Hi there guys,
Just a quick question.
Im going through getting the materials together for building my first compsand balsa board and was wondering bout the vent.
I have never put a vent in before and was wondering firstly where i would get some(preferbly in oz), or do i need to make one up using that gore-tex stuff? Secondly, they are installed after the board has been shaped and glassed right?
Thanks all
hey moonfish.
im the same as you. first board and all. i think ill just get an engineer to spin one up from stainless or brass. its too easy for these guys. let them know what you want and they’ll do it in no time with minimal charge, and it will look great too.
one thing i can say. drill the hole for it in your board before you glass it. the pressure will have somewhere to come out and you will get less bubbles coming through the timber and resin. nothing worse than those damn bubbles. this will minumise them heaps…
Hey Guys,
I was in the same predicament once. I had to fabricate the vent plug and some footstrap
plugs for a sailboard.
You can make a mechanical (active) vent plug by getting a nylon plastic bolt from BBC hardware
or the like. I’ve even taken a Nylon hex bolt and milled it into a ‘cheese head’ screw by putting
the bolt into a drill and taking a file to it.
Then coat the bolt with automotive paste wax, using a couple of coats.
I drilled a hole into the board and set the plastic bolt in the center of the hole. I put a bunch of
masking tape to cover the hole AND bolt. The tape acts to hold the bolt, and to keep epoxy from
leaking all over the place. Tape was flush with the deck.
Then,
Peel the tape WITH the bolt stuck to it. I pour a mixture of epoxy and microballoons (thick mixture,
pretty gluggy) into the hole, not quite full to allow room for the bolt without overflow.
Carefully place the tape/bolt assembly back into place. Seal tape well.
Once everything looks right, FLIP the board upside-down and let the mixture kick off.
After the epoxy is fully reacted, just unscrew the coated bolt and there you have it.
*If you forget to wax the bolt, you will be hating life…
Look at the pic of the vent bolt below for reference. Scroll all the way down to part R62-5152
on this website (not affiliated):
http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/Product_Catalog/SurfSailcom/surfsailcom.html
Note the O-ring which is an essential part of the device. The bolt head (actually screw head)
is “cheese head” style, not a hex bolt… …you can even put a groove in the bolt to let the
air escape, just be sure your Ring-piece still seals flat! ha hah.
You can fab a ‘Gortex’ passive vent as well which should be about as straight-forward.
Sweet guys, thats great help. Its funny what gets ya huh. always wanna try get every step as good as i can and when you get people’s input it helps your own ideas to flow too.
cheers
i made a few as well in a little mold
you can get stainless screws like what plus one showed and o rings from supacheap auto
the windsurfer dudes will have them and they are prety cheap
Look for a post on vents by Benny ?
A few easy tips in there
Cheers
Mooneemick
Yeah i had a look at benny’s post, and bert’s, the mould would
be a good idea with the screws from supacheap as a start. (thanks for that silly) I also was doing some digging on the gore-tex website and found a supplier in NSW who will get me some vents too try. I figured i would have a countersunk mould
for these vents cos they do unfortunately sit quite proud. heres the link for the ones i have ordered. have a read let me know ya thoughts. (Its a pdf bout 800kb)
http://www.gore.com/MungoBlobs/948/237/protective_vents_M12x1.pdf
see ya
I have some in the “for sale” section.
Hi Pete, i managed to get some from a supplier here. Thanks for your post though.
