Tony T (and others): West Systems order list?
 

I've searched the forums and looked at the builder sites of those who documented their fiberglass canopy fairings. I've decided to use the West Systems products, such as Tony T documented on his site.

Question that I can't find the answer to: can anyone who has used the West products- please provide a comprehensive list of what I'll need to order? Cloth, resins, hardeners, black dye, etc?

MANY thanks,

Here's an old article I wrote -- aggregated, actually -- which has a lot of good tips and some supply suggestions.

Gary, I think you can get what you need at West Marine if there is a store near you.

West Systems stuff
 

I used the Group size A system. That is a one quart can of 105 Epoxy and the smallest can (about half pint) of 206 hardener. There is also a #205 hardener but it is too fast and only gives about 12 minutes pot time. I suggest you read the West System documentations to confirm what you need. I also bought 4 oz. can of #407 filler to use on the canopy fairing to smooth it up. I also bought the #300 mini pump set. This makes measuring the quantities easy. Equal squirts from each pump gives the correct ratio. And you can leave the pumps on the cans.

The 1 quart of resin will do the whole plane if you don't mix up large quantities and have to waste part of the batch. I mixed small quantities and if you need more it only takes a minute to mix it up.

The plans specified a weight and weave of cloth and I searched on ACS for the nearest cloth that I could find. I forget now what that was. I think I bought a couple yards and had a lot left over.

If you want to use a black dye I found mine at the Ace hardware in a small tube:

It is made for coloring epoxies, seemed to work OK, I don't think West Systems had a black dye when I was building.
You will also need a lot of mixing cups and sticks, I seem to remember buying the cups from ACS and the sticks at a craft store.

Important, don't forget to buy a big box of blue rubber gloves.

Tony

Thanks!
 

I appreciate all the replies! There's a West Marine location about 45-minutes from my office (I had no idea there was a store semi-local to me) so I think I'll head up there tomorrow at lunch.

Thanks again for the detailed info.

Hum. I have two cups and they have lasted for my entire project (7 plus years). I was going to dispose my cups and sticks and a Long EZ builder that was explaining glass stuff to me said that I was crazy. He said the cups are better after you use them (same with sticks). And it is true.

One added bonus is that you can scratch the bottom of the cup to see if the resin dried correctly. if it did, you should see a white scratch.

For mixing small batches of epoxy, its hard to beat those little plastic "Ketchup" cups that can be found at many fast-food emporiums!

I also suggest removing the canopy lift struts and use tape and scraps of foam to fill in and fair the empty areas before fiberglassing. Be careful with dripping resin oozing onto interior portions of the cockpit and canopy frame -- the solidified drips can get inthe way of removing the finished canopy.

Get the scale because most of your batches will be very small, think tenths of grams. Also, I found some food grade cups at a restaurant supply store really cheep! (Don't use these with polyester resen, it will melt right through!). Can't have enough gloves or pop sickle shocks. What everyone said!

If you follow the details of the instructions, it greatly minimizes any likelihood of this type of problem.

If the very first layer of glass is squeegeed out with a minimum amount of resin between plastic sheeting as described, applied, and then allowed to set up to the point that it gets tacky (but no longer wet) before applying any more layers, there is very little chance of having any excess resin run into areas that you do not want it.

FWIW the black dye Tony mentioned is also available at West. Peel ply is not and I had to order from Spruce.

Canopy lay-up is an immensely satisfying part of the build but you must really take your time. You are working with chemicals with a semi-specified pot life so don't try to work with too large a batch. I found out the hard way.

Nothing says more about a 12 builder's craftsmanship than the fit and finish of that canopy front.

Jim
RV-12 #264 190 hours