The title pretty much sums up my question. Now for some particulars... Say you could only have one fabric to do the following:

Build a fusilage
Skin a wing
Make servo covers
Assorted pieces for flying planes

I understand there will be compromises in strength, cost, ease of use, etc... but keeping all those things in mind which would you use?

From what I have experienced 2oz or 3oz fiberglass will do just about anything you ask of it with good strength, at a good price and is easy to work with.

Ok, I will shut up and listen...

Originally Posted by soholingo

The title pretty much sums up my question. Now for some particulars... Say you could only have one fabric to do the following:

Build a fusilage
Skin a wing
Make servo covers
Assorted pieces for flying planes
.

Hi
Rather than the obvious - Why would you want to limit yourself

In the beginning of my composite journey I used 3 oz crows foot (satin?) weave to build 7 cell electric fuzelarges (drapes really well) and at the time it was also commonly used to bag wings.

Today I got a box full of different cloths Kevlar, carbon and a number of different glass cloths.

- again why compromise? The materials are the cheap part of the hobby its your own personal time that costs.

cheers Jeff

cheers Jeff

Its more of an academic discussion. It just seems to me with all this talk of kevlar and carbon, that the lowly fiberglass has been forgotten. With a bit of judicous reinforcement fiberglass works really well...

Jay

3oz bias weave carbon cloth. It could be layered where more strength is required, or used as a single layer for wing skins and servo covers.

Sean

Is that S-glass or E-glass? If forced to use only one, then you want the lightest possible so that the number of layers can be controlled. So probably 1.4 oz S-glass.

OK so I have 3 weights of S-glass, 8 weights of E-glass, 5 of carbon including IM carbon and 3 weightso f kevlar all in the basement...

Actually the idea of 1.4oz S-glass seems perfect. Two layers are stronger than one...

I hate to say it but if we were going on sheer appearance carbon would win hands down.

5.7 oz crowsfoot carbon gets my vote!

It's plain delicious and finger lickin' good!

Originally Posted by jirvin_4505

- again why compromise? The materials are the cheap part of the hobby its your own personal time that costs.

cheers Jeff

This is a superlative comment... so so true. If I billed hobby time at my normal rate, gawd knows what it would be worth!

Originally Posted by samotage

5.7 oz crowsfoot carbon gets my vote!

It's plain delicious and finger lickin' good!

Dito here!!

Though I am working more with glass as of late due to co$t

Paul

93g carbon or 80g glass
I hate 1oz glass. Really hate it, it's a nightmare to work with. If kevlar was just a bit more user-friendly(i mean, if it could be cout easily after the resin has cured), then120g kevlar would be my choice.
On my basement i have 4 diferent glass cloths, 2 diferent carbon cloths and kevlar. It's just easier to use the right fabric for each part
regards,
Chets

I vote for the carbon simply for the bling factor. It does pretty much everything well. It's fairly easy to work with, cuts well, sands easily and can be the finished look without paint if desired.

Downside? carbon splinters under the fingernail!!! OMG let me tell you about pain!

RJ

what!?... this is like saying you can stay with the same woman for the rest of your life!...

While I have to agree that limiting yourself would be unwise, if I had to choose only one I would go with FG.
It is less expensive and can be layered up very strong by orienting the weave in different directions.
I have built many wings and fuses and have used glass, kevlar and carbon and I think done right, in most cases Glass can be strong enough for most of our applications. Of course carbon is prettier and stronger and kevlar absorbs shock better but still glass can handle most of what we do, and it is much easier to get right now.

But I sure hope it never comes to choosing only one......

TIM

Originally Posted by theKM

what!?... this is like saying you can stay with the same woman for the rest of your life!...

Too funny... So we have one woman in the bedroom, many planes and fabrics in the shed - everybody happy!