anyone know how to custom make them? and share the knowledge.
would save me alot of money.
ive made silicone caul plates and inserts but nothing like a heat pad although i dont think it would be too difficult if you really think about what it is.
Never made them myself. I guess there is tracing in the bag, and the bag is heat vulcanised. Both are processes which can be done in a simple setup, but i guess the failures in the first stages will cost more than the amount gained by diy-ing blankets.
Still, if you have more bags to do, or in diffucult shape, than it can be feasible.
yes see thats the key… there are many companies selling custom blankets… but that takes a while for turn around, design, and added cost.
if there is a very simple design theory with the amount of wattage and so on. it is probably pretty feasible to make a custom pad at substantial savings…
also im looking at the high temp blankets and thinking i could use my bonders instead firing up the oven…
i already use my bonders for some pretty over the top projects… like using the pads to pre heat tooling and also dialing in infusion cure temps.
infusion plus the cure makes for very very quality results…
this is what kind of struck me with a eurika!!! thought (spell check) 
if i can figure out a nice way to fabricate my own heat blankets… ALL my tooling will incorporate custom heating pads on the baskside for hot tooling…
no more oven and for most of what i make… no more autoclave fees. and when i say fees… i mean FEES
The question is would be a heating blanket the best solution in the first place. I Work with epoxies and I have several different ways for different kinds of parts to keep my work warm during fabricating an curing, none of them involves heating blankets.
well its not just keeping them warm… i use u/v lamps, ovens, and when needed send it to an autoclave. but… heat blankets with a bonder give me the ability to run precision cures… so it kind of opens a whole new door for me…if i can make my own blankets. but. today my other bonder just took a duece on me. and its my most expensive unit i own.
it gives me a digital print out and copy of my cure data so i can use it for very crucial repairs. its a must for doing QC work. so in these instances heat lamps and such are not practical
I have a coating which can be applied to a tool (either on the backside, or even behind the gelcoat) which accepts up to 48 volts to generate heat. (up to 500 degrees C if the need is there…). The standard stuff is max 100 degrees C, however.
Still need to make a website for it…
interesting
Herman,
As a rookie, I’m not sure if I’m interpreting this correctly. Are you saying that you have a coating that is an electrical conductor that you can use in a mold for in mold post curing? Are you currently using this now? I would love to see more info on your product, how it works, and to know if it will be available in the U.S.
Jon
chances are it will not be able to withstand the wattage that it takes to conduct the heat we would need.
I believe the most that has been done is 47 kW. Is that enough for you?
Maximum temperature is 100, 180, 250 or 500 degrees C.
The coating is an acrylic paint (backside of tool), a polyester (behind tooling gelcoat) or epoxy (epoxy moulds). It makes a layer of the mould conductive, generating heat. Advantage is that efficiency is very high. The heat loss is minimal.
It is currently used in batteries to heat them up (Porsche Panamera), producing heated panels in cars, heating production barrels (chocolate) etc.
Basicly is is a matter of painting on, then apply electricity.
47 kw thats plenty
so would you have to paint it in a pattern like a grid? also i wonder how it would work using a/c current… it would be really neat to use it with a machine that can control the cure you know?
No idea on AC current. As for painting: It needs fairly square patches, as the distance between the electrodes (strips of copper film) should not differ too much.
Indeed hooking up the different patches to a NC regulator, so you are able to influence in whatever way you want. We are now investigating for a large mould (some 6 meter diameter, 20 meter long) where different thicknesses of polyester laminate need to be cured with the same speed.
that could be a game changer indeed keep us posted on this topic. maybe a separate thread would be better suited