I started using blue masking tape today on my carbon fiber material for cutting… works great, and if your careful you can peel it up if you make a taping error.
Another trick is on fiberglass hand scissors… after cutting each piece of 'glass, wipe the blades clean with your fingers or a soft rag. It makes them stay sharper longer and operate more smoothly.
I have made this a sticky. Post your tips here to help others.
When cutting a piece of fabric, pull out the fabric, measure the ammount you want, then carefully pull one strand from across the width of the roll (the weft). It is then easy to see where to cut, avoiding nasty loose strands.
I second that. I do that all the time now!!! Some fabrics you have to snip the salvage end tiedown, but it saves so much time cutting and realigning the weave direction!
When using casting resin, it is always difficult to estimate the amount of resin(and hardener) needed. I used to either mix up too much and have wastage or not have enough ready and have a panic opening a new tin in time! Buy a few bags of rice (I use minute rice)and pour that into the casting box to the level you will cast to. Then measure what comes out. That will give you an accurate amount needed without using a liquid that might contaminate the pattern. The rice seems to last a long time without deteriorating.
I found out tonight modeling clay works much easier when you wax your fingers with mold wax, just like you were going to give a thumb print, print your finger/s into the mold wax then work the clay. Also found popsicle sticks work well for modeling clay ( evening it out).
also heating the clay will make it very easy to mold/shape easily
So, which is better?
This is for the Resin Infuse and vacuum Tubes:
Make a “tubesock” (using peelply and spray adhesive - old #77) Grey on left
OR
Loose Wrap as on the right side (green)in the pic?
The tubesock uses MILES less material and only a little more involved.
Any thoughts? Just trying to eliminate some of the TRIAL & ERROR! Cheers - Jim
Why put anything at all on the spiral wrap? It should be on top of peel ply anyways, so it’s not going to stick. Faster and more cost effective.
on 3K carbon or hybrid cloth to keep the weave nice and straight; spray glue the cloth on one side, then lay down some fine fiberglass cloth. Pat it down with your hand or use a rolling pin to make good contact with no wrinkles. Now when you lay the cloth into the mold the weave won’t get all crooked. You can also use this trick to butt two different weaves up against each other inside a mold, so you get two straight even cuts.
Just an idea we tried today and it seems to work well.
I go a little step farther than this. I use single tow’s, evenly spaced, running from the edge of the lamenant, accross the bare flange, to the spiral wrap. Works well, and you save a few inches of peel ply. I dont recommend it on really complex shapes though.
EDIT: Forgot to add. The green stretchlon WILL pop if you bridge it on bare spiral wrap.
I noticed that with stretchlon 200 Infusion slows down greatly because of the bag stretching into the flow media channels. What I do now if I have to use stretchlon 200. I’ll add in a layer of 2ml plastic sheeting under the stretchlon. It’s thin enough to stretch with the stretchlon, and it gives that tiny extra bit of tear strength.
I purchase the 2ml plastic from my local hardware stores.
If you make smaller parts place the sealant tape on the bagging film, not on the mould. It is much easier to handle.
Same for large projects, but there is not always the opportunity to apply tape to a bag alongside the project. (projects larger than a table). Whenever I have the opportunity, I order the people to put protective cardboard on the floor, layout the vacuum film, and put tape around the perimeter. But sometimes you just have to do it in situ.
Nice other tricks:
as long as the epoxy is still that soft that you can press a thumbnail into it, you can laminate it over without sanding. (no amine blush should be present).
If you have 2 vacuum pumps at your project, connect them with a hose before the infusion starts. (keep the valve closed). If a pump fails, you can save the project by just opening a valve, instead of hastily running around with hose and bad fitting end fittings.
Heat it in a microwave- quick and easy.
Tips on quickly cutting prepreg fabric to a template? I know this sounds elementary but there are gobs of ways to do it… drag razor, rotary razor, scissors, etc. And what tool/technique for a flexible template like kraft paper vs a hard template like masonite?
I use Airtech’s tacstrip for this. I found out that is easier to peel off once it is wet.
Next I’ll try using a fiberglass mesh tape from the diy store (it should have the same results and be cheaper)
If I don’t want to have the extra fiberglass weight on my part, I do the same but I use a thin painter drop cloth wich I remove once the fabric is laid on the mold, and then I wet the fabric. In complex shapes the fabric loses drapability however.
Also you have to be careful to spray only a very fine mist of glue and let it settle for about 1 minute before putting the drop cloth or else it won’t peel of easily.
maybe a fine mist and a strip of fiberglass/carbon scrim to put down along the cutting area. Won’t have to remove it, and part weight will be near 0 net, since scrim is VERY fine. Shouldn’t loose much drapability either.
Using a fine correction pen for drawing lines and marking cured carbon or any dark surface.
I use the Pentel ZL72-W
Can seem to get an image to work but here is a link.
http://www.pentel.com.au/shop/image_big.php?image=ZL72-W-L.jpg&number=901
Yes. but also run some 1/4" tape on one side of it. then turn it around and cut along the visible line created by removing a strand. the tape will end up on both edges of your cut and will not allow the close remaining strands to onravel