Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Home Built Infusion Foil.

Here you can exchange your experience and datas about your home build boards
User avatar
Kamikuza
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 7057
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:49 am
Local Beach: Sabae Beach
Favorite Beaches: Ol' Stinky
Gear: This, that, the other
Has thanked: 220 times
Been thanked: 193 times

Re: Home Built Infusion Foil.

Postby Kamikuza » Sat Jan 14, 2017 10:33 am

Y'know how we can tell you're from down under...? :D

GrantL
Medium Poster
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 8:44 am
Local Beach: Auckland
Style: Surfboard
Gear: Naish board
Switch kites
Ozone kites
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Home Built Infusion Foil.

Postby GrantL » Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:44 pm

Rangitoto?

TomW
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 3585
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2005 6:43 pm
Kiting since: 2001
Local Beach: Vejbystrand, Lomma
Gear: TW Surfboards hydrofoil board 110
Gong Veloce M, 100cm carbon mast
Ozone Hyperlink V1 7m
Hyperlink V2 9m, 13m
Concept Air Wave 4,5m
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Sweden
Has thanked: 53 times
Been thanked: 193 times

Re: Home Built Infusion Foil.

Postby TomW » Sat Jan 14, 2017 11:01 pm

I'd really like to see the who process step by step. Foil and workmanship looks amazing.

tahoedirk
Frequent Poster
Posts: 219
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:02 pm
Local Beach: Kings beach, CA
Favorite Beaches: All clean beaches
Style: out of control
Gear: Homemade gear
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Home Built Infusion Foil.

Postby tahoedirk » Sun Jan 15, 2017 1:11 am

SIck!!!

you must be proud

GrantL
Medium Poster
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 8:44 am
Local Beach: Auckland
Style: Surfboard
Gear: Naish board
Switch kites
Ozone kites
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Home Built Infusion Foil.

Postby GrantL » Sun Jan 15, 2017 3:00 am

Continuing on with my project.
Once I completed laminating the first half of the mast mould, stiffening bars added removed mould and plug together from the center split plate. Clean up and rewax mould and plug. I then followed the same process to make the second mould.
So now I have my plug sitting inside the female moulds
Open moulds and remove plug. At this point you will see if there was any dovetailing on the moulds.
It is important to be sure that you always have at least 3deg taper on all vertical faces. If you don't you will damage your mould.
Attachments
20160622_070555.jpg
2 halves fresh off the plug. Just need to clean off modeling clay

GrantL
Medium Poster
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 8:44 am
Local Beach: Auckland
Style: Surfboard
Gear: Naish board
Switch kites
Ozone kites
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Home Built Infusion Foil.

Postby GrantL » Sun Jan 15, 2017 3:13 am

tahoedirk wrote:SIck!!!

you must be proud
Cheers.

GrantL
Medium Poster
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 8:44 am
Local Beach: Auckland
Style: Surfboard
Gear: Naish board
Switch kites
Ozone kites
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Home Built Infusion Foil.

Postby GrantL » Sun Jan 15, 2017 4:12 am

Layup of laminate.
Like all laminating with infusion you should always do a test run to be sure the infusion fully saturates the laminate.
My mast is 6.5mm thick each side, which means a lot of laminate @0.3mm per layer. Trying to infuse uni carbon is the most difficult to achieve. The carbon unis pack down so tight, the infusion resin struggles to travel through this hard block of carbon. To help relieve this problem using double bias laminate helps. But if you add a woven glass fiber cloth 600gsm or similar it works like an intermediate layer allowing the resin to penetrate deep into the form. So I am not looking for any strength from the glass only thin cores 0.6mm which will be fully fused in my laminate. I had 1 every 1.5mm starting from the mould face. So the Intregity of the laminate 1 solid piece.
1.But before you start adding the laminate into the mould you need to wax the mould with a releasing agent.
2.paint mould with a clear gel coat and allow it to tack off.
3.Carefully place 150gsm twill into form starting at the bottom. Smooth over profile right into the corners. Careful not to damage the weave. By using clear gel coat you can position the outer visible layer of twill exactly at the correct angle.
4. Start to lay the laminate uni and double bias into the mould. If you use an infusion adhesive very very sparingly you can position each layer exactly where you want it.... Be careful with the cutting of the laminate, you don't want to much excess at the edges.It takes a few attempts to get the best layup. I found that you are best to start at the bottom of form and work up to the centerline. This pic was my first test without adhesive. There are many tricks which make the layup cleaner.
5.My mast has a Tuttle profile both ends. Mast is solid carbon with the 70/30 ratio of uni/double bias +-45deg.
Attachments
20160823_065842.jpg

GrantL
Medium Poster
Posts: 57
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 8:44 am
Local Beach: Auckland
Style: Surfboard
Gear: Naish board
Switch kites
Ozone kites
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Home Built Infusion Foil.

Postby GrantL » Sun Jan 15, 2017 4:47 am

First Infusion test.
As I was a little nervous infusing such a thick shape, I did a test run. One of the problems with infusion is the penetration of resin right through. 6.5mm is pretty thick to infuse.
I'm sure you want to know.
Infusion uses a vacuum process, a special low viscosity resin is drawn into the vacuum and sucked towards the vacuum pump. That is it in a nut shell.
Vacuum is paramount, any air trapped in the laminate will remain in the laminate creating a dry spot. After I know I have a perfect vacuum, I run my pump for at least 4 hours to get every bit of air out. Heat 35deg C also helps pack down the laminate, and realign fibres.
This sounds over the top but the more fibre you can pack into the mould the stronger your layup will be.You don't want the fibre to have room move, that compromises the laminate strength.
The feeding of resin in my test piece didn't infuse all the way through but I had to see how it would go through the 6.5mm. See pics. I was gutted.
Attachments
20160831_151032.jpg
Test piece. See dry section under twill.

User avatar
Kamikuza
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 7057
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:49 am
Local Beach: Sabae Beach
Favorite Beaches: Ol' Stinky
Gear: This, that, the other
Has thanked: 220 times
Been thanked: 193 times

Re: Home Built Infusion Foil.

Postby Kamikuza » Sun Jan 15, 2017 5:42 am

GrantL wrote:Rangitoto?
No the upside down pics. OMG a dad pun!

DartBoard
Medium Poster
Posts: 61
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:57 am
Local Beach: Longreef in Sydney, NSW
Favorite Beaches: Longreef, Yorkeys Knob
Style: Surf Foil
Gear: RPMs, Switch, Homemade TT, Homemade Foils
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Home Built Infusion Foil.

Postby DartBoard » Sun Jan 15, 2017 9:18 am

thanks for sharing the great to see the detail of the process. I might be getting ahead of your photo uploads but how do you join the two halves of the mast together? Once you've joined them do you put any more reinforcement over the joins?

Also, what profile did you use on the main wing? Is it a standard NACA foil?


Return to “Gear Builders”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 48 guests