Other Vaccum Bagging

[WFO Speedracer]

If you are doing epoxy with slow hardener you have plenty of time to get the bag stuck down and get everything just so before you pull a vacuum, if you are using poly or vinyl ester its a race against the clock to get it done and pulled down before it starts to set, using a plenum or vacuum storage device is a damn good idea, I just use an old air tank as my vacuum storage tank, this way you pull it down quickly and all the vacuum pump is doing is maintaining the vacuum on the part, if you have done it properly, you can cap off the bag and it will hold a vacuum, if not you will have to leave the pump running to maintain the vacuum on the part wile it cures. I personally prefer to work with vinyl ester when making parts, epoxy requires a lot of babysitting, with vinyl ester in about 30 minutes you are done and can pull the bag.

When we were pulling some of the large floor panels on that boat we didn't make it before it started to cure out, we ended up cooling the resin down in the fridge before mixing it to gain some extra working time.This was with vinyl ester resin.

 

[lilracer94]

Infusion is slightly more expensive because you need more epoxy and there is more waste but the final product looks better and stronger I would imagine.

From my experience with vacuum bag reinforcing my ski

1. Plan everything out before you start and go over the steps in your head. Make sure you have enough supplies before you start. You will forget something at some point.

2. When cutting the carbon pieces be sure to change the direction of the template with the weave. ie. place your template on the carbon on the x axis for your first cut and then the next on the y axis. Rotate your template 90 deg for each cut and lay them out in the same order. This will increase strength. Carbon is strong in 1 direction. By changing the direction up for each layer, your using the carbon fiber to its full potential.

3. Do not pull full vacuum immediately after the wet layup. Pull 1/2 vac initially and then once the epoxy starts to tack up pull full vac. Wet out a piece of carbon with the excess carbon/epoxy material to know when it is getting tacky. If you pull full vacuum immediately you run the risk of pulling out too much epoxy and drying out the carbon and significantly decreasing the strength. I know from experience.

4. For layups with complex curves use strechlon 200 vac bag. For large flat layups you can use home depot plastic if you trying to save money.

5. For release material I used rip stop nylon. You can get this from you local art/craft/fabric store. You can also pick up poly fill for you epoxy absorption material.

6. I highly recommend purchasing the quick disconnect fitting that goes from the vac line into the bag. It is not necessary but is much easier than trying to make a proper seal with tack tape.

7. If its your first time get the slowest hardener you can find. You will need the time when you are first starting out.

I vacuum bag every piece of carbon or fiberglass I lay. The end result is lighter and significantly stronger. If you prep the surface properly the piece will never separate from the surface.

 

[Mark44]

I plan on building one of THESE. They are fully automatic with a vacuum reservoir.

I've bought some epoxy from THIS PLACE and I'd like to give their Stretchlon bagging material a go.

I made one of these, worked great.

 

[XJCrawler]

What size of vacuum pump is needed to infuse a whole hull?

 

[tokarzl]

What size of vacuum pump is needed to infuse a whole hull?

it is based off square footage of the area your going to bag

1/16 HP will do 30-40SF 24" Hg at .5CFM. A stock bottom deck of a hull is around 28-30 SF and a top deck is around 25-28 SF. a 1/16hp pump will not pull the bag down quickly if doing a hand layup then bagging, as mentioned before an air tank set up or your normal shop vac will work to get the bag snug then pull the rest with the pump ensuring there are no leaks. You may want to go a little larger for infusion can put a good amount of strain on a smaller pump.

 

[Kawastyler]

Infusion is slightly more expensive because you need more epoxy and there is more waste..........

Thats correct if you layup 3 layers of 280g/qm glas . Then you have more resin in flowmash then in fibers. But if you infuse resin in many layers muliaxial high compressed carbonfibres you need less resin than handlaying/vacuumbagging.

Need 10kg resin/hardener for top/bottomdeck and outer hoodshell

 

[kawasaki9]

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Great work mate , thanks for the info

 

[Breese08SJ]

If anyone is interested I have 2 vacuum pumps that i would consider selling, both are commercial/ laboratory quality units , one was used in the medical field an the other in science lab, believe both are around 5-6 cfm. I purchased them for bagging myself. PM me if interested.

 

[XJCrawler]

If anyone is interested I have 2 vacuum pumps that i would consider selling, both are commercial/ laboratory quality units , one was used in the medical field an the other in science lab, believe both are around 5-6 cfm. I purchased them for bagging myself. PM me if interested.

I'm interested, pm me with a price and model numbers

 

[Robnobnorb]

Just looking through the post and am amazed by the quality of the finished products. I'm a bit of a beginner into skis and I'm not looking to do the processes or anything yet, but I am interested to no. When you make your own hulls from carbon and you make them in a mould, where does the mould come from? Or am I seeing this wrong and its just a kind of wrapping over the original hulls?
Cheers

 

[SirMrManGuy]

Just looking through the post and am amazed by the quality of the finished products. I'm a bit of a beginner into skis and I'm not looking to do the processes or anything yet, but I am interested to no. When you make your own hulls from carbon and you make them in a mould, where does the mould come from? Or am I seeing this wrong and its just a kind of wrapping over the original hulls?
Cheers

Most guys start with a ski then reshape it to what they want (the first BOB hull was based on a modified kawi 300 for example), split the top and bottom deck in half, then take a mold off of that. There are a few hulls on the market that have just started as blocks of foam to take a mold off of.

Not a jetski but the process is the same:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOo8gxp3K3w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXzR17LktSg

 

[Robnobnorb]

Oh ok mate thanks makes a bit more sense allot of work money and time there by the looks of it! Was really looking for the best way to rocker the nose on an SJ, originally just to mod a hull then thought about forming a complete hull modified.
really liked the looks of this process but I might just do this on some small parts.