Posted by Frank H on June 19, 2003 at 20:54:33 from 209.216.165.25
In Reply to: Re: Lars -- More on copying the spoilers posted by Jeff C on June 19, 2003 at 20:13:03:
Well yes you do need an oven for vacuum bagging pre-preg. You can build a pretty cheap one in the garage for probably under $300 total. If I wanted to do the vacumm bag thing at work, I have access to a 16 foot tall x 4 feet sqare oven. (yes it's pretty damn big).
For me if I used a aluminum CNC'd tool I'd use one of several big presses (75 ton down force) w/heated platens to cure this type of part. Most pre-pregs need 60 psi to cure properly but there are some low pressure,low temp pre-pregs that you can use w/14 psi and 140 deg temps.
If you wanted to build this part in your garage you could just use 45 min room cure resin or if you wanted to get fancier you could build a RTM tool (120-140 deg cure temps) which would save you time on layup and have a much better finish consistancy, strength and lighter weight parts to boot.
Frank