Scratch Build – In Progress SSR-X: Update - Bottom Cover Fiberglass Part 2/De-Mold

De-Molding

Hello. Was sitting back today and it occurred to me that this could the largest mold made for a computer in this community!! I was getting nervous that the cover would not release out of the mold...wondering if something went out wrong in the wax and pva process...well....

This morning started out by flipping the mold over.



The mold was heavier than I expected. It was awkward in handling in it due to its size.

I started by knocking around on the wood base board around the mold. Than the wood started to release from the front of the mold.



The base board to a little effort though it peeled right off. I didn't know what to expect next. This is my first mold!! I was wondering if the texture from the base board was going to turn out horrible, though, it didn't. The flange area turned out just great. The base board was not ruined.

Below, I was left staring at the cover now inside the mold. Wondering how the heck am I going to exactly going to get that out. I knew so far that the Wax and the PVA were working like they are suppose too.





My plan was than to take a razor blade and carefully ease up the edge so I could get in there with some pliers. I knew that the cover would come apart in pieces due to its construction. There goes all that Hard Work!! Oh well, its worth it.





After ripping all the pieces out this is what the cover looked it. Now time to scrap!!



My co-worker built me a wooden frame to sit the mold on. I cleaned some of the PVA that was still on there and still have alot of work to do. I have to sand in a few places and patch a few places where the gelcoat crack. Yes, gelcoat can be repaired.







For my 1st mold, it came out good.

Here are some Molding tips that I have learned since De-molding:

• Double-Up on Gelcoat around corners and fragile edges
• PVA is your friend, Use alot of it!! Three coat worked great but I would go more, maybe up to 5.
• Putty was a good reinforcement, though, Fiberglass is the best. Lighter wieght and stronger
• Mix your Gelcoat, I had some place where the gelcoat was not mix good enough.

Now time to do the second mold and than Vacuum Resin Infusion!!

 

Mmmmmm melt a mountain of chocolate in there and then send to me for my advent calender ?

 

This is aweeeesome! Wowweeee!

 

mat0tam: hahaha!! Wait a sec...that gives me an idea!!

thanks

 

The Resin Trap

Happy New Year!! 2012 is going to be a great year in modding. I hope you all didn't think this build was dead Holidays in the US are tough to get materials out of suppliers, so the waiting game takes hold. In the meantime, instead of buying a pressure pot/resin trap, I decided to build one.

I went to Home Depot and bought some 4 inch PVC pipe with two ends that screwed in. The one ended I cemented in place and I cement the rest of the pipe sections together to leave what you see below.



I than got lucky cause I needed a gasket to make a secure seal when the top was screwed down. I venture down the faucet accessories aisle and found a 4 inch gasket that goes underneath your faucet.



I drilled, tap, telfon taped, screwed in some barb fitting 1/2" into the top cover.



I have already tested my pressure pot. I got get some pictures up. That will be later today.

 

Upholstry

You know, I was suppose to upload some more pics of the pressure pot and I didnt get around to it, cause I started working on the upholstery for SR-X.

So...before I order this carbon fiber and begin the Vacuum Resin Infusion, I have to make a template for covers that will be made out of carbon fiber. Last thing I want to do is be guessing on how to properly cut the carbon fiber only to screw up and have to throw away serious cash. The solution to this is quite simple, get cheap or free cloth and make a template out of that first.

As you will see below, my covers are not flat and are highly geometrical, so the way the carbon fiber is going to lay in there is tricky. I was wondering how to keep the fabric in the mold down and flat, than, I came up with using salt which we have a whole 55 gallon bucket of to do the trick.



This is my first try by the way, so I laid out the fabric and start placing in the salt. The corners are the trickest places to get the fabric to cooperate.



These corners were a devil. What happens is that as you lay in the fabric you are going to have wrinkles on the flange and in the mold side. To get these wrinkles out relief cuts have to be made, you will see in a second, so to make the fabric sit flat against the faces.



the whole mold filled with salt. The first go around didnt really pan out, Round Two.



Placed a new sheet of fabric across the mold, though, this time I began from the center and work outward. Placing in coffee cups full of salt at a time.



Got the middle down and where I want it to be.



Than poured along the front of the piece. See how the fabric is flat against the walls. The salt also helped to hold the fabric down, which was a big plus.





here is a Relief cut. This was wrinkle in the fabric due to the geometry so a cut had to be made. The fabric will overlap each other which is fine. I dont care about the flange, it will get cut-off and thrown away. Resin will still flow fine along these relief cuts.



I trimmed the excess fabric around the mold to get my basic template. Job Done.
Now just fold the fabric up and dump the salt out.



This piece is an excess piece that will be made in a flat carbon fiber panel and used to re-fabricate the frame of SR-X in carbon fiber. The tape measure next to it, is set at 8 feet sinse that will be the length of the table. I dont want to have carbon fiber just sitting around and since I will have alot extra why not make the entire frame out of carbon fiber. My pocket is feeling some pain right now........



Lastly here is my template for the bottom cover. It is 86 inches long by 36 inches wide. There will be 3 layers of carbon fiber with titanium foil in the middle of one of the layers. If you are wondering, that is alot of carbon fiber too.

 

Modders Note: It is going to be an interesting week. I just ordered the Carbon Fiber cloth. Hopefully, I have it by the mid-to end of this week. I don't know if I am going to do the infusion this weekend. I just don't like rushing into a first-time process. I'm in the hunt for some titanium foil, I have a great lead on some, though, trying to make this seller come thru is a little tricky. He has a whole roll and doesn't want to break it down, I'm going to try and convince him today too, though, if he doesn't I'll have to reassess whether to put Titanium into this build. I'm confident that a metal-matrix composite with titanium in it would work on the infusion level. The fact that it has never been tried before, or if it has, that the process in which a company does it is held a trademark secret. This just makes me severly eager to want to spend the money and just see what the outcome is like....decisions decisions.

 

Mold Pictures

Hello. I looked back at my log and saw I did not have a whole lot of mold pictures, so I took some this morning for the community.

I took the pictures from several angles and different lighting situations. I dont have the best environment for pictures nor is my camera a DSLR. I try to make due with the best I got. Hope you all like them, I am trying to get better at photography. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day.

 

Carbon Fiber Sneak Peek

Who's Ready!?

 

oh hey look, REAL carbon fiber... I like!

 

Carbon...


Nice. I would like to see this plane flying.

 

Now I just have to wait just to pick my jaw from the floor once again. And I just came from the dentist (no kidding!!). Bring it on man!!!!!!

 

not the laminate kinda

hahaha, wait......really!

Jus leave ure jaw on the floor cuz it will dropping again as I start the process I dont want to be responsible for breaking jaws

 

This is truly impressive.. Do you know how many hours you have used so far?

 

Thanks!!! hhhmm, probably around 300 hours and counting. There has been down time to wait for this part and that part since I started the build.

 

Be careful with trying to double up the Gelcoat in the corners, the heat when setting can cause even more damage to your mold / product

I have made a few molds before, good to see how its all coming out for you. You seem to be picking it up pretty quick.

 

Vacuum Resin Infusion of Carbon Fiber

Hello. It has been a long moment since my last Log. I have been busy working on the molds getting them prepared for the Vacuum Resin Infusion process. I was also waiting for materials to come into Ohio where I am located by shipment. Finally got the materials and the molds the way that I wanted them.

Vacuum Resin Infusion Tutorial

There are two methods to form carbon fiber from a fabric to a hard composite.

1. Vacuum Bagging: This process starts out with a mold. The CF is laid down onto the mold and covered with Resin by a brush or a roller. A Vacuum Bag is applied over the mold and a vacuum is induced thru a connection on the vacuum bag. During this process excess resin is pulled out and the feed line is clamped off after a certain point of time to let the Carbon Fiber to cure and dry.

This process is the traditional method used by most people. Due to its simplicity and more fool-proof method. The BIG down side is that the properties of carbon fiber is lost using this process. The excellent strength to weight ratio with be diminished. Resin will not be applied at evenly across the fabric either.

2. Vacuum Resin Infusion: This process starts out with a negative mold. Carbon Fiber is laid down into the mold and a Vacuum Bag is applied over the mold. In infusion there is an infeed line for Resin and outlet line that leads to the vacuum pump. They are placed usually on the opposite ends of the mold. A vacuum is induced and the resin infeed line is opened up. Resin with will drawn in by the vacuum and spread over the mold eventually leading its way to the outlet line.

Infusion can lead to completely perfect carbon fiber part. Every void in the carbon fiber fabric is filled with resin. This leads to excellent weight to strength ratio. Infusion is not highly used due to additional cost, complexity, and possibility for errors.

I utilized Vacuum Resin Infusion for SR-X because this process has not been done in the Computer Modding community. I wanted to do something challenging and brand new to community.

[SIZE="4"]Materials [/SIZE]


Double Sided Seal Tape


Infusion Connector




Tubing


Partall Wax or something similar can be used.


Infusion Resin: PTM-W is where i got my infusion resin. Cheapest too!


Vacuum Pump




Misc Stuff


Resin Trap




Carbon Fiber 3oz 2x2 twill


Green Flow Media


Scale

The last two items are vacuum bagging material and peel ply. You will see those during the process.

Infusion Set-Up and Process



You always wax or apply a release agent before you start your setup. I applied 8 coats of wax across the entire mold. I start by applying the double-sided seal tape.



This roll was 25 ft and I used up most of the roll. On corners I applied extra seal tape due to the pressure once the vacuum is applied. This helps so the seal tape doesnt come up.



This is an optional item. Due to the complex geometrical shape I used 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to keep the fabric laid down properly in the mold. You can get bridging which is when the carbon fiber is not sitting flat or properly into the corners of the mold, thereby, letting Resin pool under that spot.





First Layer





Second Layer

I took the Carbon Fiber and rolled it out across the mold. As I was rolling it out I was laying the carbon fiber into the mold. After reaching the other end of the mold I went around the mold and cut the excess carbon fiber off.



The third layer is fiberglass fabric. I was going to use titanium foil here, though, due to cost and availability I had to abandon that idea. I used fiberglass strip material because it would let me lay down the fiberglass better in the mold.







Fiberglass layer complete.





Fourth Layer.



After the final layer, I applied Peel-Ply. Peel Ply is usually a white nylon sheet material. Peel Ply is used in the process for after curing it lets you peel off the green flow media and tubing along with excess resin that can build up. I suggest that peel-ply shouldn't be applied in one continuous layer with a mold that is highly geometrical. Instead cut the peel ply into pieces and lay those pieces in the mold. This will help prevent Bridging from happening.



Green Flow media is next. Flow media is used to help distribute the resin properly across the mold. While you don't have to have one continuous layer I chose do so for the purpose of making sure the resin got to all parts of the mold. Some people only use flow media around the inlet and outlet in their infusion process.









After the green flow media, the Resin Infusion connectors and Spiral Wrap were laid down. Than the Vacuum Bag was than applied. The spiral wrap can be taped down onto the green flow media to keep it in place. The Vacuum Bag is always bigger than your mold/part by a sizeable amount. Pleats are added to help the Vacuum Bag dip into the mold and get into the corners. Slices are made into the bag over the connectors and the tubing is inserted and clamped off on the infeed ends.

Next up Infusion.

 

Infusion Cont'd

With the Vacuum Pump hooked up and a vacuum is pulled on the mold, I went around and checked for leaks around the seal tape. Pushing down pretty hard and working any leaks out of the seal tape is must. You cant actually hear the leaks, so just push down till you hear the sound stop.





The resin and hardener are weighed out. The mix ratio was 100-22. I mixed thoroughly and let the resin set for about 10 minutes to let it de-gas and so the air bubbles wouldn't travel in the mold.





I pulled a vac around 30hg and the temperature was around 80F in the room I was working in.





Here is the infusion taking place. These pictures are from an earlier process that failed.





I clamped off the infeed lines and left the vacuum pump running for 24 hours till the carbon fiber was done curing. Which is highly recommended when doing infusion. Also I kept the room between 70-80F so the resin would properly cure.

De-Molding

This is the fun part. With the carbon fiber now cured. I turned off the vacuum pump and started tearing away at the vac bag and underlying layers.













The process is real simple. Just rip of the vacuum bag and seal tape. Than find where you can peel the peel-ply and start pulling real hard and the peel-ply with come off the back of the carbon fiber part. Once this is all done just pop the carbon fiber part out of the mold.

Final Part: Top Cover

 

Hey! Noone told me this would be transformed into CarbonFiber!?

GO GO GO!

 

Resin Infusion : yumeeeee ! Nicely done. [I think you're the first here that use a resin infusion process for a case mod.]