The controller box has sat for a while so i had a good look tonight and im not too upset by it. It looks tight but manageable.
When its pulled together and glued, its going to fit and seal pretty well.
Finally got a clear day coming Wednesday, my fabrics arrived and its going to be the right temperature to do the epoxy. Im hoping to unearth my patience before then.
2 x layers 260gsm CF
1 x layer 860gsm qualaxial something or other sandwiched
Jeebuz the glass mat is thick…
I put the 1st layer of CF down
Then put the glass mat down
I kinda need to pause i think to trim, and sand so that the final layer of CF can be neat to the edge, its bot of a critical thing to finish at the same time as embedding the neon led into the edge.
This is my first time with fabrics and epoxy so hopefully i dont cock it up too badly, i do have lots of sandpaper but id prefer not to have to use it if it could be at all avoided.
The second batch of epoxy i mixed up for the glass layer went off in the cup… not sure how i got it wrong, the epoxy in the cup cracked after it had finished steaming… id already got enough onto the glass by then tho. Does it help if you keep stirring it?
The bigger the batch of epoxy you make the quicker it reacts and starts to heat up if left in a big container/cup.
There are also slow setting epoxy which makes things a little easier too.
I’ve used 2 brands and both were pretty different in terms of setting times as well as viscosity so your milage may vary.
@5urge pretty much nailed it. Mixing the 2 part epoxy creates an exothermic reaction that will be more extreme in a dense environment like a cup.
External heat will also speed up the process as well, so on a day like today, both the ambient temperature and the direct sunlight temperature will combine with the exothermic reaction and your epoxy will kick quite quickly.
There’s a bunch of different things you can do to combat the fast reaction.
Firstly, you can get slower cure hardeners. You’ll find that most ultra clear or uv stabilised hardeners are super slow cure.
Secondly, you can try to control the ambient temperature and conditions, so work in a cool room out of direct sunlight
Thirdly (or possibly even firstly, this one is easy and very effective), rather than keeping your mixed epoxy in a cup, pour it out onto a plate or another flat surface. This keeps the epoxy sparse and makes it difficult for the exothermic reaction to overcome the entire volume quickly.
Fourthly, i’ve never tried it because the first 3 have had me covered, but you could try cooling the epoxy in the fridge before use
Now that you mention that, im sure ive read that before from you… forgot sorry.
Using WS105 and 206 hardner
Having practiced… cough… on this piece
Im feeling confident enough to push on, the way the carbon has to finish on a knife edge is a killer. Nothing more sanding wont fix im sure. I got some dimond tipped jigsaw bits and started trimming the deck, pretty happy with the first 2 layers, no bubbles as such and im hoping that these little areas will be ok. It got too windy this afternoon and as im cutting outside, i didnt want let the dust blow everywhere. (Kids etc)
How do people deal with this glass/carbon epoxy dust at a home level? I can see me pulling out the rolls of black plastic again and making a “booth” cutting outside and hosing it into the ground is the best i could think of with what i have.
Yep cut outside. I usually spray the parts with water using a squirty bottle to reduce dust, or I have a shop vac sucking right where I’m cutting.
Helps to have a second person for that but please spare the kids🙏
The light sections you’ve shown on the close up look like they may have delaminated a bit while you were cutting, or may not have been fully wet out to start with… hopefully not an issue with such heavy glass tho.
I just cut outside and blow the dust away with a blower, my back yard is pretty big tho, plenty of space for the dust to disperse 
Also, you’re in the wrong thread!
Shit 
Ive still got to sand right back to apply the last carbon layer so ill be sure to give those areas a good look.
Can this be moved?
If you bribe @xsynatic with german midget ice cream porn, he may be able to move everything from post #161 onwards to your dreamonseed thread.
Worth noting that carbon fiber is conductive and it’s generally frowned upon to use it as a final layer anywhere where there is battery or electronics involved. Its a much safer bet to do the carbon and then a thin layer of fibreglass cloth to act as a bit of insulation.
Ice cream? He’s like the skinniest person here.
You’re on the outside of an in-joke here mate
You know where to send it
Testing of my first carbon fiber project (spanky) in prepping for the deck job went well… as promised @BillGordon, rather than rephrasing, i felt i should evidence the craftmanship.
I feel confident enough to attemp the job at hand now the practice piece survived stress testing.
Ngl, this raises more questions than it answers 
Oh shit, was it supposed to be photos of the carbon?
Im easily confused
Laid a second layer of the FG Mat yesterday amd im pretty happy with it, no bubbles and it wet nicely all the way to the edge.
Its just about perfect. Today ill trim it amd do another layer. So far it has.
1xCF layer (300gsm)
2xlayers FG (960gsm)
Is that all on one side? That’s fuckin heaps.
I would probably be pretty happy with one carbon and glass underneath and one glass on top with that weight glass
Yeah… normally sure but theres a fukn great hole in the deck
Yeah but you don’t need to add the weight all over. You could have done an extra layer or two of carbon around the hole if you were worried.
I put way too much glass into my frankendick build and its excessively heavy… not fun
