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Fundamentals: A thin, flexible, finished sheeting material needed

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  1.  
    • CommentAuthorWulbert
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2013
     
    I'm looking for a thin sheeting that can be bent to a curve with a 1.9m radius (think of a train's roof).
    This is for an internal ceiling in a garden hut.
    Being lazy, (or always seeking elegant solutions; depending on who's side you are on) I'd like to use a sheet that would give me an almost finished ceiling surface which just needs a coat of paint or sealant.
    Problem is I can't seem to find a suitable, green material. I was in a caravan on holiday last week and the stuff on the ceiling looked ideal; curved and fixed with panel pins with a pre-finished surface. Hooray no extra work/cost!
    However, since it was an 80's 'van, I'm guessing it was made of nasty stuff and not at all green.
    The nearest material I can find that has the physical properties I want is "good old" hardboard but I'm not sure of it's green credentials. (or its fire resistance in a small hut)
    I called Timbmet and they suggested flexible MDF, but I know it's not green.
    Does anyone know of a suitable material?
    ( If not I'll probably end up with tongue and groove and hours of sanding, knot filling, etc..)
  2.  
    10mm Fermacell?

    David
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2013
     
    Or plywood covered in canvas
    • CommentAuthorEd Davies
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2013
     
    Two or more layers of thin ply glued and screwed together?
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2013
     
    Yes that will work, how I made a curve in ply once (actually used 3 layers).
    • CommentAuthorowlman
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2013 edited
     
    Does the roof have curved ribs onto which you can bend something? If not it would make the job easier if you made some, then as others have said ply is the stuff to use. Make the ribs and finish them first, lacquer or paint, then lacquer or paint the "A" side if the first layer hiding joints over the tops of the ribs, and away you go with subsequent layers. I like the canvas idea ST. is that just because you like the smell of the dope?:bigsmile::wink:
  7.  
    fermacell i think can bend to that radius, BUT you have to wet/steam it first, bend it over a form, then fully dry it, layers of ply is probably easier.

    is canvas fairly common? my internal bathroom wall was doped canvas over rough sawn timber board (funnily enough it's now fermacell :bigsmile: ) i'd guess said wall probably dates from 18-something, but it's not a method of construction i'd ever come across or heard of before.
    • CommentAuthorWulbert
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2013
     
    Good ideas!
    There will be five "ribs" over which I can bend the ceiling. I want to keep the ribs visible , they are lovely douglas fir.
    Regarding ply, surely play is constructed to be non-bendy? (i.e. cross plys of wood grain giving great rigidity)
    What's this Fermacell stuff? Sounds like insulation. I'll go and google it.
    I had thought about fabric but it would be very difficult to clean/replace/ repair once in situ. I'm thinking red wine, tomato sauce stains etc. Also it would give me a hexagonal shape, rather than a curve.
    Unless it was fixed to the ply/hardboard.? Hmmmmm
    • CommentAuthorCWatters
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2013 edited
     
    You can get "bendy ply" intended for making curved furniture/bars etc..

    First hit from google..

    http://www.winwood-products.com/eng/timber-products/plywood/flexible-plywood.htm

    Can also get slotted Marmox panels but I wonder about the cost...

    http://www.marmox.co.uk/products/marmox-curved-board

    Also not sure that will do totally smooth curves. Perhaps better for use as a tiling substrate.
    • CommentAuthorowlman
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2013 edited
     
    Posted By: Wulbert.There will be five "ribs" over which I can bend the ceiling. I want to keep the ribs visible , they are lovely douglas fir.
    Regarding ply, surely play is constructed to be non-bendy? (i.e. cross plys of wood grain giving great rigidity)

    It's possible to get birch ply as thin 1.5mm, you can virtually tie the stuff in knots.

    What's this Fermacell stuff? Sounds like insulation. I'll go and google it.

    A slightly fiberous constructional board, several thicknesses.


    I had thought about fabric.........................I'm thinking red wine tomato stains etc.

    Wow!! what are you going to be doing,- sounds like one helluva barbeque :bigsmile::wink:
    • CommentAuthorBeau
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2013
     
    The multi layered thin ply would work alternatively you could kerf some thicker sheets.
    • CommentAuthorMikeRumney
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2013
     
    What's the area? ...
    One of the greenest things you can do is re-use something being binned by someone else.
    IKEA have a "free to collector" bin by the car parking where you might find some
    veneered/foiled bookcase backboards for example?
    They're usually about 8mm and just about the right kind of bendy for you I would have thought.
    You might need, say, six pieces but maybe you can coincide the joins with the ribs?
    Might even not have to paint it ... greener still and good for the lazy.
    Otherwise I "second" the ply rather than fermacell ... and you might even get that green/free on freecycle.
    Not the ready-made surface of the IKEA stuff I know but green and lazy rarely coincide in my experience!
    • CommentAuthorWulbert
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2013
     
    Thanks folks for all the helpful ideas.
    CWatters- the bendy spruce ply stuff looks like just what I need; bendy, thin and a nice colour for the ceiling. I did not know you could get ply so thin!
    My local supplier told me that you can't bend plywood and the thinnest they do is 6mm. What did he know. I never even thought to Google for "bendy ply". I now see there is a world of bendy material out there.

    I just need to see what the bendy stuff costs; maybe I'll be in that bin outside Ikea after all. (I may just go for a nosey any way, I like to scavenge)
    Cheers,
    Wul
    • CommentAuthorMikeRumney
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2013
     
    What sizes are you after ... and where are you based?
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2013
     
    Teardrop trailers are made from thin ply that is bent into, um, a teardrop.

    The canvas idea came from when I made the tooling for the first RangeRover Discovery.
    The roof trim was a compressed cardboard former that had a canvas vacuum formed over it. There was a heat activated adhesive on the back of the fabric. Looked pretty good. They also did 'plastic' fabric ones for hosing down.

    There is a timber supplier down here that does pretty bendy sheets, shall see if I can get the name of them, think they Falmouth way.

    8 by 4 sheets are twice as long as they are wide :cool:
    • CommentAuthorBeau
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013
     
    <blockquote><cite>Posted By: SteamyTea</cite>There is a timber supplier down here that does pretty bendy sheets, shall see if I can get the name of them, think they Falmouth way.
    </blockquote>

    Possibly these guys?
    http://www.wood-stock.co.uk/wooden_panel_products/specialist-sheet-materials/
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013
     
    That looks like them, saved me the bother of texting my mate.
    • CommentAuthorWulbert
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013
     
    <blockquote><cite>Posted By: MikeRumney</cite>What sizes are you after ... and where are you based?</blockquote>

    Hi Mike,

    I'm in Glasgow and I need to cover a ceiling 7ft x 12ft (although with the curve it will be slightly more) or 2.1m x 3.6m.
    Wul
    • CommentAuthorBeau
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013
     
    For that small a size kerfing some ply would be quite doable.
    • CommentAuthorWulbert
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013
     
    ST- The canvas idea is interesting too. I'd like to find out more about canvas and it's potential uses. It seems to be a great roofing material.
    I remember making model aircraft as a kid, and the fuselage and wing skeletons were covered in paper, then "doped". When the dope dried out the paper shrank and you got a really tight skin, like a drum. If you could do something similar with strong canvas and end up with a tough skin stretched over a stud wall it would be very handy.
    Wul
    •  
      CommentAuthorSteamyTea
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013
     
    Does anyone think, or has tried painting PVA onto canvas or linen to see what happens?
  22.  
    I have bent 3 and 4mm ply over frames to make boats - bog-standard merchants' stuff, not special. It's v flexible over its length, and a little so over its width.
    • CommentAuthorowlman
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2013
     
    Posted By: Wulbert................... If you could do something similar with strong canvas and end up with a tough skin stretched over a stud wall it would be very handy.

    The suspended ceiling guys do a modern twist on that. I think they stretch a material across a frame and then apply hot air to tighten and "set" it

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