Making your own composite parts: looking for tips

[DonRotolo]

I would experiment with Balsa wood, since it can handle the curing temperatures, is stable and fairly light. Aircraft use it, as well as honeycomb aluminum - got a small airport nearby (of course you do!) - call the flight school and ask them what airplanes use as a core for prepreg, the'yy usually be happy to spend 15 minuts on the phone.

There are some high-temperature foams, but the weight savings (perhaps a few ounces) versus the costs (you don't want to know) might not be a good deal.

[tcj103]

Kevin: Thanks for heads up on the pricing, while the exact material is not technically available to the public, equivalent material is, and is priced fairly reasonably (for composite material) and is sold by the square foot. So even applying the rule you spoke of, which I'm also not sure is correct, since you can buy it by the square foot, then I think I'm OK on the pricing. Plus, I remember seeing at the NJ regional a team that used a fair amount of CF fabric, with a wet-layup arrangement, and they obviously got through inspections.

The general evolution of the rules at FIRST has been that more and more exotic materials have been allowed over the years. When I started with this in 2000, if it wasn't in the kit of parts, it had to be either on the approved materials list, or have come from Small Parts Inc. The approved materials list was pretty small also, pretty much wood, fiberglass, and aluminum or steel from the home stores was the limit.

I have also looked at Balsa, but that looks kind of expensive also, what would be perfect would be some kind of home insulation material that can take the temperatures needed for curing. I'm actually testing some stuff right now, we'll see how it turns out.

Ted