Hello all,

This is my first post after

I have been making composite panels (textile material on both sides of a hex core filled with foam). I have been doing hand layup on glass sheets to day under vacuum pressure using room temperature 2 hour curing epoxy. Next up is infusion. Currently (which I expect to remain true with the infusion) one side of the laminate (bottom against glass) has a perfect glass like flat finish while the top side has an irregular surface and at times the top corners of the panel bend in a bit possibly from vacuum pressure and lack of support / structure.

I would like to get some advice on how to make both faces of the panel flat and uniform. Perhaps place a sheet on glass on top of the entire dry textile before starting the infusion? If that leads to resin dry spots perhaps we can touch up with a top coat? Do I need to go towards a closed mold and inject the resin into the cavity? That would be a pain.

Any ideas are much appreciated thank you!

Pretty much the only way to do it is with a matched mould, which can be your sheet of glass on top. The thing with infusion though, is you do need some form of flow media, otherwise you will get dry spots as you mentioned. This may not just be slightly lean and a bit pin-holed though, this could be sections that are totally 100% dry throughout the laminate, which obviously makes it junk.

The good news is that you are making cored panels, and so if you can change to a style of core that doubles as a flow media (so Soric, 3D PET core, cross-drilled and grooved foam, etc.) then it becomes quite straightforward and is for the most part the same as a regular infusion.

Thank you very much for taking the time to apply. I will try it with glass! Awesome videos by the way and the best aluminum through bag connectors around!