Hi Chris,
I found the same problem, and what I found worked well was to make a simple
lightweight wooden frame from 15mm x 35 mm wood (about .75 x 1.25 inch) to
fit around the foam with a gap of about an inch all round. I rolled the
glass cloth out on the cutting table nice and straight, laid the frame over
it in the correct orientation, and cut around the edge of the frame with a
pizza cutter, leaving enough cloth around the edge (2 inches) to turn over
the edge of the frame. I then clipped the cloth over the edge of the frame
with bulldog clips every 12 inches or so all the way round. I found I could
then simply lift the frame / glass up, carry it over to the prepared foam
core and lay it down as 1 piece onto the core. Then remove the clips, lift
the frame away and usually there was only minimal straightening or removal
of wrinkles to do. When there are 2 plies to apply in 1 layup, you need 2
frames prepared with glass ahead of the layup.
It takes about 10 mins to make the frames for each layup but I found it was
well worth that. You can reuse the wood for subsequent frames. I can send
you photos if you like.
Good luck!
Regards,
Keith Hickling,
New Zealand.
ZK-MEE
-----Original Message-----
From: n7188u
Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2017 4:59 AM
Subject: Europa-List: Making fibers straight during UNI layup
Dear Europa group members,
I am currently working on the flap layups and I am finding that the time it
takes me to do the layups is WAY too long for my taste. It took me 3 hours
---From the moment I started applying micro slurry to finish doing the top of
the port flap.
What I find I am struggling with is making the fibers straight. I am using a
pipe to roll the fabric and then place it on the surface. I also place a
tape at the line where the bias cut is made in the fabric (which I think
maybe causing issues when the fabric is placed in the core).
After I place the fabric on the core, I start pulling the fibers straight
but it's not easy to get a good result since other parts of the fabric are
already getting stuck in the epoxy. I do hold the fibers down at the LE and
pull the fibers away from the surface at the TE to make them straight, but
that action disrupts adjacent fibers that I already made straight.
Any techniques to help making the fibers straight? How straight do they have
to be? I know that the straighter the better but maybe I am working too hard
to make them perfect, which I am starting to believe is a hard thing to
achieve. After all, every process has a tolerance.
BTW, at the end the flap come out OK but its a painful process I am hoping
to learn to do in an easier faster way.
Best Regards,
Chris Martin
sites.google.com/site/martineuropaxsa291/
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