What do you think of this???

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#21

How big is it? If it is small (say 10cm x 5 meter or so) I would probably hand laminate it. Careful and consistent hand laminate can easily be smooth and even.

Some more remarks:
-P, P1, P3, MP22, etc are perforation styles, used by many vacuum material suppliers. For instance Airtech. (I believe MP22 is exclusively used by Airtech).
To check datasheets, you need to log in at Airtechonline.com. A workaround is using the European website, www.airtech.lu, which has all the datasheets without logging in. (click “products”)

WL3700 perforated film at least in Europe comes only in big rolls. At Brands Structural Products I have WL3900 in short rolls, 100 meter long, 152cm wide. (some 110 yard x 60 inch)

When wet bagging, keep a low vacuum. The viscosity of the resin, the amount of breather, the perforation style of the release film, they all have an impact on which vacuum to use. With P3 film, I would go no further than 0,5 bar (50%) vacuum.

Using infusion resin for hand laminating in general is a bad idea. Better to get some slower curing agent, or a retarder from your manufacturer.

Compoflex 150RF does not need peelply or release film. It will leave a relatively smooth surface. 150RFSB will leave a peelply surface.

#22

You know there are plenty of leading edge boots available that are peel and stick as well as bond on. Some are clear ( easy for visual inspection ) and thicker more durable rubber type.

Also… Isn’t it the norm to skim coat a wing after the laminate? Then block sand to final shape for prime and paint? I did some work on glassair wings and also helped a friend repair his back in the day… And iirc that was the case… I would think an abrasion boot tape would save you time and money in this venture especially if your wings already have profile. Also…would a layer of glass… Hide hairline cracks in the skim coat over time?

Sorry to butt in just curious more than anything… That’s all.

#23

Here is a link to the 3m product I’m talking about…

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Aerospace/Aircraft/Solutions/Boots/

#24

Dallas84,

I didn’t know that he just wanted to protect the LE. These 3M boots come as standard on many aircraft. For instance if you purchase a new Cirrus SR22 G3 or something similar from them, it comes with the 3M tapes applied all over the surface. For a LE protection, you don’t need a hard surface, you need a soft, tough and resilient surface that is easy to clean.

N

#25

Currently the leading edge is filled/shaped with a mixture of micro balloons and resin which is a fairly soft a mixture (max thickness is 1/8 - 3/16"). The leading edge under the fill is very rigid. The reason I want to add a layer of 7781 eglass is to give the fill mixture some durability (resist paint chipping when impacted by rain and bugs and such). That said the boots do look like a great idea to protect the paint once finished.