If I were to use 6.4mm (1/4) Aluminium Honeycomb as a sandwich layer for stiffness...between CF and lets say diolen, kevlar, csm, building the proper layers for motorcycle fairing thickness, hand laying it, the first time.

Would I have to do anything special with the honeycomb material or just lay it and brush the resin on it....

Hi Twista,

Aluminium honeycomb (or to an extent any honeycomb) does actually require a little more planning and attention that just laminating it all together. Generally, you need to laminate and cure the skins (the inside and outside) first and then bond them to the core in a separate operation. Using an epoxy laminating resin as the bond between the skins and the honeycomb is possible but you'll get better results from using a dedicated adhesive; ideally a honeycomb bonding adhesive. The advantages that structural adhesives have over a laminating resin is a higher bond strength, higher flexural strength and normally a small gap filling capability - all of which make for a better bond between the skins and honeycomb. Making the skins first and then bonding them to the core ensures that the reinforcement won't sag into the cells of the honeycomb, keeping the fibres straighter and thus improving the rigidity of the panels.

Aluminium Honeycomb
Honeycomb Bonding Adhesive

If you do want to laminate everything together in one then I would recommend having an a male and female mould that can be pressed together with the laminate and the honeycomb inside.

--Matt

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales