Carbon Fiber Hood??

pjsrider

pjsrider

PJS VIPER RIDER
Location
Central Florida
I am looking at making a carbon fiber hood for my ski, but I dont know how much cloth to get. Does anyone know how many layers of say 6oz cloth should I need make a hood that withstand freestyle? I am going to vaccum bag it and everything to keep the weight down. Does anyone know how thick about 3 layers is when it is vaccum baged? Any help would be great.

Thanks
Jay
 
pjsrider

pjsrider

PJS VIPER RIDER
Location
Central Florida
Yeah I was sure 3 layers wasnt very think, but I figured maybe someone had done a small project not related to a ski that could maybe tell me a thinkness. It is for my viper. I have some pretty bad cracks coming in where the handle pole lands after I bail. I have a new hood that has never been cut for the air holes or hood latches so I can make a mold really quick.

Jay
 
pjsrider

pjsrider

PJS VIPER RIDER
Location
Central Florida
I have actually never worked with composites, so I might be biting off more than I can chew, but hey it it looks like crap then I'll slap some paint on it. The viper skis have a different mount than a kawi 550. The kawi's sat on top of the hull while the pjs has more of a superjet style that sits in an indention in front of the hood. Mine was craking badly, but I went in and reinforced it with epoxy resin and s-glass. So far so good, but it only has about 3 rides on it, with no monster wave jumps yet.

Jay
 
Jr.

Jr.

Standing Tall
Staff member
Site Supporter
Location
Hot-Lanta
A better choice for advice would be, Bobby from Trinity composites, or Steve from WaterCraft Factory
Both are from Fla, & have a ton of experience between them.
 
pjsrider

pjsrider

PJS VIPER RIDER
Location
Central Florida
I will definantly call around and see If they will let me pick their brains. I just dont want to call and be like uhhh can you tell me how many layers are in your hoods and what weight cloth you are useing? They would be like were not going to tell you that because you could be copying our product. As long as I explain that I will only be making one for a boat that is no longer made then maybe they will help me. Most jetski people are pretty cool and helpful. As to the vaccume baging experience. I have no experience with it, but there is quite a bit of information online about it. I will definantly be doing something small before I jump right into the hood.

Jay
 
Q

QJS

X-
Location
GONE
We posted some pics of vacuum bagging a hood a while back, if you search Air Time Products then look in custom skis you will find some useful info and pictures.
Chris.
 
pjsrider

pjsrider

PJS VIPER RIDER
Location
Central Florida
Thanks OJS.. I used the search here on the forum and nothing comes up for Air Time Products. I also googled it and didnt see anything jetski related. Should I search for something else?

Thanks
Jay
 
I

imjaredandstuff

http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=660756

The guy who made this thread, had never previously worked with carbon fiber either and this thread details how he duplicated/is duplicating every body part of his mustang in carbon fiber for weight savings. It's a very long read, because of all the posts, but he answers A LOT of questions on how he did everything. For his first time working with carbon fiber, he did one helluva job as you will see from the pics he posted.

Hope that helps.
 
MADMAT

MADMAT

Location
Ohio
imjaredandstuff said:
http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=660756

The guy who made this thread, had never previously worked with carbon fiber either and this thread details how he duplicated/is duplicating every body part of his mustang in carbon fiber for weight savings. It's a very long read, because of all the posts, but he answers A LOT of questions on how he did everything. For his first time working with carbon fiber, he did one helluva job as you will see from the pics he posted.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

HOLY CRAP!!!!:bigeyes: :bigeyes: :bigeyes:
 
pjsrider

pjsrider

PJS VIPER RIDER
Location
Central Florida
OJS. I see the link to air time products in your avatar. You use prepreg construction. I am going to use hand layup with a vacuum bag. If you dont mind me asking how many layers did you use? I assume that your hood will hand freestyle stress correct?

Thanks
Jay
 
Q

QJS

X-
Location
GONE
Hi Jay
Yes our hoods are made for Freestyle and yes they can handle it. :)
I'm not about to give away our laminiating schedual, however I will say that the use of core material is an important part of any structural Carbon Composite that has weight loss in mind. You did ask what the thickness of Carbon was, ours is measured differently to yours so you will have to work it out but 200g Carbon is approx 0.2mm thick. Just work out how thick you want it, this will then help determine the number of layers.
If you have never done Vacuum Bagging before you will need to buy alot of consumables i.e Sealent tape, release film, breather, Flash tape, bagging material, vacuum fitting for the bag not to mention vacuum pump.
Your mold also needs to be very high quality if there are any voids close to the surface you can be sure the pressure will find them. If you choose to bag on the flange you need to make sure the mold can take it.
You have chosen a very difficult first project, good luck and post your progress.
Regards
Chris
 
Flash-FX

Flash-FX

No Square..No Round..FX-1
Location
South Jersey Shore
PJSRIDER, check out my build (FX-1 Bottom replacement) way back on page 6 of the Ski buildups thread. I basically covered the material you want to do.

For your hood material thickness, do some test layups on a piece of rain-x treated glass. Also a good place to start/practice with the bagging process.

Good Luck....Post your progress. It's needed here.:cheer:
 
pjsrider

pjsrider

PJS VIPER RIDER
Location
Central Florida
QJS, Thanks for the info. I wasnt trying to get your manufacturing process, only an idea of how much cloth I will need. After I get the carbon fiber it will be no big deal to test and see how many layers I need, but I dont know how big a piece of carbon to order due to an unknown amount of layers. QJS, I do want to make it clear that I was NOT trying to bully my way into your line of hoods, but only looking for a formula kind of deal. If I order a peice of carbon that is .023 thick(Totally random number) can I assume that two layers of this would come out to about .046? I know that there will be some resin in between the two layers, is its thickness so thin that it wont affect the total thickness? I reckon I will just need to order a small chunk and do a little thickness testing. I wont be able to start at all until about a month from now because I have exams coming up, so I have to keep my mind on college for a little while longer.

Thanks again
Jay
 
pjsrider

pjsrider

PJS VIPER RIDER
Location
Central Florida
Flash-FX said:
PJSRIDER, check out my build (FX-1 Bottom replacement) way back on page 6 of the Ski buildups thread. I basically covered the material you want to do.

For your hood material thickness, do some test layups on a piece of rain-x treated glass. Also a good place to start/practice with the bagging process.

Good Luck....Post your progress. It's needed here.:cheer:
Click to expand...

Do you mind if I ask you some questions? The next step after the hood is a carbon hull, so you are going to be my best bet to make it happen. Your thread is awesome!

Jay
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom