- Location
- Sacramento, CA
So that little square(where the midshaft mounts) will hold up to abuse? And how are you holding the exhaust tube in place?
Custom/Hybrid The making of my "Feral" hull...
- Thread starter Waternut
- Start date
- Location
- Jersey Shore
Very very cool.
I've been off pain meds for 1.5 days now but still trying to take it easy a little bit. Still swallowing lots of blood...mmmm!!!
On my old stunt hull, that little square was made of fiberglass and held in place with just 5200 and it held up fine after 2 years of punishment and me breaking plenty of other parts. This one is made of coremat surrounded by a layer of 20oz carbon on each side and then bonded to the hull with more carbon. If that thing breaks, it'll be the least of my worries. It will tied into the top deck as well once that goes on. The exhaust was just laying in the hull when I took the picture but it'll be held to the back with 6 thick screws and then bedded up and secured so there isn't any prestress on it. I'll get pictures of that later.
On my old stunt hull, that little square was made of fiberglass and held in place with just 5200 and it held up fine after 2 years of punishment and me breaking plenty of other parts. This one is made of coremat surrounded by a layer of 20oz carbon on each side and then bonded to the hull with more carbon. If that thing breaks, it'll be the least of my worries. It will tied into the top deck as well once that goes on. The exhaust was just laying in the hull when I took the picture but it'll be held to the back with 6 thick screws and then bedded up and secured so there isn't any prestress on it. I'll get pictures of that later.
Tmart
formerly superjet444
- Location
- Middle Georgia
Very nice John. You need to weigh it and start the bragging asap.
Btw, I'm coming to get that primer this week, swear lol
Btw, I'm coming to get that primer this week, swear lol
Two thumbs up .... you work fast plumbing looks great.
- Location
- South Florida
Wow! You already caught up with me. I will have to start bugging you with more help with mine to keep you from leaving me behind.
Big Kahuna
Administrator
- Location
- Tuscaloosa, AL
Sounds like you had Sinus Surgery. That the case?
- Location
- Orange County, CA
i've not messed with carbon fiber but it didn't look like you guys used rollers to pull/push any air pockets out. can someone educate me?
Vacuum bagging >>> rollers. When you vacuum bag the entire thing, you don't have to push/pull out the air pockets during the layup and you don't have to sand the frayed edges after it's cured. You can also be more generous on your resin content since the breather cloth will soak up a lot of the excess instead of keeping it in the cloth which adds weight and almost no strength. If you pull a 10 psi vacuum on the part, you're effectively putting a 10lb weight on every square inch of surface area on the part and leaving it there until the whole thing cures. Plus your weight is perfectly contoured to the shape you want. With a roller you may be putting about that pressure or maybe a little more for a split second and then the cloth is allowed to spring back and reform the air pocket if it wants to.
- Location
- Orange County, CA
i understand the benefit of the vacuum bag, when pulling excess resin out, thought about doing in when i reinforced, i was not aware that it also pulled out air bubbles. I would imagine that a combination may be the best bet, perhaps slightly redundent but at least there is certainty. If i'm mistaken then at least i've learned something today!
thanks for the heads up.
thanks for the heads up.
The biggest advantage to vacuum bagging is the reduction in both the number and size of voids in the material. The smaller the void, the less likely you'll be creating a stress concentration around it which means you'll be less likely to grow a crack out of it. If you have a higher confidence in your parts strength, then you'll need less material which means less weight. The weight savings in reduced resin is a side product but it's the easiest to quantify...
Yeah rollers would be completely redundant in a good vacuum bag setup but it would make it a little cleaner to work with just because you would be able to squeeze out some of the resin prior to vacuum bagging which means less absorption into the breather cloth. The one place that vacuum bagging can fail on you (assuming you can't pull a deep enough vacuum) are small and tight corners like around the bottom of the pump intake. If the vacuum isn't strong enough, the bag won't stretch enough to put pressure on that spot. Then you will have a void or air bubble but I doubt you'd be getting a roller in those tight corners anyway.
Yeah rollers would be completely redundant in a good vacuum bag setup but it would make it a little cleaner to work with just because you would be able to squeeze out some of the resin prior to vacuum bagging which means less absorption into the breather cloth. The one place that vacuum bagging can fail on you (assuming you can't pull a deep enough vacuum) are small and tight corners like around the bottom of the pump intake. If the vacuum isn't strong enough, the bag won't stretch enough to put pressure on that spot. Then you will have a void or air bubble but I doubt you'd be getting a roller in those tight corners anyway.
- Location
- Atlanta, GA
Awesome job on the build. You make it look easy. I was hoping the molds would hold up and I could hit you up one day... Looking forward to a ride report.
You guys are lucky. 2 hours north and the water is still 50 degrees at altoona/lanier. Wet suits still required for another couple weeks...
You guys are lucky. 2 hours north and the water is still 50 degrees at altoona/lanier. Wet suits still required for another couple weeks...
- Location
- Orange County, CA
thank you for shedding some light on this. regarding the tight corners near the pump and other other areas of the hull, there are some pretty small rollers out there (us composites sells some small ones) just for that application. I'm sure this ski would turn out awesome, i guess that if i were doing a project this seize and this much investment i'd prefer to be redundant and secure than the alternative.
Hope all plays out, and like i said earlier, i learned something today!!!
So I weighed the bottom deck yesterday after everything had been installed. With the versiplugs, exhaust, and all fittings, the bottom deck weighs 31lbs. Funny thing is, more than half of that weight was the crap that got added to the hull itself. Coupled with my 11lbs top deck, I shouldn't have any problems keeping the total weight around 50lbs. Will probably end up adding close to 5-10lbs between mating the two halves and installing footholds. My last hood that I sold with the old hull was 5-6lbs so the next should be right around that weight as well. Makes me guilty for slapping a 10lb handlepole on this thing though...maybe one day I'll address that.
Lots to update from the weekend. The foam in the bottom deck was put there to ensure water goes out the versiplugs instead of sitting beside them and then covered in resin to help prevent water intrusion. All fittings were installed and carbon was put over top to ensure they stay in place. The hood is made and the hood seal has the preliminary shape but needs more work/reinforcing. I knew the gap between the two decks was inevitable because of all the uncertainties with the way the molds were made but I didn't think it'd be quite this big. Either way, the gaps have been bridged with carbon (no finished picture of that yet) and the two decks are put together. Still need to finish the hood, lay some carbon on the inside at the bond line, and otherwise clean up all the mess from bonding the decks together.
Should be ready for paint this weekend.
Should be ready for paint this weekend.
