On the floor panels are hard to get level as they need to be lifted to fit spacers. Also hard to make them airtight, so the bag has to go all the way round the panel (not a big deal, but can't find any pin holes in the underneath bag which is probably damaged by the floor. I would only use the floor for hand laid panels, and would expect to have a sore back and be disappointed with the result if there were more than one sheet of core.
Tables are pretty easy to make. Use 6m or longer pieces of rectangular alloy or steel (100 x 25/4" x 1") on saw horses and lay the panels on these. Hire/buy a laser level to take all the hassle out of the levelling process and shim on the saw horses the lay the panels on top. Use flash tape to seal the panels and accept that there will be some finishing of the panel. MDF edges are always a little proud so unless you sand the whole table, there will be a small hollow on the panel anyway.
Use liquid release wax, it is far easier to apply than solid wax.
After you make your panels, you have a great workbench/storage space.
Even for just one boat it is probably worth making a laminating surface using however many boards of melamine faced chipboard are needed for your largest panel. These can be laid on the floor and shimmed with cardboard etc to get the surface flat. Having the table at workbench or counter height will reduce back strain, but makes no other difference to producing the product.Unless your floor is very flat and smooth you would not get a good finish directly off it.Cheers,PeterSent: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 2:15 PMSubject: Re: [harryproa] Flat lay-ups - vacuuming
Hi Rob, Doug, et al,I've always been enamored with the infusion method due to its speed to fabricate, cleanliness and particularly its strength superiority. My only trouble for my more one-off mentality has always been building the tables. I must have had a mental block, but it never crossed my mind about JUST using the floor. In your case building tables is a no-brainer... you can easily justify it over the life of many projects. But for us that have only one big boat in us... what troubles would you expect doing it on the concrete floor?Dennis
From: Rob Denney <harryproa@gmail.com>
To: harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au
Sent: Mon, May 16, 2011 2:51:19 AM
Subject: Re: [harryproa] Flat lay-ups - vacuuming
Suction until it gels, a couple of hours or so depending on gel time. Longish cure time resin (40 minutes), heating not necessary, but it definitely gets stiffer during the few days after infusing, which makes bending and shaping easier. 7 kgs at a time works well with no exotherm.
Concrete floor works well, one side at a time, as long as it is, or can be made, level, flat and smooth. Not sure I would infuse on it though.
rob
On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 2:14 PM, Doug Haines <doha720@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
From: Rob Denney <harryproa@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [harryproa] BJ's Flat Panel Harry
To: harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au
Date: Monday, 16 May, 2011, 10:35
Takes one guy a day or so to set up, depending on how large/complex the panel is, couple of hours to infuse (includes setting up and testing the vacuum), overnight to cure and another day to clean up the table, trim the panel, remove the lines, bleeder and peel ply and polish the table for next time. Probably less than a week, but better to err on the expensive side when doing a general pricing.
Actual suck time is 40 minutes. Comparing this to hand layup and bag time for a 16m x 4m job, with all the complex tow and laminate orientations possible with an infusion, never ceases to make me smile.
rob
On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 1:28 AM, Doug Haines <doha720@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
Rob,
How do you mean that the panel infusing takes a week?
What takes so long to do on that?
The actual resin will suck in in a few hours and then set over the next 12 hours?
Doug
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