Building My Mold... It's Done And On The Bike!

[rudymsmith]

This is absolutely exciting to watch - i hope i can be lucky enough to acquire one 

[Bill Havins]

Thanks for the kind words, Rudy.  We should know in about three weeks if I am going to be willing to pop out multiple copies of the fairing.  Here's my decision tree (have to pass each one in order):

• Does it kill me to lay up the fiberglass?
• Can I get it out of the mold?
• Do the parts fit?
• Does it work as I hoped?
• What do I have to change to make it an A+?

We'll see.

I'm obviously back from my daughter's house.  The carburetor rebuild took about 8 hours total (including cleaning parts).  I saw obvious evidence of air having been sucked in between the base gasket and the manifold - heavy sigh.  After I put it back on and the float bowls were full of gas the engine started right up and purred (it's nice when you get lucky).

When she accelerated down the street I could tell the engine needed a valve job....  Work called while I was gone - I didn't answer.

So, today I'm reinforcing the flange on the mold and adding the Schrader valve to the headlight nacelle.  Tomorrow before I go to work I'll do a couple more hours of sanding.

Cheers!

Bill

[Bill Havins]

Another update.  I have continued to prepare the mold to layup my first prototype for actual use on my Valkyrie. I have been sanding and sanding.  Then polishing.  And then I spent an entire day waxing.

The parting film failure I experienced (when I tried to remove the model from the mold) has really been bugging me.  I have to get it right this time before I begin to layup fiberglass in this mold.  Otherwise I'll just be making a brick rather than a fairing.

I've been researching the parting film failure like crazy.  And then there's the issue of polyester gel coat versus epoxy surface coat.

A few moments ago I reviewed the Technical Data Sheet for the PVA parting film I used with the model.  And there it was - the "smoking gun"....

PARTALL® Film #10 is not recommended for use with mold substrates or resins (e.g., phenolics) containing water or giving off water during cure or with automotive finishes.

Those last four words, "or with automotive finishes," may be the explanation.  If you review my posts to this thread you'll find one where I sprayed the model with high build automotive primer from a rattle can.  I then waxed the model and sprayed it with PVA - the automotive primer may be the reason the parting film failed.  Who woulda' thunk it!

I now have a plan.  In a few minutes I hope to spray my waxed mold with PVA; there is no automotive paint on this mold - just epoxy laminating resins and epoxy surface coat.  When I get home from work this evening I'll lay in the epoxy surface coat.  Then it'll be layers of fiberglass until I'm satisfied with the thickness.

I do have my Schrader valve installed in the mold.  Everything else is ready.  So, gulp, here we go!

Bill

[goldstar903]

Bill, as technical as you are I'm suprised that you didn't peruse the TDS and/or the MSDS before proceeding! LOL! At least you recovered and seem to be close to victory.   

[bscrive]

Bill,
I am sure that it will come out great.  Heck, the mold looks awesome.   

Brian

[Bill Havins]

[snip] ....didn't peruse the TDS and/or the MSDS before proceeding!...[snip]

I thought I had.    You know how those Technical Data Sheets are.  It's those last four words at the end of the tenth paragraph; the paragraph that's in an 8 point font.

C'est la guerre!

Bill

[goldstar903]

[snip] ....didn't peruse the TDS and/or the MSDS before proceeding!...[snip]

I thought I had.    You know how those Technical Data Sheets are.  It's those last four words at the end of the tenth paragraph; the paragraph that's in an 8 point font.

C'est la guerre!

Bill


Yes, sometimes with victory comes disappointments! Believe me I know! I competed in Elite Powerlifting for twenty years, so I am very familiar with disappointments! I started when I was 40. A lot of lessons learned, but an satisfying  :cooldude:experience!

[Bill Havins]

It's been raining here off-and-on for the last two days.  Not a good time to spray PVA (high humidity).  So, no progress.  Fiddle!

It may continue to rain for the next two days (or more).  But this is West Texas!  What's going on?

Depending on the forecast I may shoot PVA tonight anyway - drying times will be much longer.  I hate to push it, but the supervisor of my department at work has quit to go back to school and I have to do some of his shifts next week (thought I was retired, what happened?).

I want to lay up a fairing in the mold but now is not the time to be impatient!  Breathe deeply....Relax....Think calming thoughts....  Heavy sigh.

Okay - PVA tonight and fiberglass tomorrow.

Bill

[Bill Havins]

Well.  The weather isn't cooperating at all.  Last night there was half-dollar-sized hail in the area so I put Judy's car in the garage.  There went my work space.  Hecky-darn!

This morning I'm finally spraying extremely thin mist coats of PVA.  It takes less than 30 seconds to spray a coat; and then I wait 45 minutes for it to dry enough to do the next one.  I figure it will be 2:00 this afternoon before I can start fiberglassing.  But, at least I'll get to start, p-l-e-e-e-e-a-z-e!

Onward and upward!

Bill

EDIT:  Rats!  The National Weather Service just issued a flash flood warning for a spot two counties north of here - 5 inches of rain in less than an hour!  So far we're kinda' dry this morning.  Aeolus must not like fiberglass, or something....

[ledany]

Bill, in the old world we are facing a climate change ; but obviously, you in Texas have to face a climate war ! 

[Bill Havins]

Bill, in the old world we are facing a climate change ; but obviously, you in Texas have to face a climate war ! 

 

[Bill Havins]

I put about 8 thin coats of PVA on the mold.  No drips, no runs.  Peachy!

I decided to wait until after supper to begin "the build."

Rats! As I was setting up my scale and other equipment a weather alert came across the radio just now.  There is a thunderstorm about 30 miles from here and it's heading right at the house.  The storm is producing quarter-sized hail.  I packed up all my stuff to move Judy's car in the garage.  And the mold is now in my office in the house.  I have to carefully control the humidity if I want the PVA film to remain solid on the mold; moisture can create pinholes in it and the only cure is to wash it all off and go again.  Rats!  Great big hairy ones with bad breath and sneers on their faces.  Rats!

Maybe tomorrow....

Bill

[Bill Havins]

An update -

It has been very cool here today; more rain.  Nevertheless I have made a bit of progress.



I was able to get the epoxy surface coat brushed on over the PVA film inside the mold.  It is not self-leveling - not to worry; the brush-strokes-side gets covered in layers of fiberglass.

The white "outlining" in the photo is "flox," a mixture of epoxy resin and milled cotton fibers.  If you will remember there are a number of near-right-angle "steps" in the surface of the fairing.  Fiberglass does not like to make such bends; it will want to pull up from the inside corners of the steps and leave air bubbles.  Air bubbles are not our friends (in fiberglass).

Flox can be mixed to a consistency of very thick corn grits or oatmeal.  It can then be "squeezed" into corners using a disposable pastry bag.  In the above photo I smoothed the flox with a huge tongue depressor; this changed the "steps" into "camfers" or ramps.  Biaxial fiberglass fabric handles camfers just fine.

Flox dries harder than fiberglass, creating points and edges that are stronger than similar points/edges made from resin and fiberglass cloth.

Everything dried/cured in slow motion today because of the cool weather.  Tomorrow I'll start laying down fiberglass.

Cheers!

Bill

[rudymsmith]

 

[Kidd]

I like that look much better ,  reindeer !

[Bill Havins]

I have been using resin that is really slow to cure until temperatures stay above 80° or so.  So, things have been moving very slowly with the fairing build.

I may be able to finish the fiberglass work in the morning.  Then the resin needs a little over 24 hours to fully cure; after that I can try to remove the fairing from the mold.

But wait!  Tomorrow is Friday and I am committed for a solid week, 24-hours-a-day, starting Saturday at 5:00 am.  Those numbers don't add up!  It will be a week before I can remove the fairing from the mold!

Rats!

Okay....patience.  Breathe deeply.  Think calming thoughts.  Grrrrrrrr....  Sometimes life gets in the way.

Bill

[Bill Havins]

Typing this on my iPhone....

I have been told I can choose to be "off duty" on Wednesday.  Yippee!  I'll try to pull the fairing from the mold Wednesday morning around 10:00 CST.  Judy agreed to help video the process.  So, either we'll all get to see the first prototype,...or a fiberglass brick.

Think good thoughts, please.

Bill

[sleepngbear]

Good luck! Can't wait to see the first result.

[bscrive]

Good luck Bill.  I am sure it will look great. 

[Bill Havins]

Oops!  One more day of 24 hour "duty."  So now I'll pop it out Thursday.  Life!  Just gotta' roll with the flow. 

Bill

[Bill Havins]

It's out of the mold!



I got home about 9:30 this evening.  After we got everything settled into place and the plants watered I thought, "What the heck.  Let's see if we have a fairing or a brick."

So I went to the garage and began to insert wedges between the mold and the fairing around the perimeter of the flange.  Slowly but surely I pressed the wedges in until the "wings" of the fairing appeared to be loose from the mold.  The headlight nacelle and the fork boxing didn't seem to want to budge.

I pressed the wedges in as far as I could at the bottom of the boxing and went to get the Schrader valve.  I figured it was time to use air power.

As I turned my back Judy and I heard this loud, "POP!"  We looked at each other wondering who had broken what.  Then Judy looked down and exclaimed, "Look!  It's loose!"  Sure enough I was able to peel the mold up from the fairing just as you see it in the photo.  The PVA film still covers the fairing.  That ain't no brick, Buddy!  That's a fairing!

Lots of trimming and other work to do.  And I'm off work until either Monday or Tuesday.  I'll rest up tonight and get back to the fairing tomorrow.

EDIT:  As you see it here the fairing weighs 8 pounds.  I figure trimmed, hardware installed, and windshield in place the weight will be about 15 pounds (without the headlight).  The fairing is very rigid - no measurable flex.

Yippee!

Bill

[ledany]

Bravo Bill ! Bien joué ! 

[Verismo]

Beautiful job, Bill!!!

[The emperor has no clothes]

This has been a most interesting thread to follow in a long time.  Now, get trimming. I want to see the finished product. 

[Bill Havins]

....get trimming. I want to see the finished product...

Me, too!

[rudymsmith]

 

[st2sam]

This has been a most interesting thread to follow in a long time.  Now, get trimming. I want to see the finished product. 

  This ^^^ .

[bscrive]

Great work Bill.  The fairing looks great.   

[Bill Havins]

• Does it kill me to lay up the fiberglass?
• Can I get it out of the mold?
• Do the parts fit?
• Does it work as I hoped?
• What do I have to change to make it an A+?

For those of you who remember my "does this go into production" decision tree, above, we've answered the first two questions.

No, it doesn't kill me to lay up the fiberglass.  If I take this to a short production run (doing it all myself) I would use a much faster setting resin.  I used very slow setting resin so it would give me time to make adjustments as I laid up the fiberglass.  It was great during the R&D process - it would be too slow to use in production.

The answer to question two is a resounding, "Yes!"  I can get the fairing out of the mold.  This was the one that had me really concerned.  If you'll remember, a friend of mine suggested this would be very difficult (impossible?) to get out of the mold.  Well, we have learned different.  And I'm glad.

So questions one and two are resolved.  Now it's all about "fit and function."  Perhaps we'll have those questions answered by late Monday.

And please remember, this rascal requires a new headlight and a windshield (that has to be trimmed on the bottom).  And then there's the headlight mounting and trim rings.  It might get a tad expensive.  For me I just had to do it - I know what I like for touring and no one made anything like this.  So, the expense was not an issue.

Now, back to "fit and function."  More later.

Bill

[sleepngbear]

Absolutely awesome. 

[Bill Havins]

A little update.  I'm sitting here drinking ice water.  We have an expected high temperature of 100°+ on the way (that's about 38°+ for Ledany).

The flange has been trimmed off.  I've begun to fine tune edges and edge shapes.  I may take a break from that to cut the hole for the headlight.  I'm going to try to get it to the point where I can finish the rough shaping, mount the headlight/trim ring, mount the windshield, and post a photo before late tonight.

Breathe deeply....Be patient....Don't rush....Hurrying causes disappointments....Too close to the finish line to make an irreparable error now. 

Cheers!

Bill

[sleepngbear]

How did the finish come out? It looks good in the picture, but that's not the same as your own eyeball up close. I know you were pretty meticulous about smoothing out the mold. Just curious if you're happy with what came out or if it needs any touching up beyond the expected trimming.

[Bill Havins]

SB,

The finish is pretty impressive!  Now, here's the "buts."

The fairing finish shows how I sprayed the PVA (the parting film).  I sprayed the PVA in very thin and "dry" layers - I didn't want any runs or sags.  So the fairing has a satin finish with a touch of orange peel.  I am amazed at how similar it is to the gray finish on some of the F6Bs.

Now, I knew when I did the fiberglass on the fairing that I was going to do more "body work" on it (I have a touch more shaping to do).  And I planned to prime the fairing, and then match the color with the gloss black that is on my F6C.  So I really wasn't too worried about getting the finish of the fairing perfect - that would mean spraying the PVA "wet," which raised the potential for runs and sags (I don't see well - spraying a finish is no fun for me).  But this experience with the PVA gives me hope I can turn out a glossy-surfaced-fairing without too much trouble.  Really impressive.

It's hot in the garage today so I'm taking an ice water break.  I am in the process of mounting the headlight.  I promised Judy chicken wings on the grill for supper, so I may not get the windshield mounted before I quit for the day.

We'll see.

Bill

[Jambriwal]

Great Work Bill
Waiting patiently for the next episode.

[Bill Havins]

Thanks for all of the kind words.  As you know, this has been a project!

I didn't get as far as I wanted today.  Several interruptions, but that's okay.  Here is an image - please excuse the "keystoning" - the loss of "true" perspective.  I shot this from a vantage point parallel to the plane of the headlight; that threw the perspective off.



The headlight frame is not screwed into place so edges don't match around the headlight nacelle.

That is one imposing headlight!  But when on the bike (photos to come in a few days) it is nicely proportioned to the front of the bike.

Cheers!

Bill

[goldstar903]

Awesome job, Bill!

[bscrive]

Bill,
That is truly one awesome job.     That headlight is way cool as well.

I can't wait to see the final product on your bike.  

I will be waiting for the final test...your trip!!

[sleepngbear]

^^^ What he said. Beautiful.

[Bill Havins]

I took the stock stuff off of the bike earlier this evening.  I hope to have the "complete" fairing on the bike for photos tomorrow.  It won't be painted or completely trimmed, but the look will be obvious.

About the trip....work nuked it.  Both my job and Judy's job.  So, we'll be doing short trips on weekends to get things sorted.  Then this fall we'll get to do a ten day trip.

It's all good! 

Bill

[rudymsmith]

WOW