Fiberglass Shaft Manufacturing Source?

General Composites Discussions Products Talk
#1

We are trying to source four (4)tapered hollow fiberglass shafts, 44’ in length, 5-6" butt diameter, 2-3" top diameter with a wall thickness of at least .177, if not a fraction larger.We would like smooth poles, but they do not have to be painted, because we will be applying fiberglass and carbon fiber here. These are basically a “mold” for us to use and build up for our project. The poles will be used to create an “A” frame on a sailboat. We have all the drawings, layups and specifications from the naval architect, and will be doing the work on site. The poles are readily available and cheaply priced in Europe, but shipping costs become prohibitive. I thought I’d run this by the forum to look for recommendations. The basic design is a “flagpole” but the pricing from flagpole manufacturers is outrageous. Any ideas?

Thanks,
~Lee

#2

Just curious…this is going to be a one-off or you will be manufacturing poles using CF layup.

#3

One-off: 2 of us are each building a sailing catamaran which was designed with an A frame instead of a mast. Each of us needs 2 poles.

#4

http://www.c-tech.co.nz/

http://www.kilwellfibretube.co.nz/

#5

Sounds like you guys intend to do the layup yourself for cost purposes. But you might want to consider http://fortecarbon.com/marine/ .

#6

You could get some old windsurfer masts and use them as an initial form to add more material to make them stronger and nicer.