Post by Starflyte68 on Aug 13, 2022 21:27:33 GMT -8
So we all know that staples were the primary method for connecting wood studs and beams within the walls. I've often heard this was simply because it was buth adequate and cheap. The popular method with restoration is to use pocket screws, which add to the ridgidity, but is less efficient (we supposedly have time on our hands -I might also add our lack of the industrial staple gun). As I've been working on my trailer, I've been contemplating the engineering, both original, and with my pocket screw job.
These trailers need to flex a little for bumping down the road. Sure the dream of the mid-20th century was to pave everything, but they still needed to anticipate some pot holes. The brilliance of their trailer engineering was to make them strong yet flexible without rigidity. Cabinetry gave shear strength to the overall form of the trailer. The strength of the walls themselves came not from fastening studs and beams together, but by sandwiching them between well-attached paneling inside, and aluminum skins outside. It is also probably not coincidental that sheets of aluminum exterior on the sides go lengthwise while paneling runs vertical. The studs connected loosely by staples add strength when sandwiched WITHOUT causing ridgidity.
My pocket hole work looks cool but adds a lot of rigidity. I'm wondering how well these really hold up over time? I know pocket hole screws have been in use by restoration experts long enough that there should be some indications. I might expect 10 years or so bumping through potholes would strip a lot of the pocket screws out, but maybe they still help keep wood in the right places even after they are stripped?
Who has experience lifting skins after years of bumpy roads with the pocket hole connector methods? What do these look like? I've occasionally thought that if I fully rebuild someday, I might use dowel joints, but that might be even more rigid and thus short lived?
These trailers need to flex a little for bumping down the road. Sure the dream of the mid-20th century was to pave everything, but they still needed to anticipate some pot holes. The brilliance of their trailer engineering was to make them strong yet flexible without rigidity. Cabinetry gave shear strength to the overall form of the trailer. The strength of the walls themselves came not from fastening studs and beams together, but by sandwiching them between well-attached paneling inside, and aluminum skins outside. It is also probably not coincidental that sheets of aluminum exterior on the sides go lengthwise while paneling runs vertical. The studs connected loosely by staples add strength when sandwiched WITHOUT causing ridgidity.
My pocket hole work looks cool but adds a lot of rigidity. I'm wondering how well these really hold up over time? I know pocket hole screws have been in use by restoration experts long enough that there should be some indications. I might expect 10 years or so bumping through potholes would strip a lot of the pocket screws out, but maybe they still help keep wood in the right places even after they are stripped?
Who has experience lifting skins after years of bumpy roads with the pocket hole connector methods? What do these look like? I've occasionally thought that if I fully rebuild someday, I might use dowel joints, but that might be even more rigid and thus short lived?
