Re: Peel ply applications

["Greg Ryan" <greg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Harper"
> Where did you get your vacuum bagging gear and how much did the whole 
> setup cost you?

Robert, I obtain my materials from Airtech https://www.airtechonline.com/
I opted for the thin tightly weaved peelply EconoPly J, it is $2.32 a yard 
at 60" wide. It leaves a very fine pattern compared to the course material. 
And in the photo I used Econoweave 44 breather also $2.23 per yard(60"). I 
bought a bolt of t-shirt material from the clearance bin that works well as 
breather ply too. I use that on smaller or flat parts.
I usually use painters drop sheet plastic from Home depot as the bag. For 
the job in the photo I used very light  2 mill plastic which stretches well 
into all the corners. For other jobs I might use thicker plastic, especially 
for flat jobs like bulkhead layup.  I obtained the pump as a surplus lab 
pump for free, it does way more than I need. Alternatives are, the inlet of 
a compressor, a venturi on a compressed air line, the inlet of an old 
refrigerator's compressor (usually free). All available cheap, I think, 
check EBay.

I do not use tape to seal the bags. I use instead a pressure pack can of 
caulking, just bend the nozzle and a bead comes out. I put a sheet of 
plastic under the job as a big flange of plastic around the job and make a 
ring of calking on it then put a sheet on top to make the bag. Very fast and 
easy that way,  no fiddling with double sided tape.   With this calking you 
can seal the bag to anything in a matter of seconds (remove it to reposition 
with ease and reseal). It can seal around the vac tube entry, therefore 
don't require special nipples as entry ports.  It stays soft, never sets 
under the bag, allowing easy removal when done. If you seal a bag to a solid 
flange (gunwale for example, as I did in the picture), after removing the 
bag the calking sets in air allowing easy removal by sanding or can be 
rubbed off straight away (and off clothes) with acetone.

You will notice the extra layers of material on top will hold heat in, so 
the epoxy will set faster than you are accustomed to. It is good practice to 
remove the peelply when the epoxy has set but before it reaches 100% of its 
strength and becomes brittle. When doing the deck I gave it 6 hours and then 
removed the bag and peel ply fairly easily. I was then able to use a 
boxcutter to simply trim off the excess hybrid edges to precisely where I 
wanted it in a few minutes, without sanding.

Hope this helps, good luck bagging, what are you making?
Greg


This is the Swift Solo mailing list.  For unsubscribe instructions,
visit here: http://catzooks.com/swift-solo/