here we go again

General Composites Discussions Showcase
#1

i want to make some door panels for my car and need some wisdom from our members…

they should be real easy…(famous last words).

they are just flat panels. so i needed a flat piece of glass. i went down to my local vinyl window replacement shop to see if they had any old sliding glass doors that they wanted to get rid of…he said yep you came to the right place. he said take what ever you want, we just break them up in the dumpster…whats nice is it still has the aluminum frame so i can store it without jacking it up…and its tempered glass.
this was a much better idea than using our sliding glass door that goes into our back yard…the thought did cross my mind:eek:.

sooooo, before i get started i just have a couple quick questions for forum members.

  1. what is the best realease agent for glass? i have freekote sealer and freekote 77nc…or…meguires mold release wax? i plan on making several sets…

  2. how many layers of carbon? i have 3k twill and 3k plain.
    im thinking 3 or 4 layers.

  3. should i induce the resin on one end, and vacuum on the other? or vacuum around the entire perimeter and induce the resin from the center? i have never infused from the center outward so im not sure of the advantage or disadvantages of that process.

if you havnt noticed, i am still a newbie:D.

#2

That’s a GREAT idea about asking for the old sliding door. I’m sure a few members will be visiting their local store after reading that.

  1. Frekote is what you want to use. You used it on the rain hats right? I thought you did and didn’t have any problems. With the Frekote you wont have to re apply each time and can just pump them out once you get your infusion figured out on this setup.

  2. I say 4 layers, but I think it’s going to come down to personal preference. Go with 3 on your first set and if they seem to flexible just ad another the next time. Plus these are going to be bolted or clipped? to the door so I don’t see how they will be flexing once installed.

  3. I like to infuse across the panel with the intake at one end and the exhaust at the other. But again this is just personal preference. Center injection is great if you have a fast curing resin because it reduces the infusion time a LOT.

If that’s a leather door handle I think that would look real nice as a contrast to the Carbon. Are these going to be carbon or hybrids?

Since these are flat sheets, spray adhere the layers together so you can lay a pattern on it and cut the material to the exact shape before you infuse, then when you demold you only need to take some sand paper to the edges to smooth them out.

#3

thanks for the quick reply rotorage. just a couple follow up questions.

  1. yep… i used freekote on the rain hats. should i use the same process that i used on my rain hat mold? freekote sealer THEN the freekote 77?

  2. to attach the door panels, i am going to powdercoat some self drilling tek screws and then just tek screw them to the door.

  3. thank you for the explanation. it makes perfect sense.

  4. thats a great idea about precutting the fabric before hand. you dont think it will get twisted out of shape while cutting?

ya the door pull handle is just an old leather purse strap my wife gave me. i am going to use a nicer piece of leather when i mount them up.

these panels are for my car (its the test mule;)). they will be pure carbon…

BUT, my buddy has a red race car that is the same model as mine. and he wants to go with the red carbon/glass that soller sells. his panels will be my first paying composite job. hehe

did you get my crazy long pm?:rolleyes::rolleyes:

#4

I say use the sealer because I don’t want you to ruin anything. But just to say it, I don’t use FMS sealer on my glass. It wont hurt if you use it and will just add insurance.

You have a large 4x8 cutting table don’t you? So after you get them cut and need to move them just use a rod or large cardboard tube and roll the material around it, this makes for easy moving. You can then unroll the material on the mold like a paper towel roll. Works great for hoods and other large pieces where keeping the weave straight it crucial. While I’m typing this I wondered… Do you use scissors or have a rotary cutter? A rotary cutter will keep the weave straight, not that scissors wont it’s just the rotary works better IMO.

No I didn’t get the PM? Canyon!! we got problems! :stuck_out_tongue:

#5

i just looked in my sent folder and it wast there.:mad2::mad2: maybe its my fault. i may not have submitted it. me and pm’s dont get along… sheesh i hope canyon can find it.

#6

well todays infusion didnt go well at all. i started out great than gradually slowed then stopped about half way. then it started to get thick with resin. at that point i had to clamp off the resin, and cut the bag 3/4 of the way down the panel to re-feed the resin. i had to re-feed it in about 6 different places. what a night mare…and then of course with so many holes for the re=feeding, i had leaks…

on the bright side, the sliding glass door worked real well. i was able to lift it on its side to make sure i was getting full saturation. and i was…on the first half anyways…

now to figure out what went wrong and how to remedy it.

these are my thoughts…

either make smaller panels- not try to do it all in one shot.

or

run my feed tube down the center of the panel LENGTH wise. so the vacuum is only pulling the resin 1-1/2 feet instead of try to feed resin from one end to the other which is 4 feet.

more feed lines?

3/8 feed lines instead of 1/4.

opinions?

if you notice in the pictures, the resin stopped way before it even got to the brake. and i thought i had the set up down too. live and learn i guess…

#7

You already tried this but add more feeds across the length of your infusion, then open each one up in succession.

#8

great idea canyon…maybe feed it in 1/3’s.

#9

Mad how you can make good carb hats but flat sheet and it goes pete tong, feel like yo can make anything then boom REALITY :frowning:

#10

yes exactly!

#11

That’s great, maybe someone heard me that sliding glass door is good for flat panels :slight_smile: Very cheap to buy a used one too.

We are using a 4’x8’ sheet of mdf with melamine skins. Three coats of wax and nothing sticks to it. Only issue is a slight texture surface from the melamine.

I once poped my bedroom window out of the frame to make a flat panel. lol serious.

#12

LOL, thats great fastrr.

#13

Here in europe i only know a few people using VE for infusion. Why dont you use a epoxy with a longer pot time? Or infuse from the center out, I send you a sample of the MTI hose. You can place it around the panel and infuse with a spiral tube from the middle. Place two or three layers of flow media below the spiral tube to make sure that you have no print on the surface.

#14

A couple of things shoot though my mind:

-resin. That exact type of resin did you use? I read VE, but was it a VE specified for infusion?

-potlife. No times speficied. Did the resin go off in 10 minutes, or 3 hours?

-sunshine. I see you work outside, with the sun shining on the surface…

@DDCompound, in NL we sell more infusion VE than hand laminating VE…

On infusion strategy:

Infusing from the perimeter to the centre is by far the fastest. The MTI hose is very suitable for creating the vacuum point. But to be able to advise properly, I would need more parameters.

#15

hi herman, thanks for your time…

the resin is an infusion epoxy resin. 570 cps mixed

it has a little over 2 hour pot life. i started going off after about 2 and a half hours. thats when i had to change my strategy.

yes the sun was beating directly on it. i think that had a lot to do with it…

next time i will move it into the garage…