Such kind words. I'm touched. Thank you all!
Some composites updates....
I totally pooched dash attempt #1. The infusion failed. It only wet out about 15% of the total part. I made a careless mistake with my process stack and it impeded flow significantly. Failed to realize until it was too late...
So this left me with the a couple options...
1. Pop the failed part, as is, and throw it away, then try again.
or
2. Attempt to wet out the laminate, by hand, to test the mold and see if the geometry works.
I picked the latter. Instead of just throwing the carbon away, I decided to turn it into a tool instead.
Since the original plug was destroyed making this mold, the failed part will become a new master plug. Should a seriously catastrophic failure occur, I'm not out both the mold, AND the plug too. This is a checkpoint, if you will.
So here it is.
I've won the chance to play again! hah!
Bask in its glory. Bask damn you.
:rofl:
My findings.
-The mold does NOT have to be destroyed to pop the part. That's HUGE. You just need to get a little creative - that's all I will say about that. haha.
-The twill for the most part was very acceptable. I now know where to be more careful on the next layup.
-The extremely resin rich laminate weighs 4 pounds. This means the actual good, infused, part will weigh in at around 3 pounds or so, and will be significantly stronger than this part, which happens to already be stronger than the OEM. Awesome.
So in conclusion, the mold survived, and I now have a new replacement plug shape to tweak as I attempt to try again this upcoming week.
Not the result I had hoped for, but I made it an educational experience in spite.
Seeing bits of potential in the failed laminate makes me realize how cool this is going to look, once completed.
I've tasted the sacred waters; No way I'm backing out now.
This post was edited by OldAndyAndTheSea on Oct 23 2015 04:18pm