Subject: [harryproa] Re: Interesting kickstarter project |
From: Mike Crawford |
Date: 10/2/2013, 10:55 AM |
To: harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au |
Reply-to: harryproa@yahoogroups.com.au |
Jerry and Gardner,
If you're looking for a carbon tube or mast section with a zero
degree orientation on the main fibers, and aren't sure about
building it yourself, I highly recommend Forte Carbon Spars.
I used them for a carbon mast, boom, and bowsprit on a Pearson
Ensign I'm renovating, and I couldn't be happier with their work.
Friendly, professional, helpful, and the cost came to just about the
same figure I was quoted for a bird's mouth construction spruce
mast. (note: the apples-to-apples price was for a black spar without
hardware, not the fancy faux-spruce painted spare shown in the
photos in the link below)
http://www.nuomo.com/mast/
More important is Forte's technology:
http://fortecarbon.com/technology/
They have a zero degree orientation on the main fibers that allows
them to have continuous fibers through the entire length of the
mast. I've been on the shop floor, watching their machine in action
as it weaves the fibers and saturates them with epoxy at the same
time. Very cool. Then the spar gets vacuum bagged and baked to
ensure everything is tight.
The problem with continuous-wound masts, other than the fact that
the fibers aren't at zero degrees, is that there's an effective
length limit for many manufacturers of about 30 to 40 feet. After
that the mandrel bends too much as it's rotating under tension. So
longer spars actually get made by joining two smaller spars. Even
if Forte's process were not as good as a continuous wind, I'd still
rather have a single spar rather that two joined sections.
It's worth pondering at least. Or, getting a quote if you're
thinking about building. Forte also does carbon tubes for other
industries.
- Mike
That is really cool. I thought for masts though you wanted an almost 0 degree orientation for most of it with a wound layer for hoop strength. Still I can think of lot of other things that machine could be used for.
Jerry Barth
Hi,
I thought this http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1157143472/x-winder-the-worlds-first-desktop-filament-winder was something relevant to this group. It is a carbon fiber filament winder. The largest model they are talking about is a 6" diameter and 8' long, but I wondered if it might be possible to join the lengths together.
I was hoping that someone more knowledgeable than me (which would be all of you! <grin>) might contribute their thoughts.
- Gardner