Hi everybody!

Hey Zek,

I cant answer everything but here's what I can do:

1: What is the difference between Easylease release and PVA?  Easylease agent is a semi permanent wax, while pva is Poly Vinylic Alcohol is not in the waxes family.

6: How do I seal the edges of a sandwich? Concerned about moisture and fraying. i would use that stuff from EC: https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/black-epoxy-repair-filler You can sand it and polish it to a very decent gloss. Be carefull Its not JET black as advertised it s more a dark gray, UNLESS THE ONE I GOT IS FROM A BAD RUN. Ask EC guys if you want real true black color.  And if its not enough for you, after that filler, you can still spray a 2k laquer to protect it all more from moisture (and UV if your part is exposed to sun). 

7: If I have to complete pieces of CF, cured and all, how do i best join them together? What should i use?
You should describe what are your parts and what they will do, so we could more easily try to figure it. A pic or a drawing woudl help.

8: If i want to mount for ex. an aluminium bracket but i can´t drill, what method would be best?

First thought is bonding it with epoxy but I never tried and dunno if it would stick to aluminium. Also depends what your part is gonna see as constraints. Once again a pic or drawing would help.


9: I see in all the videos that you polish by hand, could i use a machine with a soft polishing head? If your talking about polishing the wax, I dont think its a good idea to use air/electric tool, it would likely melt the wax or damage the coats in a way or another. If you're talking about polishing your master part or mold, yeah you could use air/electric tool, as long as they're made to polish. Usually regular grinders on which you could fit a soft pad turn too fast and its not good, on some "thin" molds or thin master parts (i.e. fender, door, ...)... overheating and then warping could occur. i use a little air polisher that runs at about 1000 rpm maximum, and use a regulator to set the speed i think is best. Be carefull with the side of your polishing pad, because the edges (not padded with whool) could hurt your mold / master part.


10: What are the recommended room temperatures to work in? When is to hot/ cold? Usually between 15 and 25°C. Depending temperature and the size of your part, you can also vary the hardener speed (CE sells slow and fast epoxy hardener for example) to be sure the resin will not gel before you're done. Resin cure time will greatly be affected by temperature. A general rule is not to work in a less than 15-16°C environment. Better working in hotter places with slower hardeners. If you have to store you resins in cold areas, like in your garage, grab them a few hours before you know you will work and bring them in your living room, supposed to be at about 20°C. The resin will then be "thinner" and it will help it optimise wetout and bubble chasing.

I hope I helped a bit.

Cheers from Belgium.

 



 


    A $1000 electronic device will always protect a 10 cents fuse

Thanks for the answers!

Hi Zach,

Joe has done a fantastic job of answering the questions that he has.

Q1. answer - As joe had stated chemically they are very different, In practice, on a good tool surface (non porous and polished) the Easylease should provide much better release properties, especially at elevated temperatures where other systems will often fail. We generally use wax and or PVA for one-off work or for making patterns/moulds from masters made from unusual materials.

Q2. answer - While there are restrictions to transport of dangerous goods, there is no problem or surcharge to shipping any of our products by sea/road to 90% of Europe, All dangerous goods are declared, packed, and carried in accordance with international law. Our website will provide accurate costs for this before check-out. The standard service is 2-5 days depending upon where you are based. For express services or orders outside of Europe there is a surcharge as the goods must be carried on a plane, packing, quantities and documentation is much more strict but we are still happy to do this, allowing us to get our materials virtually anywhere in the world. Again our website will provide all the options available for your country. 

Q3. answer - The mould cleaner is a blend of solvents, each solvent in the blend has it's own purpose for clearing specific types of contaminant such as oil, wax, silicone, etc. none of the solvents are aggressive to any cure resin system. We find it to be better than any single solvent, but obviously you could experiment with different things to see what works... (it can be difficult to tell though!)

Q4. answer - Yes the British VAT rate at the moment is 20%

Q5. answer - Yes you can speed up the cure by placing it in an oven, around 50deg C is as high as I would recommend initially, once the part has initially cured you can then boost the temperature up further to complete the 'post-cure' as found in the tech data sheet for the resin you are using.

Q6. answer - As Joe said, now the filler is more black, we have increased pigmentation to counter the graphite colouring.

Q7 & 8. answer - For bonding composites together (or to other plastics) I would recommend a polyurethane structural adhesive, for bonding to metals the epoxy adhesives will work the best. Adhesive Range

Q9 & 10. answer - once again Joe was spot-on with his advice.

Paul Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical

Thanks to both Jpe and Paul!

And I´m back....

Hey Zach,

You have different types of tubes / rods.

1). Pulltrude rods. Its a finished product. See the pic for the process.

2). Pulltrude tubes. Same as 1).

3). Roll wraped tubes. Finished product too, but different process. You litteraly wrap fiber around a mandrel.

4). Tube cloth.  You have to work it as you would with regular cloth.

So for example if you want to make a cone out of carbon fiber, you could use the tube cloth EC sells and wet it with resin.

Hope it helped u understand. Cheers from rainy Belgium

 



 


    A $1000 electronic device will always protect a 10 cents fuse

Ok, i gets a bit clearer!