Moulding weight opinions saught

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Moulding weight opinions saught

http://www.talkcomposites.com/Topic11803.aspx

By FLD - 6/13/2014 1:25:13 PM

I'm just looking into making a few parts (in my usual sloooow pace) and I'm considering core materials. I appreciate the convenience of soric however I'm looking for your opinions on ultimate weight minimisation. I cant really use honeycombs as I have a single mould so please restrict it to common cores. I'm looking for a comparison between thinks like soric, balsa, foam etc as to what is ultimately the lightest moulding. I appreciate the extra labour with foam of infuse/bond/infuse but its just for myself. My suspiscion is it will be foam, soric, balsa in order but I'm happy to be corrected.

Thanks y'all

By wozza - 6/15/2014 8:30:57 PM

FLD (15/06/2014)

Thanks Warren. That was my original thought I just thought I'd ask to see if there was a lighter option.

If time is not an issue you can actually form closed cell foam into some fairly complex shapes with careful use of a heat gun and neat cutting and trimming. trim it roughly to size, heat it, clamp into position and leave to cool. The foam will then hold that shape. You then have to make up individual pieces and mark them so you can reposition them during lay up, a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. Very time consuming but actually quite satisfying as you end up with a very strong yet extremely light panel.

Warren