Dust
Well-Known Member
There are allot of members here that don't ask questions, and one of my goals is to answer them even though no one has asked it. ifin you are familiar with fiberglass layups, no need to read any furthor.
This info is specific to a cozy, but i think it probably transfers to other birds as well
First you start off with a pieces of foam, let's say it is a simple bulkhead, my method is as follows
cut the foam oversized by about 1/2 inch
put some resin and hardner in a cup(WAXLESS!)
I use a ratio pump, it always pumps the correct amout of hardener and resin. the pump is stored in a "hot box" which is simply a box with 2 light bulbs and thermostate to keep the resin and epoxy at about 100 degrees.
mix it for 1 minuite, large clock on wall
spend 25% of the time scraping the sides
When fully mixed add the same amount of micro balloons as there is epoxy in the cup(it is now called epoxy because the hardener and the resin are mixed together)
stir in the micro until it is evenly mixed, it is very powdery and at first you have to go slow or it will end up on the floor, he he he, or in your lungs, not he he he
Look at the foam for divots that were taken out of the foam by the factory or your handling, if there are any, pour a little of the mixture that you just made into a small cup, keep mixing up small amounts of micro(micro baloons) until it is the consistancy of 4 hour old cake frosting, put it in the divot and squeege off the excess
When epoxy is in the cup, it will exotherm, burn your hand with heat and harden in a farrrr shorter time than when it is on the foam or fiberglass, dump it out into thin film on the foam as soon as possible. Keep track of how much you mixed so that you can estimate how much more you will need after you have spread the micro or epoxy
then pour the "thin micro" over the foam and spread it around with a squeege. The object here is to just fill the foam pores, some foam, styrafoam has large pores and last a foam has tiny holes. the foam with large takes allot of fill the other doesn't
be careful at the edges, no need to slop it all over, it can be done with out making much of a mess.
When the foam pores are filled lay down your first layer of glass, if it is BID, unroll the piece you precut and have ready laying at the side carefully, because of the weave of BID you can take a 10 x 12 piece and stretch it to 5 x 24, he he he, take your time and make small adjustments
if you need to widen the piece 1 inch, slowly widen it from one end to the other by 1/2" every inch or so and then do it again untill the foam is coverred. Now straighten the fibers and smooth it out with your gloved hands, you did put gloves on didn't you.
now go mix up a batch of epoxy, just like above but no micro. dump it all over the glass. Spread it around with a squeege, if you are puting on more than one layer, this layer can and should be left wet, the next layer will wick up the extra.
The glass starts out white, when enough epoxy is on it it is clear, when too much is on it, when you drag your squeege accross it with medium preasure and lift the squegee up, there is a line, for the first layer, a line is ok
Now lay out the second layer, and straighten it out etc. don't add any more epoxy yet, get a hair dryewr and a throw away paint brush, heat the area in front of the brush as you brush out the surface and watch the layer wet itself out.
if you need more epoxy mix it up and lightly paint a little on the white places, don't worry about clear at this point, just go to all of the areas that have white and brush a little on, then hit it with a little heat and brush, continue until the entire layup is clear
Then peel ply is next, if you are using it put it on after the last layer and wet it out like it was fiberglass, but be carefull, it can wick epoxy from the rest of the layup, i like to have enough epoxy on the layup so that when i brush the peel ply with the brush and a little heat i see a very little shine on the peel ply.
ok, this sounded hard, but it is really, really easy
now flip the entire thing over and do the other side.
at the end of a flat layup like this you need to hold it down, we cover the layup with plastic coverred butcher paper and then a 3/4 inch board, then go up and have a beer, root that is and come back and do the next piece
Don't use a heat gun, too darn hot, don't use you wife's hair dryer, buy her a new one and use her old one AFTER you replace it.
For all of the reinforcements and tapes, we follow the same procedure, except, we draw the shape on wax coverred taped to the bench and write on the corner the cloth and layers needed(BID or UNI and on the part we draw arrow of how the weave is supposed to go, we then lay up all of the layers on this paper just like we did on the foam, but no foam and no peel ply. When done we cut the glass to the lines drawn, go the the plane where we have already sanded and painted on epoxy and filled any divots or made radiouses with thick micro and place the tape or reinforcement in place. we then peel ply in place oversized and this holds all of the glass edges down so you won't get stuck later.
NOT waxed coverred paper, i blew it, the supply house calles it waxed butcher paper, there is NO wax just a thin plastic coating. NON WAX, no wax, did i remember to say no wax!!!
enjoy the build
dust
This info is specific to a cozy, but i think it probably transfers to other birds as well
First you start off with a pieces of foam, let's say it is a simple bulkhead, my method is as follows
cut the foam oversized by about 1/2 inch
put some resin and hardner in a cup(WAXLESS!)
I use a ratio pump, it always pumps the correct amout of hardener and resin. the pump is stored in a "hot box" which is simply a box with 2 light bulbs and thermostate to keep the resin and epoxy at about 100 degrees.
mix it for 1 minuite, large clock on wall
spend 25% of the time scraping the sides
When fully mixed add the same amount of micro balloons as there is epoxy in the cup(it is now called epoxy because the hardener and the resin are mixed together)
stir in the micro until it is evenly mixed, it is very powdery and at first you have to go slow or it will end up on the floor, he he he, or in your lungs, not he he he
Look at the foam for divots that were taken out of the foam by the factory or your handling, if there are any, pour a little of the mixture that you just made into a small cup, keep mixing up small amounts of micro(micro baloons) until it is the consistancy of 4 hour old cake frosting, put it in the divot and squeege off the excess
When epoxy is in the cup, it will exotherm, burn your hand with heat and harden in a farrrr shorter time than when it is on the foam or fiberglass, dump it out into thin film on the foam as soon as possible. Keep track of how much you mixed so that you can estimate how much more you will need after you have spread the micro or epoxy
then pour the "thin micro" over the foam and spread it around with a squeege. The object here is to just fill the foam pores, some foam, styrafoam has large pores and last a foam has tiny holes. the foam with large takes allot of fill the other doesn't
be careful at the edges, no need to slop it all over, it can be done with out making much of a mess.
When the foam pores are filled lay down your first layer of glass, if it is BID, unroll the piece you precut and have ready laying at the side carefully, because of the weave of BID you can take a 10 x 12 piece and stretch it to 5 x 24, he he he, take your time and make small adjustments
if you need to widen the piece 1 inch, slowly widen it from one end to the other by 1/2" every inch or so and then do it again untill the foam is coverred. Now straighten the fibers and smooth it out with your gloved hands, you did put gloves on didn't you.
now go mix up a batch of epoxy, just like above but no micro. dump it all over the glass. Spread it around with a squeege, if you are puting on more than one layer, this layer can and should be left wet, the next layer will wick up the extra.
The glass starts out white, when enough epoxy is on it it is clear, when too much is on it, when you drag your squeege accross it with medium preasure and lift the squegee up, there is a line, for the first layer, a line is ok
Now lay out the second layer, and straighten it out etc. don't add any more epoxy yet, get a hair dryewr and a throw away paint brush, heat the area in front of the brush as you brush out the surface and watch the layer wet itself out.
if you need more epoxy mix it up and lightly paint a little on the white places, don't worry about clear at this point, just go to all of the areas that have white and brush a little on, then hit it with a little heat and brush, continue until the entire layup is clear
Then peel ply is next, if you are using it put it on after the last layer and wet it out like it was fiberglass, but be carefull, it can wick epoxy from the rest of the layup, i like to have enough epoxy on the layup so that when i brush the peel ply with the brush and a little heat i see a very little shine on the peel ply.
ok, this sounded hard, but it is really, really easy
now flip the entire thing over and do the other side.
at the end of a flat layup like this you need to hold it down, we cover the layup with plastic coverred butcher paper and then a 3/4 inch board, then go up and have a beer, root that is and come back and do the next piece
Don't use a heat gun, too darn hot, don't use you wife's hair dryer, buy her a new one and use her old one AFTER you replace it.
For all of the reinforcements and tapes, we follow the same procedure, except, we draw the shape on wax coverred taped to the bench and write on the corner the cloth and layers needed(BID or UNI and on the part we draw arrow of how the weave is supposed to go, we then lay up all of the layers on this paper just like we did on the foam, but no foam and no peel ply. When done we cut the glass to the lines drawn, go the the plane where we have already sanded and painted on epoxy and filled any divots or made radiouses with thick micro and place the tape or reinforcement in place. we then peel ply in place oversized and this holds all of the glass edges down so you won't get stuck later.
NOT waxed coverred paper, i blew it, the supply house calles it waxed butcher paper, there is NO wax just a thin plastic coating. NON WAX, no wax, did i remember to say no wax!!!
enjoy the build
dust
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