Part 3
Used West system epoxy mixed 5 to 1 with slow hardener.
Items laid on the mold were:
-3 layers of carbon fiber with multiple overlaps on the nose to make that stronger for a clamp.
-1 layer of peel-ply
-1 layer of perforated plastic
-1 layer of cotton
That was placed inside a hand made bag (plastic and tape, that was another trick I learned at Catto's place).
A vacuum was placed on the bag via a pump, approx 25 inHg. That entire assembly was placed under a moving blanket and a small portable heater was placed inside. That kept the temps inside at 118 deg during the curing process despite an OAT of 55 deg.
Little dots you see is the resin coming through the perforated plastic.
Once the part was cured, the struggle began. I had to pull the part off the mold. I started at 7 am because I was so excited. Did not even brew coffee. I quickly woke up by stabbing my index finger simultaneously by 4 carbon fiber needles. It shredded my finger pretty good. Had to put the work away for a few minutes and go into the garage so I could cry and not wake up my wife.
I reattacked the issue and was able to succeed at some point. The lessons learned from that were used on the second part and that one came off in a few minutes. Pics of the unfinished parts bellow. They are perfectly smooth inside. The is one small seam from were the 2 parts of plastic were glued but the seam is wax. so no issues to get that off. The outside waviness is due to the stitching of the carbon fiber. also some time the bagging process wrinkles the outside of the parts if you don't take extra care.
I am out of pics and work done thus far. I will finish this project at some point. Trying to finish up my engine installation. I also have to make a part on the fuel servo side.