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Melamine

Mike G

Mike G

Petrified Pine
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Suffolk
Name
Mike
Any idea where I can buy sheet melamine? I just want the melamine itself, not glued to a chipboard or MDF substrate......and ideally, I only want an off-cut.
 
There are several sellers on eBay.
I bought a sheet from a large supplier in Nuneaton. They had a warehouse full of the stuff . I will need to dig out the details tomorrow.
 
I don't know about melamine, but Permabond in Nottingham certainly do laminates (Formica-type stuff). They are down the back, under the bridge, behind the bollards in Dunkirk in Nottingham. Not been there for at least ten years but they are still there according to the directories.
When I made my router table, and another for a charity I once worked for, they were helpful and generous ."Help yourself from the skip". Decent-sized offcuts.
I can't find a website but the directories give their phone number as 0115 978 7633
I realise it is a bit of a trek for you.
S
 
I've just tried to find the place on Longwall Drive on Queens Drive Industrial Estate. I can't find anything there. Have they gone too?
S
Edit - Nixon Knowles
 
Last edited:
the bear said:
What size do you need? And is colour important?

Mark
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I need about 640 x 940, and something white/ cream, or marble-like will do. I'm repairing a friend's caravan door. When I say repairing......IMG_8042.jpg
 
AJB Temple said:
Blimey. How on earth did it get in that state?
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Water leaked in around the window. It was made of crappy Far Eastern ply and what looks like birch, so rotted at a rapid rate. Luckily, the outer skin is 100%, so I can build up in layers on top of that. It shouldn't be a major task.
 
Steve Maskery said:
I've just tried to find the place on Longwall Drive on Queens Drive Industrial Estate. I can't find anything there. Have they gone too?
S
Edit - Nixon Knowles
Click to expand...
Nixon Knowles got bought out by Jewson 20+ years ago, their branch in Mansfield got sold for building land almost immediately after the sale. Certainly initially the Nottingham branch continued trading under the Nixon Knowles brand as it had such a good name, I went a couple of times when I was doing up our house in 2001 but I’ve not been recently so chances are it has gone the way of Mansfields branch.

Our mutual friend Craig at High Park used to be a branch manager at Nicky Knowles but left a while after the Jewson takeover, he wasn’t impressed with their management. I’ll be seeing him in a couple of hours so if I remember I’ll ask about the Nottingham branch.
 
Mike G said:
Water leaked in around the window. It was made of crappy Far Eastern ply and what looks like birch, so rotted at a rapid rate. Luckily, the outer skin is 100%, so I can build up in layers on top of that. It shouldn't be a major task.
Click to expand...
Back in the day the ply for caravans used to be silicone injected & would last years untreated outside (well you couldn’t treat it as nothing stuck to it) I made a fence from the offcuts from a caravan manufacturer when first married & had no money, it lasted ages.
 
Doug said:
Back in the day the ply for caravans used to be silicone injected & would last years untreated outside (well you couldn’t treat it as nothing stuck to it) I made a fence from the offcuts from a caravan manufacturer when first married & had no money, it lasted ages.
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That sounds a million miles from what this thing is made of! It's a piece of junk made in Turkey.
 
Look at HPL - High Pressure Laminate.
It is used on postform tops (surface).

Not sure where these people are?

HPL - Plasticsheetsshop.co.uk

Buy HPL sheets cut to size at plasticsheetsshop.co.uk. Check out our wide selection of over 16 colours and thicknesses, varying from 3-20 mm. Order online!
plasticsheetsshop.co.uk plasticsheetsshop.co.uk
 
Why do you want melamine Mike? The original would have been 4mm ply with a vinyl wallpaper covering and if a modern van it would have been bonded to polystyrene insulation.

I very recently helped a mate carry out repairs to his 2011 Swift motorhome which needed some extensive repairs to an internal wall, far worse than yours. Some 25mm polystyrene, a sheet of ply which we PVA'd both sidesand matching wallpaper off the internet and the job was a goodun. We used Sikoflex as an adhesive but there are plenty of options. His was quite fiddly as we needed to remove cupboards and cut around two windows not easy enough.

If there are any caravan / motorhome dealers or repairers near you they might be worth a phone call as they will have sheets and offcuts of ready papered boards. We looked but couldn't easily get a good match locally but a full sheet was around £50
 
Last edited:
Lons said:
Why do you want melamine Mike? The original would have been 4mm ply with a vinyl wallpaper covering and if a modern van it would have been bonded to polystyrene insulation.

I very recently helped a mate carry out repairs to his 2011 Swift motorhome which needed some extensive repairs to an internal wall, far worse than yours. Some 25mm polystyrene, a sheet of ply which we PVA'd both sidesand matching wallpaper off the internet and the job was a goodun. We used Sikoflex as an adhesive but there are plenty of options. His was quite fiddly as we needed to remove cupboards and cut around two windows not easy enough.

If there are any caravan / motorhome dealers or repairers near you they might be worth a phone call as they will have sheets and offcuts of ready papered boards. We looked but couldn't easily get a good match locally but a full sheet was around £50
Click to expand...
This one's construction is a plastic laminate (Formica/ Melamine) on 6mm ply on a sw frame.
 
JamesHow said:
Surely you want lightweight plywood with a finish on it? Surprising it's melamine??
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It's definitely a Formica-type laminate on ply. I thought the stuff would be easy to find, but I certainly expect it's easier than finding it already bonded to ply.
 
Lons said:
Ah ok will be a propriety bought in door, possibly a Hartel.
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Quite possibly, as the door surround is pre-formed plastic. However, I have a suspicion that this is also the construction of the entire teardrop.
 
Mike G said:
It's definitely a Formica-type laminate on ply. I thought the stuff would be easy to find, but I certainly expect it's easier than finding it already bonded to ply.
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You can get it Mike. Do a search for caravan doors. There are breakers who sell used ones so that might be a cheaper option to get strip off the panel and re use. Nothing from the leisure industry is cheap though.

As an aside, there's no necessity for it to be melamine and maybe worth thinking about what I posted previously or using either thin sheet plastic or painted aluminium.
 
Mike G said:
Quite possibly, as the door surround is pre-formed plastic. However, I have a suspicion that this is also the construction of the entire teardrop.
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Yes probably Mike.
If it's panels with visible seams then they are a bonded sandwich just glued together and trimmed. Some of the parts could be glassfibre though, usually front, roof, and back.
 
Here's the little thing we're talking about:

IMG_8045.jpg

IMG_8046.jpg

It's lined with a carpet internally, so it's hard to discern the construction. The galley compart ment at the back is lined with the same sort of stuff as the doors.
 
Doug said:
Our mutual friend Craig at High Park used to be a branch manager at Nicky Knowles but left a while after the Jewson takeover, he wasn’t impressed with their management. I’ll be seeing him in a couple of hours so if I remember I’ll ask about the Nottingham branch.
Click to expand...
Tell him Steve Maskery says Hello.
S
 
A neat little bed on wheels Mike. If you know the manufacturer a look on their website sometimes tells exactly what they are made of. It must be very light as it's unbraked and limited to 750kg GVW.

It certainly looks like a purpose made bought in door and the overal construction is just 2 flat side panels and a centre formed one bonded at the edges. Simple
 
It actually weighs 500kg. It's a Caretta 1200, made in Turkey. The owner tows it with a 1.0L Polo. I picked it's front end up and pushed it to where it's standing, across those quite deep stones. It's such a featherweight!

Sounds to me Bob like you've some sort of background in caravans.
 

Spare Parts - Magnum Motorhomes

magnummotorhomes.co.uk magnummotorhomes.co.uk
Mentioned this place before, they stock just about everything you would need to build your own caravan, probably not that rather special door, though they may know where to get one, and they probably have the lightweight materials you are looking for Mike.
Fascinating place to visit to see all the myriad parts laid out as in a shop setting,
 
Cabinetman said:

Spare Parts - Magnum Motorhomes

magnummotorhomes.co.uk magnummotorhomes.co.uk
Mentioned this place before, they stock just about everything you would need to build your own caravan, probably not that rather special door, though they may know where to get one, and they probably have the lightweight materials you are looking for Mike.
Fascinating place to visit to see all the myriad parts laid out as in a shop setting,
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, they're about a 4 hour drive from me. Luckily, there are two caravan breakers within an hour of here, and I'll be visiting soon.

I'll be starting the re-build of the door this morning. It is just ply-wood-ply-Formica, so extremely simple, with the only complication being that the window is already in place.
 
Mike G said:
................Sounds to me Bob like you've some sort of background in caravans.
Click to expand...

Yes Mike I was a regional sales manager for a few years for ABI Caravans based at H.O. and main factory in Beverley. I had sales teams covering the north of England and Scotland for tourers and statics. The company and job were OK but we didn't settle living in the area so I got a position in the plastics distribution industry and moved back to Northumberland. So I have a little knowledge also of sheet and engineering plastics. It was a long time ago though.
 
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