Box Trailer Advice.

[steve.h]

Hi guys, I am refurbishing an old trailer at the moment, I am going to build a box to go on the chassis rather than having an open top trailer with tarp cover, it is for camping and I would rather it be lockable.

I am going to build the box using hardwood ply sheets with an internal frame using hardwood quadrant, I will fix it with epoxy glue as well as tacking it with nails. I also have an 18mm sheet of sacrificial osb board as a sub base for the box as this was given to me and I thought it would be good to save the bottom of the box itself..
My question is what thickness of hardwood ply would be strong enough, would 6mm be strong enough or would I be better off using 9mm ? ? ? What do you guys think, what would you use ? ? ?

Also what would you paint it with, I want to seal the wood to protect it as well as it looking nice,epoxy is good but expensive, what other paint can I use, I dont want to see the grain of the wood I want a nice smooth finish that will last but not cost the earth....

Thanks as ever.

Steve.h

 

[W.olly]

Hi Steve, if braced enough then 6mm will do, 25mm braces every 450mm will do the trick i reckon, make no much difference to 9mm, 12mm would do away with a lot of the braceing,
I am guessing this as you say camping trailer, so its not a big one.

For paint, a good few base coats then any good exterior gloss will do, roll it on then flat it with a very soft clean brush, first coat a quick thin job then a good second coat will do the trick. I have used weathersheild in the past and worked excellent, that was on a large cruiser and it looked like a new Gel coat finish.

Oh and the OSB, i wouldnt bother at all with that, good ply, will outlast the OSB, a lot of spray when driving will push water into the OSB unless you seriously seal it, not as easy as you think, stronger, quicker and easier is ply.

wolly