A couple of bikes I have built and a few parts.

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#21

Liverpool through & through, but were cr*p for the past few years and no hope insight and it looks like we will loose LUIS SUAREZ in the summer, so even worse to come.

As for split molds, their is a thread on this forum this will show you here:-
http://www.compositescentral.com/showthread.php?t=2856

.kyle:- thanks but I have already tried this, by adding an extra ply of 50mm carbon on the edge and leaving the Kevlar short, it’s a bit of a pain and was just looking for a quicker soloution, but thanks anyway.

a_double:- heat cure is as per Gurit data sheet for Ampreg 21
http://www.gurit.com/files/documents/ampreg-21v7pdf.pdf
I have a 2mt x 1.3 x 1mt oven

Molds are not made with Ampreg 21, and made depending on the part I will make, with either fire retardant resin, Optimold Tooling Resin or a zero shinkage resin, or even Polyester resin.

Release is TR-920 Multi-Pull MR or even sometimes just good old Honey wax & PVA depending on the part and time scale.

All parts are then trimmed on this:-
http://www.airbench.com/

Hope this helps.

Best regards.

#22

Thanks Pedro, quick 1 still on the oven, do you have some contoller and what kind of heating elements do you use? i’m trying to build an over but i’m still a bit confused on these.

#23

Haha yeah. I haven’t followed Barclays league for awhile. One of my old co-workers was a big man u fan and I followed man city last year a good bit because of their great season.

I’m a barca fan though…

Not to derail the thread so thanks for the link!

#24

You did a great job …not much to say
Only bravo and thank you for all your pictures and descriptions

If you want to share the making of your fuel tanks that will be nice
Which resin did you use for the tanks and did you use an internal coating to prevent ethanol problems?
Thanks

#25

One Last thing I have found when using the Gurit Epoxy resins, I have burnt my eyelids from the fumes. So I always use this respirator from start of mixing resin to full vacuum.
Even when trimming on the Airbench I also use it.
3M Full Facepiece Reusable Respirator 6800

#26

What is the price on one of those airbenches?

#27

What is the price on one of those airbenches?

It cost £2,042.10p plus VAT (not cheap)
Small price to pay for good health & keeps the workshop nice and clean to.

I suppose I could have made one much cheaper, but didnt have the spare time, or I could have just kept on using the old hoover, but this is much better for me.

Best regards

#28

Nice work, would it be possible to share few photos of the airbench…I’m interested in getting one—safety first!!!

#29

Airbench is - 1270w x 660d x 840h

Link to a few other photos:-
http://s695.photobucket.com/user/peddrotzr/library/Airbench?sort=2&page=1

contact details:-

Simon Cook

AirBench Ltd
14 Grange Farm Road, Colchester CO2 8JW
T: +44 (0) 1206 791191
F: +44 (0) 1206 791091
E: scook@airbench.com

http://www.airbench.com/

#30

Great work! love the bikes! I’m in the process of refinishing my honda sp1 bodywork so that I can make some nice molds from. Hopefully will look as nice as yours.

What do you use to protect the gas tank from being destroyed by the ethanol in fuels?

could you post some pics of the molds and interim steps of your gas tank?Thanks

#31

Ahhh i didnt even know that there was a company making down draft extraction tables near me… They are only 3miles down the road from my workshop. Might have to pay them a visit!

Ps. Very nice work on the wet lay. Many people on here poopoo the idea of wet lay, prefering infusion. Personally i actually prefer wet lay vac bag for many items rather than infusion.

#32

Very good job, well done!!!

#33

Thanks for your kind comments on the last parts.

Well I finally got to finish making the RC45 molds and then make & fit the bodywork.
I made all the molds from Arron Slights HRC RC45 bike, please dont ask how I got the body work!
The top fairing mold ended up being a 6 piece mold due to the shape, but the part fell out of the mold, so I was very pleased with the result.
Again all parts are produced Wet-lay, vac-bag, & heat cured, as in the previous posts.
made with pain weave carbon and reinforeced with Carbon/Kevlar and the seat with corematt. (to match the original Honda HRC parts).
The weight is the same as the HRC parts so I was very pleased with this as mine are wet-lay.

The Bike has just been to the Manx GP Classic Parade, it still needs a few more items to completely finish it off with a few decals, but you get the idea.
The air tubes took some time as I had 2 sets of tubes to work from,
one set fitted the fairing and the other fitted the tank as they were both different bore sizes, as the tank is an endurance tank from a Suzuka race back in the 90’s,
so I had to make these from scratch, but they look very close shape to the HRC tubes so I am quite pleased with the result,
the tubes still need to be lacquered, as I was making them the day before his parade lap.

Sorry that the photos are not the best but I am rubbish with a camera. I will get better photos when the bike comes back in late September/October to be finished off.

Best regards

#34

Great work as usual… Just a shame a phones camera doesnt do it justice… I think plain weave looks good for bike parts too. Complex shapes can look distorted with a twill with changes of direction where plain always looks neat and crisp… Top work…

#35

Hi Peddro, what’s the trick/process you’re using for making sure that your wet-lay products pin hole and air bubble free. this is one are i have been battling to overcome and i’m at the brink of giving up due to the frustrations, by the way i’m using both Ampreg-21 and SP-115 resin sytems with fast harndners. your response will be greatly appreciated.

thanks

#36

Thanks for your comments Morepower:
However the photos weren’t taken on a phone/camera, a good digital job, but as I say I am crap with a camera!
I don’t really like using Plain weave, I much prefer to use 2x2 Twill as its much sharper finish and neater with the weave straight an I think gives a better depth to the weave.
These are the first parts I have made for ages with Plain weave, its just the customer wants it to match the HRC product.

a double
I don’t have any trick/process,
I use standard & slow hardeners to give me more time to work with the products.
I even had to use extra slow hardener a few weeks back when we had a bit of a summer for once.
I mix and de-gas the resin, then wet out as usual, the brushing during wetting out can add air so I take great care here, then I use a “warm heat” from a heat gun over the carbon to burst/pop any air bubbles, however this can speed up the cure of the resin so take care, then lay up the peel ply ect as usual.
I also have test piece of carbon on the bench which I wet out at the start of the job so I can keep a check on when to apply the vacuum.
I have found that applying the vacuum too early has caused problems in the past; also too much vacuum is another cause.

Hope this helps.
However I am no expert as their far more experienced people on here.

Best regards

#37

Hi, thanks a lot for the info, a few weeks ago i asked my supplier if i can de-gas sp115 or ampreg 21 had he said i should not even attempt to do that since these are not infusion resins, anyway can you please share your de-gassing process, do you mix resin + hardener then de-gas also for how long do u de-gas.

thanks

#38

Still looks great in plain weave… I have some genuine factory Suzuki parts to copy from the 750cc WSB days and it is plain weave and just seems to look right on those period bikes…

It looks factory and do love the look…

#39

Peddro, I am quite shocked on the apparent health problems you “faced” (pun intended). I definately would suggest also give some other epoxy resins a chance, like Sicomin SR8200 with curing agent SD7203, 4 and 6. (slow-medium-fast). These are known for being “people friendly”.

For the rest: kudos for your work. Really nice! Did you also do the assembly of the bikes?

#40

Hi Herman, any reasoning behind “apparent health problems” coz i’m using the same resin system

thanks