Started with pre heating the moulds in the oven set at 40 degrees C for about 30 minutes, this gets the aluminium moulds a nice temperature for the final 2 coats of release wax.
With the epoxy mixed I started to add the Thixotropic agent 1% at a time, I thought the consistency was right at 2% but I could have gone to 5% by weight. I guess we will see what the results are like. Once rolled on in a very fine coat, not much used at all as you can see by what is left in the tray, it was a pleasure to work with and this process was over very quickly. The moulds were then put back in the oven to accelerate the gel time, this meant I could get on with some other jobs like prep the balsa for shear webs and prep all the materials ready for the lay up.
After 70 minutes in a 40 degree C oven the resin had gelled enough ready to start the lay up process. As previously mentioned all sandwich and inner layers are the same, the only difference is the outside cloth. The 1mm 31 IG-F Rohacell was quite difficult to work with over balsa as is does not want to stick to the first layer in the mould, this meant that the inside layer of 25g glass cloth was quite difficult to apply. going forward this will not be an issue as this will be done at a different stage so we can tape the cores in place so they don't move during the vacuum bagging process.
All done and good pressure, the oven set to 30 degrees C, just have to wait 24 hours to see the results!
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| Moulds pre heating ready for last 2 coats of release agent |
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| Good temperature inside the oven! |
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| Moulds completed with release agent and ready for use, very nice :-) |
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| Ready to go! |
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| Lots left in the tray, mix less next time as this goes a long way. |
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| Gel coat applied, so easy to use. |
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| Easy to see where is not covered....... |
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| First panel and 80g Spread Tow Carbon |
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| Second panel and 25g Glass Cloth |
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| Third panel and 40g Aramid Disser |
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| Fourth panel and 38g Glass Disser |
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| Bottom 2 halves completed with Rohacell and inside 25g glass cloth |
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| Top 2 halves completed with Rohacell and inside layer of 25g glass cloth |
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| In the vacuum bags and back in the oven at 30 degrees C |
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| Almost absolute vacuum - Nice! |
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