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Fibreglass, Carbon Fibre, Paper Mache - The composites chat thread


Roman

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12 hours ago, Roman said:

Yeah I havent looked yet but I think the pipes dont extend downwards at all, so if any resin makes it into the pot it would just as likely creep across the top lid as it would drip down. 

Last time I used it, I had super super short pipes on it because it was in lockdown and wanted to test it out. 

So that's probably part of it, previously I've always had the pump and the pot way uphill of the part to minimize the issue. 

I've pulled the pump a bit further apart, I think so long as I can get the resin out of the pump housing without scratching it I'll get away with it. 

The mix of vac oil and the resin is super grotty stuff haha.

Live and learn! 

If the epoxy didn't cure before being mixed with the oil you might get away with soaking it all in acetone to clean it.

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  • 2 months later...

Its working decently now. 
My first bit I tried wasnt dissolving but I found the problem was that when I vac bagged the part it sucked all of the epoxy to cover all of the exposed surfaces of the HIPS as well. Woops.

The good news is that once it reaches the infill section of the print it just eats it up super quick because the ratio of surface area is massive

Capture.thumb.PNG.0234bfd41a28543d27b5d68c3abab11c.PNG

The outer layers turn to a mushy goo though that takes longer but sloshing it around to clear it off seems to work.
I think I'll next try just a single outer layer or maybe just two.
It doesnt really need any strength for covering with sleeve as its not being vac bagged or anything.
I think vac bagging probably wouldnt work well for this process anyway as it would try suck epoxy into the infill areas.
Or the vacuum would crush the infill and you'd need thicker walls that would be uneconomical to try dissolve.

In any case - it's a good trickto have available for when the conditions allow it.

 

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22 hours ago, flyingbrick said:

got any more pics on how you did this? very very nice work. 

Thanks, not too many pic of the process as its messy and picking up a camera is not too appealing!

The process was just laying cloth layer by layer and wrapping with peel ply for compression, very crude and would look much better painted!

IMG_8046.jpg.0779d0bd339ac63ee76303d74f670708.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...
5 hours ago, flyingbrick said:

Man that must have been a huge amount of work to get blocked out nice. 

 

Not really, careful with wetting out and even pressure on the peel ply compression leaves a quick rub with the long block back to flat.

There are a few ripples that visibly disrupt the weave but thats only cosmetic and if I was worried, nothing a coat of paint won't hide!

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  • 1 month later...

Hey guys been years since ive played with fibre glass, keen to extend part of my fibreglass front bumper so it mounts to the support bar and also help alittle with guiding airflow airflow

Will post some pics tomorrow, thinking ill make a cardboard template in the shape I want and then just fibreglass over that? Open to better ideas

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Expanding foam cut and sanded to shape works well, then if you dont want it to be stuck to the part you can wrap it in packing tape.

If it's a simple 2D shape then yeah just cardboard it up!

EDIT: Be mindful that cardboard might go soggy when resin soaks in?

The hard part is getting it to hold the fabric against the shape while it cures if you dont have a mold or whatever. 

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Yeah Cardboard will be useless. Resin will make it soggy and it will yield from the weight pretty easily. 

Highly suggest really thin MDF and foamboard from craft places (spotlight has it, the warehouse might too, its great, foam board is super easy to cut and sand) 

Also, cheap resin, mixing resin in incorrect ratios and using the wrong hardener (fast hardener on a hot day) can make the part warp and sink very badly - this is even worse if the form is flimsy. 

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Just made a purchase of some CF cloth, resin and assorted supplies. Going to try an airbox for starters, stand by for fail pics.

Edit: Planning on making it in two pieces. Not setup for vacuum bagging, am planning on laying the CF much like what the guys did with the carbon 240z mentioned earlier. Plug(?) below of what I'll be making it over. Photo pre final sand/clear coat. Spent waaay too long making that out of MDF, expanding foam, fiberglass and bog so hopefully doesn't get destroyed lol.

20201120_134154_resized.jpg

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53 minutes ago, CorollaGT said:

Just made a purchase of some CF cloth, resin and assorted supplies. Going to try an airbox for starters, stand by for fail pics.

Edit: Planning on making it in two pieces. Not setup for vacuum bagging, am planning on laying the CF much like what the guys did with the carbon 240z mentioned earlier. Plug(?) below of what I'll be making it over. Photo pre final sand/clear coat. Spent waaay too long making that out of MDF, expanding foam, fiberglass and bog so hopefully doesn't get destroyed lol.

20201120_134154_resized.jpg

Have some pieces of plastic (cut up big black sack would likely work) and have them handy while you lay the CF.

With sharp corners like this, you may have difficulty getting the CF to stay flat on the surface. If this is the face, push plastic on top and squeegee out the air. You'll find it works really well to keep it all sucked down tight.

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Yeah sharp corners are the bane of my existence 

Looks good, look forward to seeing result! 

I've still got a love for carbon sleeve its just so good and easy to use.

Every time I make something I think it gets a little bit better and easier. But I'm honing in on a super easy way to make decent-ish trumpets for ITB setup. 

I've been running a few 3d printed variants but think I've found best length that I can fit so make some better ones. 

I tried to incorporate the base part into a single piece as well but it's just easier as 2 piece.126316838_862535877825735_4024416915116571676_n.jpg.a60e10e81c03541afa0b46f2dba64d6d.jpg

This is the dissolvable 3d print material but in this instance it's actually easier to just print it really thin and hollow and just break it all out.

Trimming stuff with a razor blade while it's still tacky is a life saver 
 

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