Tambour Alternatives for '78 Argosy Minuet

[overlander64]

The off-white laminate tambour in my '78 Argosy Minuet has seen better days. Initially, I thought that removal and reguling would work, but upon closer examination the slats are disintegrating from the edges inward. The doors have also taken on an unsightly bulge in the center. The trailer is currently at Fowler Interiors for refurbishing, and I am trying to locate a suitable tambour to use as replacement.

In searching the web, I haven't found any laminates that closely resemble the original, but found something that intrigued me - - Bright Brushed Aluminum tambour - - available in 1/2" slats in 5/32" thickness - - available through Tape-Ease Fine Veneers and More. The web reference for this product is:

Tape-Ease Fine Veneers and More

I did make one big mistake - - I didn't measure the slat width or thickness - - my only thought was to measure for quantity needed - - the trailer is now more than 400 miles away, and I am wondering what size slat I need as well as the thickness. I have made arrangements to have the Fowlers replace the tambour if I can find suitable replacement material.

I have two qeustions :

What width slat is required for this application, and what thickness is required?

Has anyone tried this metallic tambour as a substitute for the off-white laminate? If you have had experience with this material, is it more difficult to work with than wood or laminate tambour?

Kevin

[hex]

Kevin I have had no tambour replacement experience. I will have to replace all of mine in the Airstream. It is hardboard with a laminated veneer giving it a walnut look. the width is 7/16 at widest (back) tapered or chamfered of course to 5/16 inch at face.The width is 1/8th inch as best Ican tell without calipers.

Some where on an A/S site I saw that there is a 3/8 (perhaps nominally) and a 1/2 inch tambour used in Airstreams and/or Argosys.

I will bet that the metallic is also a veneered strip of metal over a hardboard or real wood backing. I know there is also a mirror tambour available.

What I don't know is whether the coils that recieve the opened tambour will accomodate both the widths. Actually the width difference would only be a factor in the turnability of the tambour in the coil channels. The overall width difference would be omitted I suppose. The thickness of course is probably critical to prevent binding in the channels of coil.

I hope to be able to use decorative (3-hump) white pine (window)screen moulding as my tambour stock. However if I recall the width is close to 11/16ths and I don't know about the thickness. If that wont work perhaps there are some profiles of decorative cabinet face mouldings that might.However the screen moulding is so much better priced.
Wish me luck, and much of the same to you.

[Chas]

I've had my share of tambour and curse the day they invented the stuff, works good in vertical installations like your Grandpas desktop but put it sideways and let the fun begin. My Minuet has a huge piece running sideways which goes beneath the galley and it has been a real p.i.t.a. Tried to replace it once already and ended up putting the old piece back, the dimensions seem to be very critical. I think some sort of spring loaded windup mechanism would do wonders for ease of operation, and if it was plastic instead of a wood product it would slide better as well.

chas

[overlander64]

Greetings Chas and Hex!

Thanks for the input. I guess that I might be fortunate in that the only tambours on my coach that are proving troublesome are the ones in the upper cabinets - - the two base cabinets and the medicine cabinet tambours are performing flawlessly - - at least to this point.

I recently received an e-mail reply from a tambour manufacturer who has a distributor less than 50 miles from my home. I may be making a quick trip to see what kind of products the local distributor stocks. At this point, it is a foregone conclusion that the tambour in the roof lockers must be replaced - - I have been considering replacing it all since most places have minimum order requirements that transalte into a 4' x 8' sheet of the product.

Thanks again for the input!

Kevin

[Gene Wissink]

I did a fast web search and found a sourse for the tambour stock http://www.winonamanufacturing.com/ the number of the sheet goods is 264 I sent them a request for the sheet size and they said it was $75.00 for a 4' x8' coil plus shipping.

[overlander64]

I finally gave up on the idea of utilizing the brushed aluminum tambour product. The manufacturer assured me that it was entirely compatible with the plastic track mechanisms, but I just got a little leary of "blazing a new trail".

After talking with local distributors and checking with three different catalog/Internet sources, I decided to go with Tape-Ease. Rather than try a laminate that likely wouldn't match the original off-white material, I chose their 3/16" birch veneer tambour with the 1/2" slat width. The vendor who is doing my restoration work thought that it might be easier to get something approximating original appearance by utilizing a natural wood and either staining or pickling it to attain a near match. I also ordered some of their track and guide assemblies to replace some that were damaged/warn on my coach. The page where I found the tambour that I ordered is:

Tape-Ease Tambour Products

I just received an e-mail from the vendor who is doing my restoration work, and the tambour had just arrived. I am just holding my breath until I hear whether the product works as well hoped.

Kevin

[Chas]

I tried some of the real wood veneer tambour material on my Minuet I had. It was disaster, I ended up reglueing the old chipped up piece and putting it back in. Once you stain and seal the new raw wood tambour material it gets thick enough to start sticking and binding in the tracks. My Overlander has tambour galore so I am afraid I will be tackling another tambour project. Not exactly looking forward to it. If you pull it off let us know. I would like to find some plastic tambour material like I have some of my overhead and bath cabinets. It seems to hold up well except for thr yellowing but heck at least it works!!

I will check out the sources you fellas listed.

Chas

[Gene Wissink]

I am working on the tambour door under the kitchen sink and I found out that the bottom spiral is missing the hook that guides the door. I measured it and it is about 5 1/2 " square, does anyone have a fix for this? Will the plastic weld from Walmart work on this?

[j54mark]

The plastic weld is worth a try. I doubt if it will succeed. I bet Andy at Inland has them. If not, I may have a couple of those spirals, saved for such an emergency. Email me for details.

Mark