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Unread 15-01-2008, 15:47
Capt. Quirk Capt. Quirk is offline
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AKA: Bill Mazzacane
FRC #1704 (Robotic Steelers)
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Rookie Year: 2007
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Capt. Quirk will become famous soon enoughCapt. Quirk will become famous soon enough
Re: Is Kevlar Honeycomb allowed?

For small amounts I depend on Aircraft Spruce. Our shop is in Corona, CA. and within a couple miles of their wherehouse, but they ship everywhere and have an Eastcoast wherehouse too.

When I have time to wait for products like S-glass, I use Thayercraft ind. I found them on Ebay and prefer dealing with them, instead of local resources.

Products like Kevlar and Carbon Fiber Tow or Cloth, I prefer to wait for on ebay because most of those vendors are selling Carbon products that have expired their shelf life and are no longer suitable for aerospace manufacturing. Once the expiration date has been reached, it's value drops dramatically. I have no idea how this works out in the rules, but composites that have exceeded their shelf-life, are basicly scrap and are sold as such.

Until the middle of 07', many of the composites were in short supply because of Iraq. Before that time Carbon and Kevlar prices were sky-high, If you could find it at all.

Aircraft Spruce
(my guess is most people already know about Aircraft Spruce)

Aircraft Spruce-Ebay outlet

Thayercraft

I'll post more sites after I visit our shop today.

Also there are work arounds for composite materials, like the end grain Balsa and with good assembly techniques and the use of heat (this time of year is a must) and/or perferated plastic sheets between your Peel-ply and Breather Cloth, you can minimize the amount extra weight gains from the epoxy resins and prevent "Bleed-outs" into the Breather-Cloth that sacrifices strength.

Last edited by Capt. Quirk : 15-01-2008 at 15:58.