I was wondering if anyone knew a bulk supplier for hand rollers. I want to buy 10 or so for less than a dollar a piece and I refuse to believe they cost 7 dollars each to make and sell. In general are there better places to buy equipment than expensive places like fibreglast?
Try www.fiberglassSupply.com
www.fiberlay.com
www.solercomposites.com
Or. Northernfiberglass sales. ( Nfg .com ?).
www.B2Bcomposites.com
Thank you!
Would you make and sell them for $7? Geez. How much cheaper can work tools get!
Aw I meant really cheap “Harbor Freight” rollers, not the good quality ones seen on most of these websites. Students at school abuse tools horribly. It helps that some of them listen when you tell them how to use it but the problem is when other students take your tools without asking. If this were for just me I’d get the good stuff but I don’t wanna spend 30 dollars for a nice set only to have them gunked up with resin and trashed.
To be fair, he’s probably not a Chinese school aged kid working for 2 cents an hour, so given that, yes $7 seems a little steep. I mean, you can buy a radio controlled helicopter out of China cheaper than that.
If I seem super cheap I want to apologize right now. At the moment I’m a full time student at a school that’s running over budget in a bankrupt state with a father that just got laid off. I’m not complaining too much (maybe a little 
) but I really want to make sure that when I buy supplies I’m not getting ripped off especially since I haven’t make a cent on composites work I’ve done.
Nonetheless composites are awesome and I’m really glad I have your guys help. Sorry if I sound whiny but thanks for the help
Are you at Cal Poly Pomona? Let me know if there’s anything I can help with on the projects down there. I’ve helped some other FSAE teams, but they were so poorly organized I didn’t accept their offers to go back.
I was at a technical conference at Pomona a couple years ago, and the FSAE lab seemed to have potential. Was very surprised to see some of the details of the car that went to Italy.
I am a student Cal Poly Pomona. Right off the bat I’m going apologize for the terrible composites knowledge here. Most of the students here think composites are magically created by mixing resin, dumping it into some cloth and spreading it around.
The same ignorance is why I’m stocking up on cheap tools. I’m sick of students poorly planning layups and then asking me for supplies or just taking them out of my cabinet and abusing them or not replacing them when they realize they forget everything but resin and cloth.
I once asked my professor if there was 1000 dollars in the budget to buy basic composite tools and then organize them so everyone could use them. He laughed at me twice, once for thinking there was 1000 dollars free in any budget and once for thinking quality composite tools wouldn’t be destroyed.
That being said the mechanical engineering students are pretty good at making almost everything else and the teams are great at making their respective projects. Just not composites
There are a lot of things the Formula Hybrid team needs help on. However the two biggest ones are a dimensionally accurate plug for a nose cone and a pain free infusion. I would really really appreciate help on those and any else but don’t let me burden you.
Thanks you for offering.
Is the nose cone more important than the rest of the body?
What’s the project for this year? I may be interested in stopping by the lab and taking a look. Perhaps there’s something I can volunteer consulting work to solve any problems the team had with making good composite parts. I’ve been training a few engineers that came from your school in the last couple years, and so far they’re doing pretty well.
The next post might be long so bear with me.
There isn’t one project. Three clubs so far have asked me for help with composites, Formula Hybrid (The sister club of the FSAE club you saw), Human Powered Vehicle and Design Build Fly. Each one of these clubs builds a vehicle for competition that meets the requirements of their specific organization.
The most organized club is the one I’m helping the most and that’s Formula Hybrid. The nose cone is the hardest part of the body since it’s both the largest and most complex. The second most difficult part is going to be the seat. The rest of the body will likely be flat panels. The specific shapes and details haven’t been discussed yet. The car is still being designed. All of us are swamped with end of the quarter tests and finals so little work has been done so far.
As for composites specifically at the moment none of them will be load bearing. I’m not confident that expired prepreg and makeshift ovens will produce parts that can hold up to real stresses. I’m confident with small scale vacuum infusions but the catch here is that no budget has been finalized so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get quality material.
As for stopping by the lab I’d be more than happy to let you in. However I must warn you that it’s very disappointing. We have a freezer full of expired prepreg but no oven or autoclave. As far as vacuum pumps we have an old belt drive one and another donated one that is in pieces and has never run.
I would absolutely love your help though. You have been extremely knowledgeable and kind, both on these forums and others. If I can learn this much from you from the internet I can’t imagine how much I can learn from you in person.
its really nice to see everyone helping each other out, i really like the community we have going on here. please post pics as you go!!
“If I seem super cheap I want to apologize right now. At the moment I’m a full time student at a school that’s running over budget in a bankrupt state with a father that just got laid off. I’m not complaining too much (maybe a little ) but I really want to make sure that when I buy supplies I’m not getting ripped off especially since I haven’t make a cent on composites work I’ve done.”
i 100% understand that. i am not making money off my parts i am making either and yoiur comment about your teacher laughing at your twice made me giggle. it took me quite a while to realise it doesnt matter how hard you try to protect your tools, all you are doing is delaying the inevitable, and they will become trashed like the rest lol. its not the fact of being cheap with the tools if you know it is an ongoing expense, and id rather do that and save money so it could go into more materials or something else… i also am after rollers and brushes in a more bulk sense, at least our dollar is good enough at the moment that the price difference shouldnt be too much [if i order from the sites you guys reccomend]
Dang a lot has changed since I put that post up!
Here’s some updates. The formula team is currently designing a wider chassis so I’m waiting on their design before I create the shape for the nose. In the meanwhile I’m practicing modeling in Rhino3d with T splines.
Things I’m worried about are nose shaping and mold construction. Luckily a boat builder in the area is going to let us use his chopper gun to lay up the mold.
I’ll post pics of the nose design when I finish it and continue on from there.