Feedback needed for real wood cabinets - Page 2

InsideOut · 09-09-2003, 12:37 PM

Thanks for all the kudos!

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The front cabinet shell is molded into the fiberglass interior shell. The cabinet face is solid wood.

Thanks Brett! The front cabinet/shelf is molded into the shell, however the doors are plywood with oak veneer on one side & mahogany on the other, as is all our cabinetry. I believe that A/S had the plywood made up that way so whichever finish you ordered could be made from the same stock...at least in '64.

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If your looking at just a couple places to add some thick wood like in Maxwells overhead

It's not thick...it's between 1/4" and 3/8" on the uppers, I'd have to measure it to be sure but it's thicker than 1/4" and not quite 3/8". We didn't do any work on the overheads so I don't recall...they are all original. We went with the 3/8" rather than 1/4" in the new dinette because the 1/4" just didn't seem sturdy enough.

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Can veneer be put over exhisting cabinets?

Yes...as long as the old surface is sanded down a bit to remove the oils and finish so the new veneer will adhere.

If our cabinets were not in great original condition or if we had to build new ones from scratch for a different trailer, I would get creative with the wood finishes...like maple on the lower cabinets & birds-eye maple on the uppers or ??? With all the cool veneers out there, the possibilities are endless!

Shari

dtbw · 09-09-2003, 12:48 PM

The materials used in the non-CCD Bambi/Safari lines is NOT a veneer. The material is a very lightweight, airfilled, wood composite material with a totally synthetic wood grain applied to the exterior (pretty convincing appearance). Even though Yukionna's and our unit are siblings (about a month apart), we have not experienced any peeling or lifting of woodgrain layer. While the material has it advantages in being stronger than plywood, extremely low expansion / contraction charateristics, conventional construction mechanics, it lacks a depth that real wood exhibits. A/S could have done a better job on the finishing of the ends. Also, it can not be bent over a radius.

The CCDs use a plastic laminate product from Wilsonart that is basically the same stuff as "formica". The wood look is not on the surface but under a couple of layers of clear material and a wood grain texture is applied to the top layer to make it a bit more convincing. The good news with this material is even lighter weight, no maintenance and consistent quality. It should also have a very long life. Construction techniques around this type of product have been around for 50+ years.

As I stated in my earlier post, on the late model Bambis, especially those of use with the Safari Upgrade, weight is BIG concern. I am intrigued by the laminated material posted by Stephanie as it offers many of the advantages of the Wilsonart type product, but maintains a real wood surface. Need to do some investigation...

yukionna · 09-09-2003, 02:56 PM

>> Even though Yukionna's and our unit are siblings (about a month apart), we have not experienced any peeling or lifting of woodgrain layer.

David -- actually I have recently experienced peeling/lifting of the woodgrain layer. I wasn't kidding in my original post on this thread that my unit does NOT have a veneer finish -- it has contact-like paper (complete with the sticky backing) stuck on top of some type of composite wood base. Ycck! I haven't checked all the "wood" finishes yet, but have found that all my cabinet doors have this contact paper finish.

dtbw · 09-09-2003, 03:41 PM

Nancy,
I guess I was not clear in my post, I was stating that MY Bambi, even though a sibling to yours, had not yet experienced the peeling issue. My fault for not being more clear. You will find that ALL the Bambi cabinets are made out of this material. If you note in my earlier posts, it is a lightweight, airfilled, wood composite material covered with a woodgrain vinyl material, but it does have some drawbacks. I am a bit distressed to hear that you are finding delamination of the woodgrain finish. When I pull our unit home from storage next week, I will make a close inspection. Did you show A/S the problem while it was in for the black tank upgrade? If there is a generic problem with this material, A/S has a BIG, BIG problem as it used in all non-CCD Bambi/Safari models.

yukionna · 09-09-2003, 04:56 PM

I did show Airstream the problem and they did fix it while they were upgrading my black tank -- hopefully, I won't experience any more problems. But, back to the original topic -- after I saw the "veneer" in my Bambi was actually only a higher quality "contact paper", I had the thought that I could build my own cabinets out of a higher quality material. That was before I read your post about the Safari LS upgrade weight issue. I'm still digesting all the informative information in this thread (thank-you to everyone who has responded!) so don't know what I will do next. I did wonder if you had ever considered changing your cabinets.

gwsullivan · 09-09-2003, 05:07 PM

This weekend I will start replacing all my cabinet doors. I will leave the cabinets in place because you can't see them with the doors closed. I plan the build the stiles and rails with solid red oak (2" x 3/4")and the panels will be 1/8" beadboard panelling. This should not add much weight but will look like solid oak cabinets (I hope).
I will post before/after pictures.

yukionna · 09-09-2003, 05:45 PM

I look forward to seeing your photos! Have you built stile and rail doors before?

gwsullivan · 09-09-2003, 05:48 PM

No, this will be my first attempt. I have been doing a lot of reading. Wish me luck!

yukionna · 09-09-2003, 05:53 PM

Best of luck! I have also been reading up on cabinet making and am chomping at the bit to try it out! As I said before, I look forward to seeing and hearing about your new doors!

**Stefrobrts** · 09-09-2003, 09:09 PM

I'm looking forward to seeing the results too. Sounds like a fun project. I'm sure you'll do fine!

3Ms75Argosy · 09-09-2003, 10:06 PM

Hi all.... I have seen the inside of the CCD's, and love the laminate. It's the substrate that doesn't seem all that light to me. It appears to be garden variety particle board - even heavier then solid wood.

I've been kicking around cabinet designs to remodel the Argosy. I'm leaning to a frame of 1/2" birch plywood with just the end cap (by the door) a solid piece. I'll be using blum (european style) cup hinges with the 1/2" solid door. I'm thinking about a "straw" non-fumaldyhde (sp?) particle board as well - it's supposed to be lighter then ply, and a bit cheaper as well. A cafe by me has the straw board used for tabletops - a pretty interesting pattern and color simular to maple.

Bending upper cabinets would be cool - I'm also thinking about making a mold and fiberglassing a "bent cabinet" and just bending Wilsonart around it to make a light, strong cabinet. Of course, I've never used fiberglass before......
Hmmm,
Marc

**Stefrobrts** · 09-10-2003, 02:00 AM

I've never heard of the straw board. Have you seen any pictures of it online to illustrate?

The fiberglass might be an interesting experience. I helped make a dunk tank out of fiberglass once - messy stuff! Hard to get smooth unless you know what you're doing. That was one UGLY dunk tank!

yukionna · 09-10-2003, 04:21 AM

InsideOut -- I wanted to tell you what a lovely little deco beauty you have! Your interior design befits the '65 model perfectly! Your cabinet wood color is exactly what I had in mind.

dtbw · 09-10-2003, 06:44 AM

We met Shari, husband and A/S at the Rocky Mnt VAC rally, I can say that while the pics are great, thier rig is cuter than the pics show. They have done an outstanding job. Really got us thinking that we might need a second A/S (vintage of course).