Those who have vacuum infused .......please chime in !

General Composites Discussions Products Talk
#1

Well, things went great while building my Epoxy molds. I’ve polished the interiors and removed any sharp edges from the flanges that could cause punctures. Now I’m ready to use the materials collected and Infuse using Epoxy resin. My Clear Gel-coat is applied and waiting.

Also, how long do most of you wait for your Gel-coat to set-up before you do the rest of your layups ? a set time? Till its barely tacky ? No real deadline?

                             Thanks for your replys......... 8)
#2

http://www.icancomposites.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=203

#3

GTFOUR…thanks,I have that saved to my computer but forgot.

So since I can’t delete the post altogether, Let me ask a questionFURTHER DOWN THE LEARNING CURVE >

Are any of you HEATING your Epoxy to help thin the viscosity before infusing ?
Whats been your best method for this ?

While learning the molds best behavior for FLOW MEDIA, do you find that the media works best cut and placed nearest to the TIGHT or 3-D parts of the molds or more based on the size/length ?

Anyone doing more than one part at a time ? Manifolded ? Any pix ?

                         thanks folks............. 8)
#4

Remember to heat the mold to the same temp as the resin. Otherwise the resin will quickly cool to the temp of the mold when it spreads out in such a thin film. The viscosity benefits will disappear quickly as the cool resin on the infusion leading edge thickens and slows progress.

#5

Exellent post DEVILDOWG…I had considered just using Halogen lamps to heat the molds ONLY(from the bottomside) and hoping to heat the resin enough to aid flow ?

Is there only a few posters who have been doing VIP ? :?

I would have thought by now more Vac. Baggers would be converting and have some input. :cry: lol.

Is anyone thinning their Epoxy resin before flow? And if so, what are you using to thin with ? :?:

#6

But won’t the heat start to kick or the curing process earlier?

#7

It DEFINATLY would for PER or VER…I think Epoxy is less affected. Something along the lines of Thixotropic versus Thermo-?

Of course the idea is that the thinned Epoxy would flow more quickly through what should be about a 80 second infusion before lock-out.

Someone care to correct me regarding the heated Epoxy ?:oops:

                       thanks for the replys...........8)