Re: Cheap mastsMessage
Glass is so elastic that if you didn't use some unidirectional
reinforcement it would probably act like a big wet noodle! But
unidirectional reinforcement is available, so I should think this would
work. Somewhere on the web is a little page about a composite mast made
at home, but I don't remember where. Perhaps it would even be practical
to use carbon, but now you may be talking too much money, I don't know.
I can say that in general woven cloth isn't very stiff compared to the
unidirectional stuff. And even with the uni stuff if there's some kind
of cross stitching it can make the layup much floppier. You still need
some fibers running around the mast to hold it's cross sectional shape
and to protect the inner fibers at the partners, etc. (I know of a
carbon reinforced mast that went down because it wasn't protected
there.) For these purposes I think maybe bidirectional or woven might be
acceptable. I guess what I'm saying is I'm sure if someone did their
homework this would be a good way to go. Might not even be harder to do
except for the design part. (Caveat: the only thing like this I've
actually made like this is a carbon tailboom for a model plane, though I
have been around boats and other composite things being laid up.)
reinforcement it would probably act like a big wet noodle! But
unidirectional reinforcement is available, so I should think this would
work. Somewhere on the web is a little page about a composite mast made
at home, but I don't remember where. Perhaps it would even be practical
to use carbon, but now you may be talking too much money, I don't know.
I can say that in general woven cloth isn't very stiff compared to the
unidirectional stuff. And even with the uni stuff if there's some kind
of cross stitching it can make the layup much floppier. You still need
some fibers running around the mast to hold it's cross sectional shape
and to protect the inner fibers at the partners, etc. (I know of a
carbon reinforced mast that went down because it wasn't protected
there.) For these purposes I think maybe bidirectional or woven might be
acceptable. I guess what I'm saying is I'm sure if someone did their
homework this would be a good way to go. Might not even be harder to do
except for the design part. (Caveat: the only thing like this I've
actually made like this is a carbon tailboom for a model plane, though I
have been around boats and other composite things being laid up.)
>Pat wrote:
>snip
>Has anybody tried making a "Glass Mast" by spiral wrapping glass tape
>around a suitably sized and shaped core?
>Or, just spiral wrapping a "Cheap Wood" mast, with glass, to give it
>additional stength?
>
>Pat
>
I just posted this on the Michalak group but pertains to this thread too.
********************
My first mast for the Frolic2 was one of those projects that no matter how
much I planed, sanded, and cursed, it never looked round. Long story short
is that I ended up with a mast entirely too small so I wrapped it full
length in a spiral with 3", 9oz glass tape, edge to edge with no overlap and
epoxied it all in place. After sanding you'd never know it by looking at
it.
The first time out we had a good wind and I watched the mast flex over 3
feet at the top without snapping. Scared me enough to cut a new mast but it
was unbelievable how much it could bend. Talk about changing the handling
characteristics of a boat when the sail moves 3' off center! LOL
Jeff
********************
My first mast for the Frolic2 was one of those projects that no matter how
much I planed, sanded, and cursed, it never looked round. Long story short
is that I ended up with a mast entirely too small so I wrapped it full
length in a spiral with 3", 9oz glass tape, edge to edge with no overlap and
epoxied it all in place. After sanding you'd never know it by looking at
it.
The first time out we had a good wind and I watched the mast flex over 3
feet at the top without snapping. Scared me enough to cut a new mast but it
was unbelievable how much it could bend. Talk about changing the handling
characteristics of a boat when the sail moves 3' off center! LOL
Jeff
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lincoln Ross" <lincolnr@...>
To: <pateson@...>; <bolger@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2003 10:52 AM
Subject: [bolger] Re: Cheap mastsMessage
> Glass is so elastic that if you didn't use some unidirectional
> reinforcement it would probably act like a big wet noodle! But
> unidirectional reinforcement is available, so I should think this would
> work. Somewhere on the web is a little page about a composite mast made
> at home, but I don't remember where. Perhaps it would even be practical
> to use carbon, but now you may be talking too much money, I don't know.
> I can say that in general woven cloth isn't very stiff compared to the
> unidirectional stuff. And even with the uni stuff if there's some kind
> of cross stitching it can make the layup much floppier. You still need
> some fibers running around the mast to hold it's cross sectional shape
> and to protect the inner fibers at the partners, etc. (I know of a
> carbon reinforced mast that went down because it wasn't protected
> there.) For these purposes I think maybe bidirectional or woven might be
> acceptable. I guess what I'm saying is I'm sure if someone did their
> homework this would be a good way to go. Might not even be harder to do
> except for the design part. (Caveat: the only thing like this I've
> actually made like this is a carbon tailboom for a model plane, though I
> have been around boats and other composite things being laid up.)
>
> >Pat wrote:
> >snip
> >Has anybody tried making a "Glass Mast" by spiral wrapping glass tape
> >around a suitably sized and shaped core?
> >Or, just spiral wrapping a "Cheap Wood" mast, with glass, to give it
> >additional stength?
> >
> >Pat
> >
>
>
>
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