Attach points on the shell without piercing it?

[dylanear]

I want to add some shelves. The larger, lower ones I'll probably put bolts through the shell to add anchor points. But I have 4 or 5 small shelves planned and don't feel like putting that many holes in my shell or having a whole bunch of added "dots" on the outside.

So I was thinking. Could I make a small cut in my fur/reflectix, open it up a bit, prep the area in there with some sandpaper and acetone. Then wrap the head of a bolt with fiberglass, dip it in resin and stick it on there. Holding it in place while curing may be a challenge.

If the shelf will not be holding anything too heavy, is there any chance something like that will hold long term? Even if there's nothing heavy, I'm not keen on my shelving falling down.

[Roy in TO]

Look at where you want to put a shelf and see if there are already rivets in the area.

Where do you want shelves? There are a gazillion ideas here in the forums.

[dylanear]

I have the design all laid out, some of the wood cut. Of course I made something as simple as shelves horribly complex. Hollow construction (like a door) and rounded edges (to match the molded fiberglass sooth edges).

The two small shelves I plan to put up between the bed top cabinet and the closet and kitchen top cabinet should be easy, anchor into cabinets/closet.

The other will be in a stack of sorts. The lowest being extra strong, supported from below so it can be used as a seat, since it's replacing the front left seat. Above that the next will be even with the kitchen counter height to extend that counter space, I'll probably bolt through the shell for that one for strength. Then two above that are the issue really. I hope to make them removable too , for flexible reconfiguration.

[dylanear]

As of now, I have a bag of bolt anchors meant to be sunk into wood. I'm thinking of making small 1/4" plywood circles, about an 1 1/4", putting the anchor in there, put a layer of fiberglass cloth around it and resin it onto the inside shell. Then all sorts of hardware could be bolted into the anchors. I just hope the rat fur incision will close up without being too ugly. Not a big deal when the shelves are in place, but may be ugly when no shelf is up. And I'd like to anchor my shower curtain in the same way and it won't be up all the time.

[Roy in TO]

Have you considered glassing T nuts in?

[Eddie Longest]

When running new wiring harnesses in aircraft we would have the sheet metal guys epoxy studs to the aircraft frame and we would attach clamps to them to hold the wires. The studs were usually 10-32 screws with a flat heads about 1" in diameter and the head had several holes in it for the epoxy to grip to. Very rarely did they come unattached and they were really strong. I think these studs were discussed here several years ago. Uncle Sugar supplied the ones we used, Granger or McMaster Carr may be a good source for them. Any tin benders out there know a source for them?
Eddie

[sheephills]

Originally Posted by Roy in TO

Have you considered glassing T nuts in?

what are T nuts? and could i use this method for my upper cupboards. glass in the T nuts then attach the bolts for the cupboard into the T nuts. just wondering. i want to put the cupboards back up without piercing my boler cause i will be painting it and dont want any holes in the shell.

[Carol Ann in TO]

A t-nut. Wikipedia is our friend

[sheephills]

Thanks for that Carol Ann i never think of wikipedia, i guess i should more offten.

[dylanear]

When I said, "bolt anchors" those T-bolts are exactly what I meant. I have a big bag of 'em. I just need to figure out how to fiberglass them in. Would it be best to put them in a wooden "plug" for lack of a better word, or just glass them in directly?

I'm doing work under the rear dinettes, I may do a few experiments in there where mess ups will not be apparent. I could use some points on the walls in those compartments, to organize the wires and pipes, keep them up in the walls and not just wildly going all over those compartments.

I'm getting a little braver about my use of fiberglass, look out, I may be dangerous!

[dylanear]

Originally Posted by Eddie Longest

When running new wiring harnesses in aircraft we would have the sheet metal guys epoxy studs to the aircraft frame and we would attach clamps to them to hold the wires. The studs were usually 10-32 screws with a flat heads about 1" in diameter and the head had several holes in it for the epoxy to grip to. Very rarely did they come unattached and they were really strong. I think these studs were discussed here several years ago. Uncle Sugar supplied the ones we used, Granger or McMaster Carr may be a good source for them. Any tin benders out there know a source for them?
Eddie

I'd love to see an example of these "studs".

[Ron F]

Dylan,
This may not work for your shelving, but I simply used 3M 4200 Fast Cure (polyeurethane adhesive) to attach hardwood blocks to the interior of the fiberglass shell, then fastened the shelving to the blocks. Here's a link showing the shelving: http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...per-39851.html . The EggCamper doesn't use rivets. Instead all of the inside cabinetry, etc. is secured with adhesive and it really holds. No holes in the shell.

Ron

[Andrew Gibbens]

There must be an American equivalent to the BigHead fastener that is used everywhere in composite industry over here.

[Roy in TO]

FYI 3M says use 4200 if you want to disassemble, 5200 if you want permanent. Quoting from this document:
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawe...200%20Rev2.pdf

Applications:

3M

TM Adhesive/Sealant Fast Cure 4200 is designed to allow disassembly of wood and fiberglass parts
bonded together. If a permanent bond is desired, use 3MTM Marine Adhesive/Sealant 5200 or Marine
Adhesive/Sealant Fast Cure 5200.
Typical bonding and sealing applications include:
-Fiberglass deck to fiberglass hull
-Wood to fiberglass
-Portholes
-Deck fittings
-Moldings
-Trunk joints

-

Between struts and planking
-Stern joints
Sealing of:
-Some plastics (test before assembly)
-Glass

-Metals

No time right now to track down the tech specs on 5200. One of the brochures also indicates bond strength differences. You have to match the colours to the products in this brochure. There is a difference in strength between the 5200 fast and regular sets.
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawe...400-5507-1.pdf

[Roy in TO]

3M adhesive product main page (65 products):
3M

[Roy in TO]

More 3M technical data sheets:

5200 regular
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawe...ant%205200.pdf

5200 Fast
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawe...ure%205200.pdf

[dylanear]

The adhesives and wood supports will work well in places I don't mind a large/long support with plenty of area to be glued. Good chance I'll use something like that for the AC unit in the closet, so thanks for the info and links.

But, there are plenty of places I'd like to put a small, unobtrusive bolt into the wall. For shelves I'd like to remove without leaving large supports, to put a small fitting/fixture, like a shower curtain holder etc. For those things I just want a small attach point. Ideally just a small hole in the fur when nothing's in there. But that could hold a decent load.

Here's my first experiment. I'm thinking I can make a small 1"ish cut in the fur, spread it open and hold it open with a 2" slice of PVC pipe or something like that, tape plastic sheet on the outside of the pipe to keep the resin off the fur, insert my little device and resin it in place. Pull the fur back as much as possible, perhaps find a small, round, tan plastic flat piece, drill a hole in the center and use that around the bolt hole to cover the disturbed fur to give a clean look.



I used the fiberglass cloth I have from an impulse buy and used a few dabs of "super" glue to quickly wrap a layer around my wooden "puck" with the T-nut inserted into it. Then took two layers of cloth on either side, a few more dabs of glue around the edge of the puck to hold the two pieces on the puck until resin is applied.

I suspect my first attempt will be a mess. But that's why I'll be putting a few of these in under my dinette seats where ugly won't matter.

[Craig D. Thompson]

In the aerospace industry, Click Bond has a line of bond on fasterners.

Here are some bond on studs:
Studs & Standoffs Products - Click Bond, Inc.

I have no idea if any of the products are available at the consumer level.

Craig T.

[Craig D. Thompson]

Um, and I have no affiliation with that company.

Craig T.

[dylanear]

Great link!!!