Made a flat panel the other day adding to my learning curve, comprising a 13 layer mix of 600g csm and wr with polyester infusion resin.
I stopped the infusion mesh about 30mm from the end of the laminate stack and there was a further 80mm or so of double thickness peel ply going to the suction tube, so plenty of brake to slow down the resin. 20 minute drop test and all seemed fine.
Started to infuse and soon noticed how the bag became loose/flabby and I assumed I had a vacuum problem but this wasn't so. (just read on the forum that this can be expected) When the resin eventually bled in to the peel ply by about 10mm I clamped off the hoses. It looked resin rich to me or at least fully wetted out.
Came back the following morning and the whole thing looked and felt dry. The mould side (glass top table) is shiny and there are no voids/pin holes or signs of leaks and seems perfectly ok but I feel the general appearance of the panel is wrong. Is this good or bad?
What should a polyester infused part look like with such low resin/fibre ratios compared to hand lay-up?
Should I have reduced the feed speed a bit by partial clamping the feed pipe to reduce the 'loose' bag effect?
Is the 'whiteness' just an effect of using emulsion binder csm?
Has the resin cured too quickly (about 1hr in this case) before it has a chance to fully wet out the csm?
Have I had a small undetected leak, so need to get a digital gauge as the dial I have is not sensitive enough?
Pic - infused
Pic - peel ply removed
Pic - mould side
Pic - trimmed edge
Pic - panel view (patches are surface dust)
