for both strength and weight not to mention it wouldn't go soggy in the rain.
Nope... not papier-Mache at all.
The Trabant had a steel unibody frame, with the roof, trunk lid, hood, fenders and doors made of duroplast, a hard plastic made from recycled cotton waste from the Soviet Union and phenol resins from the East German dye industry.
 
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I guess if you were adventurous enough you could make one out of spider silk - stronger than steel?. But then, you might find that you couldn't get out of it when you wanted to. Now, there's an idea for you Halloween people.

Seriously, you could make one out of anything but there would be a practical limit caused by all sorts of things, including that which was required to hold it together.
 
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I guess if you were adventurous enough you could make one out of spider silk - stronger than steel?. But then, you might find that you couldn't get out of it when you wanted to. Now, there's an idea for you Halloween people.

Seriously, you could make one out of anything but there would be a practical limit caused by all sorts of things, including that which was required to hold it together.
I will keep that in mind for our next Halloween party.

I vote for 'DUCK/DUCT' tape. And it comes in some wild colors and patterns. :D
OK, I'm leaving the room now.
 
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Hi All!
I know this thread is about wood construction. Have you seen "stitch and glue plywood construction" usually for kayaks, canoes or small boats. could be used for velo. Panels shaped around bulkheads. No frame necessary. Joints reinforced with fiberglass tape and resin after stitches are removed. Plywood sealed with epoxy after build or could be painted.

This in reply to Stormbird's post about "Facet V1". Why make from wood or paper? At first glance I didn't see the link to a 17 page detailed construction using coroplast https://www.instructables.com/id/Facet-V1-Velomobile/ The author did extensive search for adhesives. The edge joints add strength to body without much added weight. Built to fit a Cattrike but could be size adjusted for any tadpole.
Jeffstuff!
 
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Attaching a coroplast body to an existing trike is relatively easy. The halloween people might even be able to get away with draping a bedsheet, with eyeholes, over a trike frame. Creating a body to which the essential mechanical bits and pieces, wheels, steering, seat, etc. need to be attached and firmly and safely held, is not so easy. This thread was started to consider the latter of the two purposes. Structural rigidity requires far more than just the coroplast. All good information/suggestions just the same.

I am leaning towards completing my steel trike to be as light as my limited skills and appreciation dictate, use a combination of "thick" plywood for required cross framing and body attachment such as in front of and behind seat, and coreflute/coroplast where all that is required is, effectively, a skin.
 
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Kevin

I think when starting with a trike frame whether traditional Tadpole or say my Python this idea has a lot of merit. ?

Modular velomobile

Seems the idea is you can run it just as a rear fairing , or a complete body ?





Boasts 100 litre's of luggage space - now you are talking

IMHO I do not consider this a Velomobile....

I think a velomobile should have a monocoque body and have all wheel suspension to keep the wheels on the ground at high speed.

Yes there are 2 exceptions to this rule ?

Most WAW's do not have rear suspension
The Letira which is a fully suspended trike with a multipart body - ugly - but extremely successful

 
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I have always had slightly different preferences to mainstream and have a pretty firm idea of the body shape I am aiming for. How close I will get to it is still uncertain. However, I will have fun trying. Progress has been very slow of late due to even more side issues.

Started another variation on the norm to see how it will go. Then I'll be able to use it, or chuck it, and get back into the build.
 
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