Just count how many fibers the strand is made of(squint) then divide by 1000 and add a K at the end. Hey we have soe real nice stuff here from Soller composites that comes in a plane weave 5.8oz fabric it is 12k tow spread to about 11mm it is supe flat and easy to work with. I been lovin it

Hi Jim,
Just wondering if you have taken a look at those molds yet ?
Fingers crossed
Chris

Originally Posted by Fubar 123

Hi Jim,
Just wondering if you have taken a look at those molds yet ?
Fingers crossed
Chris

Chris,

Not yet, I'm playing a patient game (with myself!).
Also, I have had plenty to do and I've got the first half of the wing mould well and truly started. I expect to finish the layup of this first side tonight and will be welding up the backing frames this afternoon.
The grass is well and truly wet, so I will have no fire risk like the last time I welded!

Lee,

I am envious of your ease of local supply from Soller. I have some of their very fine socking (biaxial sleeving), which I use for drag and control surface spars. The product is cheap, but the postage to us here is exorbitant!
Good products they have!

Jim.

Jim I have bought carbon sock from CG composites in ?Sydney? before and they were cheap and quick. They didnt have the range of soller but you only really need a few sizes as it stretches up or down so much. Give them a go next time- I have a feeling they are the only place to get it in australia but am probably wrong. Good luck with your plug releases!

Originally Posted by josh18

Jim I have bought carbon sock from CG composites in ?Sydney? before and they were cheap and quick. They didnt have the range of soller but you only really need a few sizes as it stretches up or down so much. Give them a go next time- I have a feeling they are the only place to get it in australia but am probably wrong. Good luck with your plug releases!

Excellent Josh, I'm glad to know that.

Tomorrow is tail mould split day!

Watch this space, as the saying goes.

Watching....

The first half of the wing mould is no layed up.
1 layer of veil
1 layer of 80 gsm glass cloth PW
8 layers of 295 gsm glass cloth 4HS.

I will be doing the steel work this afternoon. Also, de-moulding tail moulds as I said before!

I've got more resin and the heavy glass being delivered early next week to complete the second side. Once I have bonded the steel frame to the back, I will add a couple more layers of the heavy glass between the steel. That will bring the laminate thickness up to 5 mm. It is 4.5 mm thick now.

Originally Posted by Fubar 123

Watching....

Here it is Chris:

Wompoo tail moulds (3 min 35 sec)

My very first video upload too!
The moulds are fine except for a very small bit of damage on the TE on one side of one of them. I don't know if I remembered to put some carbon tow in there or not. I think not. That would have reinforced it.

I'm pleased, to say the least.

well done Jim!

Always good to hear that CRACK..

Tim

Originally Posted by Jim.Thompson

Here it is Chris: https://vimeo.com/59776567

My very first video upload too!
The moulds are fine except for a very small bit of damage on the TE on one side of one of them. I don't know if I remembered to put some carbon tow in there or not. I think not. That would have reinforced it.

I'm pleased, to say the least.

Well Done Jim,
What a sweet release !
Thanks for making the effort to make a film far better than 20 photos ! Keep them coming

Thanks guys!
Like Tim say, that "crack" sound is sure welcome.

I've now finished the first side of the wing moulds.
The pictures pretty well tell it all.

I'll be removing the parting board tomorrow and waxing up the second side.

edit: I used 2 mm wall thickness primed RHS this time. Much easier to weld than the galvo thinner walled (1.6mm) material.

We have very heavy rain here with moderate local flooding. Forecast to last the best part of another week. Half the east coast is flooding, while parts of the south of the country is still burning!
It's too wet to do any composite work. So, when there is a slight moderation in the downpour, I plan to prepare the threaded rod and 20x20mm RHS clamps to clamp the moulds together. There will be no through bolts on any of these moulds.
I'm copying the set up first described (to my knowledge), by WWW Adam.

Instead of nuts, I will make up some large wing nuts for speed of assembly and dissembly. This is a particular advantage in the case of the fuse mould and inflation bladder assembly. In the event of a burst inflation bladder, it is important to be able to strip and re-assembly the mould/layup quickly. I'm over the fuss and bother of picking up and dealing with bolts and power drivers with sticky epoxy covered gloves. Besides, with repeated use, the moulds with through bolts will suffer some distortion around the bolts.
The specially made clamps can be positioned in new places each use if there is any sign of fatigue or distortion. Besides, this fuse mould is massively supported with double steel framed runners. They had to be double for the clamps to clear the protruding wing fillets.

If I am to build another low wing, or mid wing model, I will be using very minimal fillets, as is done on most commercial model that I've seen lately. These large radius fillets were more of an aesthetic design fancy that I had at the time. Made a bit of a rod for my back though!

Originally Posted by Jim.Thompson

4 Made a bit of a rod for my back though!

At least it keeps your posture good

Keep up the good work, though we could do with some of the rain down this way - very, very dry!