Instrument Face Plate and Pod.

[Greg Mitchell]

G'Day Gents,Tims advice on cutting back the gel coat on my tail repair, led me to call Rob Patroney for advice. Which in turn led me to tackling the easier jobs first. I have repaired instrument pod and face plate back to original condition for use as plugs to make molds. I have popped my first mold this morning.The mold is a lot better than I expected and will require only a couple of little blemishes to be filled, then polished up with wet and dry and polishing compound.I am using cloth, mat, polyester resin, talc and black colour for the molds. Parting wax and a PVA liquid. Even with a rough sanded parting board, 7 or 8 coats of wax and PVA the mold popped easily. Here are some pics.MitchImage Insert: 60.1

[Greg Mitchell]

Worked up to 1000 wet and dry, then cutting polish. First mold I've ever made and I'm happy with the result.Now to lay up a part for my rebuild. []Mitch.Image Insert: 48.28

[asra]

Very Nice Work Greg !Now lets see the rest ! the hard one is the big rounded shaped things ! I've never tried to use just the wax coating to seperate the mold from the thing but it looks like it worked realy good ! Next you'll be makeing Kyaks ! hehehehC ya !Bob......By the way , what exactly is a PVA licquid ????" Momm'a alwayse told me , Son the impossable is only a little bit Harder... and ya know I do believe She was RIGHT ! "

[NiqueNaque]

Greg,Your mould is black, does this mean you are going to be laying up mainly white consoles?If you are laying up black consoles it may make it a little more difficult for you to check gel coat if you are using any. I'm asking because your mould plug is black, laying up black on a white background is much more easy.Hope this helps,Nick.

[Greg Mitchell]

G'Day Bob,Like I said take on the easier jobs first, working up to the skill level and getting the time frames right. The pod is next, presently being polished and mounted on the parting board, so it will not be too far off.Bob I think PVA is polyvinyl alcohol.Cheers,Mitch.www.thebutterflyllc.com

[NiqueNaque]

Bob,For your info PVA is a mould release agent. It is water soluable so when you have problems releasing a mould from the object you can get a hose and squirt the water into the gap, this disolves the PVA, which is essentially that white wood glue we all use for non weatherproof applications, though for fibreglassing it is a little less viscose and has less fillers in it than the white wood glue does. When the pva dissolves it leaves a gap and this makes it easier to release the mould. The use of a hose also helps with the pressure behind it to pop the moulded part outof the mould, easier than trying to prise it out with your fingers or using chisels and wedges to try and pop it out, especially as the use of tools can lead to damage to the surface of your mould and mean more rework of the mould and the part made in the mould later. btw, I would not advocate the use of wood glue in fibreglass mouldings, it has the wrong properties for the job and is too gluggy to give you a shiny finish.Greg,It could be Poly Vinyl Acetate, I don't recall alcohol being there in the equation, though I may stand correcting, it is most definitely poly vinyl something.Cheers,Nick.

[asra]

Stick with Alcohol.Pete Barsden

[Tim]

Nice work on that mould Mitch. The darker colour makes it far easier to see if the glass is wet out correctly.Tim McClure

[Greg Mitchell]

Thanks Tim,[]Sadly,...[] that mold will now take it's place on the 'wall of shame' in my workshop. That mold popped off the plug easily, due to the fact I had liberally brushed on the PVA solution. I had tried rubbing it on with a rag and found it troublesome when it gummed up whilst forming a film. Anyway, because it polished up like glass, I only gave it four coats of wax (which was probably enough) and wiped on the PVA with a rag. Did not get the same result as brushing and basically destroyed the surface of the mold whilst trying to put out the first part. They stuck in places. Quicker to make a new one than repair.Anyways, today I made another mold and tonight I am waxing up the instrument pod plug, so tomorrow I can have a go at making a face plate and doing the bigger more complex mold.Fingers crossed.Mitch.www.thebutterflyllc.com

[Greg Mitchell]

G'Day Gents,Face Plate Mold Mark 2 and Instrument Pod Plug and subsequent Mold lay up. There is a three cloth layered face plate all trimmed up in that mold.....tomorrow will tell the story on both new pieces.MitchImage Insert: 59.31 KBImage Insert: 53.81 KBImage Insert: 73.49 KBImage Insert: 68.53 KBwww.thebutterflyllc.com

[asra]

Greg, Where did you learn to do all this stuff?Ted

[asra]

Very Nice ! Much cleaner than my work ! I'ed have drips and splatters all over the place ! hehehehehheGood Job ! Bob......" Momm'a alwayse told me , Son the impossable is only a little bit Harder... and ya know I do believe She was RIGHT ! "

[Greg Mitchell]

G'Day Gents,Finally success. This is the first Face Plate (no: FP1) manufactured by Southern Horizon Components Pty Ltd. The company which I founded is now a partnership and it has always been my desire to manufacture and supply gyroplane parts and components along with the manufacture and distribution of Butterfly/Monarch gyroplanes.SHC already manufacture locally, control sticks, struts, crossover bars, airframe tube components ect. And most raw material used is value added locally.Whilst the Butterfly is a US designed and built gyroplane, we are manufacturing locally to suit the Aussie environment and market.Thanks Bob, plenty of mess in the workshop.Ted, I have always had the attitude that I can do most things, given enough reading (knowledge) and skill practice. This is true for all people. I also believe in having a go at just about everything.Southern Horizon Components will be selling various composite products including Instrument Pods, T tails, Tall tails, pump sticks and pivots, CLT upgrade kits for Bensons and other locally manufactured product.Mitch.Image Insert: 53.18

[Greg Mitchell]

Ted,One more point Mate, I post here on this forum to share information.All this stuff is readily available from web searching. The brief description and pics I post may help someone else save time and money. None of this stuff is rocket scienece and it really is a lot of fun. I want to thank anyone I have talked to about composites work and in particular Rob Patroney, who is always ready to talk and share knowledge. Thanks Rob.The top pic was included to show the difference in the part from trimmed, previous day, to the seal being broken and released from mold this morning.I only used three 200g layers of cloth, I will use four layers on the next lay up and have twice the resin thickness in the surface and rear coats.The PVA...Poly Vinyl Alcohol...which I brushed on liberally, leaves faint streak marks, which polish right off using a cutting polish. Spraying the PVA on is the recommended process. The next one I lay up is to go on Allan Wardill's Monarch as he is doing a refurbishment of instrumentation. It will be polished Black gelcoat, most will be white gelcoat.Cheers,Mitch.www.thebutterflyllc.com

[asra]

Hay Greg.... now that your done makeing the new pieces.... the Old pieces look to be in fantastic shape still so I bet you'll re use the old ones and save the new purdy ones for just incase uh ? hehehehehehehhehe the things some people will do to fiddle arround in the shop ! HEHEHHEHE great work looks like it came off without a hitch too ! ....Now , Sonny J. has got me started in green casting and all .... you ought to try that now Greg , now that ya got all that under control ! I have been gathering up scrap alum all day .... I got quite a nice Pot full now .... wonder what I'll cast first !!!!!! HA !c ya !Bob......." Momm'a alwayse told me , Son the impossable is only a little bit Harder... and ya know I do believe She was RIGHT ! "