Can someone tell me how to make and properly use a wet out table? Do you wet out each separate layer of cloth one at a time or do both together and lay out? I’m just trying to reduce the weight of the finished board and trying waste less epoxy. Mahalo
Lots of composite shops here.
In a production environment guys work by the piece, not the hour, So you see minimal material handling and more material waste. The more you handle the more time, material distortion and fuss.
Smaller shops pre-dress, presize/recycle the drop, but custom composite boards are $2400,Lots of patches and inserts schedules, processes and waste…ankle deep.
If you’re pressed for space, roll up the glass on 4’’ tube,use a 24X36 ply table, sheet plastic covered, spread some glue and roll your glass wrapped tube thru the puddle, works best with open weave cloth.
Wheel cutters are best on glass or heal mat; on plywood or hollow core door, after multiple scores there’s debris issues. Nothing beats clean sharp shears for production wet work.
Ultimately, your trying to simplfy, using the minimal materials, tools and proceedures…reductive clarity, not rewind.
The rotary cutters work great.I’ve used them to cut veneer,balsa skins,1/8" divinycell foam,and all of the above combined with a layer of 4oz glass. I like to cover my wetout table with the 3’ wide roll of brown paper from home depot.Its nice and thick so the resin doesn’t soak through,its ridgid enough which is nice if you need to move the wetout product.Biodegradable too.
That video was nuts. That was not what I expected. And I had no idea that anyone would cut the cloth to size after it was soaked in resin. Thanks for enlightening me.
The stars have aligned!
A two person double post with alternating phase!
a tempered glass coffee table works killer for this and many apps.
herb
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a tempered glass coffee table works killer for this and many apps.
herb
Be careful with your choice of construction plastic. Some of the heavier weights are coated in oil, which may contaminate your epoxy/ fisheyes and such.
Now to get real clever, you can also use a wheel cutter
and cut your cloths to size on the table.
And even more clever, if Cerex Nylon is in your schedule, and you cut it out, you get zero loose strands, because the cerex is non woven, and holds it all together. You can even draw your template right on the nylon, because since it is non woven, it doesn’t want to distort like a loosely woven cloth does.
I have a 5/8 sheet of partical board that use. It’s a half sheet of 4’x8’. Other half went into the adjustable rocker table. I use it for cutting deck pad, bamboo veneer, anything.
When I need to use resin on it I just wrap construction plastic, visqueen sp.? on it and staple it down on one side. Super cheap and comes in various mils of thickness. When I’m done I just rip off the plastic and throw it away. So one side of the board is clean and the other is covered in staples, not really worth my time to pull them off one by one.
I’m assuming your going to bag the board. To minimize epoxy use and to get an adequate resin to cloth ratio you should be laying out all your cloth at one time and saturating them with resin. Also depending on your hardener you need to be time efficient when bagging.
Another way is to pass on the table and use a coffee can. I’ve seen this done on windsurf boards and have tried it myself with heavier cloths like stitched 12 oz. You cut your cloth to size and fold it up to fit in the can, pour your resin into the can and knead the air out of the material. It tends to separate some of the weave but if your painting over the finished product and cloth cosmetics aren’t a concern, it can be a quick space efficient method of wetting out your cloth.
A sheet of smooth plywood, covered in plastic works. Mine is covered in tempered glass, salvaged from a construction job.
How you use it is up to you. Saturate lower layers, and add more cloth, or wet it out all at once. What’s key is removing all extra epoxy. Then using a vacuum bag to squeeze down the lamination to the foam core, and squeezing out the epoxy from the lamination into the blank.
I keep saying this, but don’t ruin a whole board on your first attempt. Make some 6" samples, and vacuum them in ziplock gallon size freezer bags. Get **your **ratios down so you get a fully saturated cloth, with a good bond to the foam.
My system is to only apply the perfect amount of epoxy to wet the cloth, and bond to the foam. Plastic sheeting, not peel ply, which wicks off epoxy, possibly leaving the lamination too lean.
But everyone does it different.