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Man, Your Airstream looks great! Looking forward to seeing the solar project come together.
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Newbie here, Project advice needed.
- Thread starter PeteW
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- Jul 22, 2022
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Thanks for the validation and all the great back stories.
It's been really hot and muggy here for the past few days. The garage is not air conditioned and even with the doors open it's still been pretty miserable. So besides getting it organized I haven't been motivated to do to much else. I plan to try and cut a couple of blanks from my stock either tomorrow or at least in the next couple of days.
This does raise a couple of questions I don't think I've asked. Can you, or anyone reading this, recommend a blade size, and do I need to get one made specifically for metal. I know for cutting aluminum it's not been necessary. I have no idea if the blades I have are okay when it comes to copper. I have lots of blades everything from 1/8" up to 5/8". I have a 1/4" blade made specifically to cut steel that I bought two years ago to cut out some 1/8" thick gussets for some of my frame outriggers that I was reinforcing. I bought a 1/4" because I was cutting curves. It worked fine. Not sure how well a 1/4" blade will work for nice square cuts, but if I need a blade specific for metal I'll give it a try. Otherwise I'm thinking 1/2". I'm probably over thinking this.
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Thank you.
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While I'm not familiar with that location, that would be a dealership that sells Airstreams. There is only one manufacturing location, and that is in Jackson Center, Ohio. Airstream popularity has had a huge resurgence that began before the pandemic, but really took off, as did other RV sales during 2020. I'd wager that most of the Airstreams you see at that dealership are already sold and awaiting pickup.
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@PeteW - You're absolutely right about this being just a dealership. Here's a link to their website:
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A general rule of thumb for metal work is to have at least 2 teeth in contact with the work. 3 is preferred, 2 will work. Copper is a soft material, so there will be a little "give" in that rule of thumb. Further, a band saw will have adjustable pressure in the cut which will also add a little "give". I personally would use a 16 pitch blade, but that's just the way I do things. And what I have already mounted on my saw. . .
You strike me as a novice in the metal working portion of the project. I will treat you as such. . . Cutting a bar in "half" and then resetting the clamp (vise?) for two pieces will cut down the time a little. Doing it again is questionable, depending on the length of the bar. Starting with 2 pieces of bar stock doubles that again. Think binary arithmetic. . .
I started a similar project a few years back, on an older Avion. A '72 model of 32 feet with intact skins and a fair interior. It started out as a remote worksite "office" with a place to crash. Then I got into the details of how it was constructed and couldn't bring myself to take a "sawzall" to the body. It ended up as a personal project, and then God came along and started slowing me down, with strokes. I kept going until He put me in a chair.(wheelchair) So, OK, I slowed down some. At age 66, I suppose it was time to slow down a little. I ended up selling the project I could no longer pursue. It went for less than I had hoped, but somewhat better than scrap value of the shell.
In any event, the Avion had a matte finish, unlike the Airstream's mirror finish. I liked the matte finish originally because I could paint it in company colors for field use. That all got set aside when I found out what I had. I didn't shoot for a "restoration", just a refit using more modern materials and appliances. Such as the "mood" lights. . . I used LED strings and dimmers in the forward area. And LED marker lights. And my own devised back up lights, some serious trapezoidal beam tractor lights. And moved the battery box outside to the hitch. As stated, I am a little allergic to batteries, especially Lead-Acid which are bad to gas.
I'm sure that somewhere I have the drawings for both the 12 volt and the 120 volt schematics. But they are on an older drive from an XP system I was using (and prefer...) and I don't feel inclined to search for them. Hence won't offer them. The best I can (and will) offer is advice to consider more modern parts. Don't make your's a restoration, make it livable by today's standards.
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You strike me as a novice in the metal working portion of the project. I will treat you as such. . . Cutting a bar in "half" and then resetting the clamp (vise?) for two pieces will cut down the time a little. Doing it again is questionable, depending on the length of the bar. Starting with 2 pieces of bar stock doubles that again. Think binary arithmetic. . .
I started a similar project a few years back, on an older Avion. A '72 model of 32 feet with intact skins and a fair interior. It started out as a remote worksite "office" with a place to crash. Then I got into the details of how it was constructed and couldn't bring myself to take a "sawzall" to the body. It ended up as a personal project, and then God came along and started slowing me down, with strokes. I kept going until He put me in a chair.(wheelchair) So, OK, I slowed down some. At age 66, I suppose it was time to slow down a little. I ended up selling the project I could no longer pursue. It went for less than I had hoped, but somewhat better than scrap value of the shell.
In any event, the Avion had a matte finish, unlike the Airstream's mirror finish. I liked the matte finish originally because I could paint it in company colors for field use. That all got set aside when I found out what I had. I didn't shoot for a "restoration", just a refit using more modern materials and appliances. Such as the "mood" lights. . . I used LED strings and dimmers in the forward area. And LED marker lights. And my own devised back up lights, some serious trapezoidal beam tractor lights. And moved the battery box outside to the hitch. As stated, I am a little allergic to batteries, especially Lead-Acid which are bad to gas.
I'm sure that somewhere I have the drawings for both the 12 volt and the 120 volt schematics. But they are on an older drive from an XP system I was using (and prefer...) and I don't feel inclined to search for them. Hence won't offer them. The best I can (and will) offer is advice to consider more modern parts. Don't make your's a restoration, make it livable by today's standards.
.
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Wow,That looks a like a very big dealership. Plus they have two locations. Man those babies are pricey and most of them are preowned.
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You're not wrong Bill, coming from more of a traditional construction background, although mine field was restoration, I'm very much the novice when it comes to metal working. I don't mind being spoon feed and you are correct to assume I don't know much on the subject. That said I've done 98% of the metal work (repairs mostly, but also modifications) on the Airstream including the aluminum shell and the steel frame / chassis. I've had quite a learning curve and it just keeps coming. That's okay, I love learning new stuff.
Avions are amazing trailers. I go so far as to say better built. Of course they are also much heavier. The finish on the Avions is indeed different. There exterior panels were anodized. New Airstreams have a brushed finish and a clearcoat finish. After a 20 years or so that fails and the aluminum begins to oxidize. Of course depending on care and location that can happen sooner or tale longer. I stripped the remaining finish off my shell in 2017 and polished it. That took a solid month and a half. I completely agree with you BTW. I'm rebuilding and completely modernizing my Airstream. I have nothing against those that simply restore, but that is not my passion. We lived in this Airstream for 9 months out of the year for about 7 years (we bought it used in 2012) before it was necessary to over haul it. It had some serious frame issues. I'm good in the electrical department. I've got the original schematics, but I'm really redoing all of it anyway. Because I'm adding a large solar and LiFePO4 battery system and a hydronic heating / hot water system this baby is going to be well positioned for the future.
FYI, I've spent a good portion of the afternoon setting up my bandsaw. I was doing some test cuts and discovered that the table and blade alignment was off, so I'm remedying that. I also called a local place I love to do business with because they are so knowledgeable. They've been in business for years and sharpen just about anything, they also sell cutting tools like saw blades, bits, etc. They do have some milling bits and can get what ever I might need, they said. They also make custom bandsaw blades, so I asked them if I'd need anything special. He said copper would not require a special blade, such as when I needed one for steel.
I get what you're saying concerning the band saw. Not so different for wood.
"Think binary arithmetic" To be sure I'm understanding you, Are you suggesting that I stack my cuts? Does the same apply for the milling process? Sorry if I'm not getting this straight.
Here are a few pictures for the curious:
You can't tell from this picture but this damage was hidden. The previous owner had covered it up. We owned it for 7 years before I discovered it. At that point I dug in deeper and it was not good. The end of the frame on this side was totally replaced.
We had to gut the inside: This is the frame after I did extensive grinding and rust removal.
We ended up doing whats known in the Airstream renovation world as a Full Monty or a Shell Off. That young guy is my son, inspecting his old man's work.
This is the frame before we added the subfloor and put the shell back on.
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