Custom CF Wood Hybrid 2.0

[littlesmith]

Cool... do you take out the plug before adding these stiffening components?

@LouieAtienza

Hi. No i did not seperate it yet. After this cement, comes 1 more cement. Then some fiberglass. Then i will seperate the plug and mold, and hope the inside is good.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by littlesmith

I bought an infusion epoxy, the planning was to use it with that big mold, but that one failed.

The product says 48 hours on room temperature then 15 hours at 70 degrees Celcius. It still becomes hard without heat curing but the mechanical properties get better when you follow the instructions.

First I`ll make 1 body without heating this new mold. If that is strong enough i might nog heat the mold at all with the other bodys. The main focus is getting 8 bodys out of this mold with consistent quality. The mold can`t distort or warp, which could happen in some cases.

I`m not sure if this heating blanket directly on a composite mold is a good idea. In an ideal world the mold would be an aluninium cnc routed block, then you can put the heating blanket on without any potential melting issues.

The epoxy used in the mold and geltcoat can both handle 120 degrees celcius without warping If you followed the instructions, which i didnt because this second mold didnt have heat on the gelcoat. So i have no idea how close my gelcoat layer is now to optimal and how close my properties are to optimal. This is all heavy science, way above my paygrade. I just mix the 2 components.

If the gelcoat and expoxy in the mold still have natural properties without the heat, then this new mold should not warp when its brought to 70 degrees celcius and back for 7 seperate bodys, i`m just worried about the blanket directly on the underside of the mold.

I can`t risk damaging this mold, so if the first body is nice, without heating up the mold, i might continue that.

I just look at the mass of cement and am wondering how you will heat it.

[littlesmith]

Round 2 of the cement process.

[littlesmith]

1 layer of fiberglass on the dried cement to prevent cracking and crumbling. There was tape on the flange so there would be a clean bonding surface for the fiberglass on fiberglass.

[littlesmith]

Splitting the mold and the plug.





The baseboard was attached to the plug with screws and no glue to help the release process.



Using leverage physics.



The release started at the headstock.



Leveraring...



Notice that the plug has split, i suspected this would happen during the leveraging step, i could hear it. You can see the neck and about 2 layers of MDF in the background. The rest was stuck, and i mean STUCK. I did not have a lot of release wax left and no money so it only had 2 layers, between 7 to 10 is better.



After chisling like a maniac for hours, i decided to make a channel in the middle in the hopes to fold the pieces to the middle or at least thake the pressure of the edge.





The channel helped a bit but it still would not come out, and the leverage did not work so low, the screws were too short or the screws were being pulled out, destroying the mdf, and not leveraging so i decided to out solid wood on so the screw would stay in.



WE HAVE A MOLD.



Marked the repair areas with black.

[Scallywag]

Awesome, congrats on the successful mold! Been watching this thread with bated breath - seems like there's just no room left for error. Makes for an exciting read, as far as acoustic guitar build threads go

[littlesmith]

Originally Posted by Scallywag

Awesome, congrats on the successful mold! Been watching this thread with bated breath - seems like there's just no room left for error. Makes for an exciting read, as far as acoustic guitar build threads go

Thank you! I had a lot riding on this, this was already from the last leftover materials, so it`s as you said, no room for error.

Now i can advance.

[littlesmith]

The repair gelcoat is in the damage, when it has set i will sand it flat and remove the neck.



The other areas got a cartboard card with ducttape to stop the gelcoat from seeping in.



The MTI® hose fits snuggly in the area designed for this. This hose is sealed at 1 end and has the vacuumpump sucking air out at the other end. The epoxy will enter the mold in the middle and it will be sucked towards this hose evenly. The resin stops when it hits this hose.

[littlesmith]

Calibrated wax sheets for mold making applications.



Cutting the back piece.



Placed the back piece.



Cutting the sides.



Places the side.



Placing the neck area.



Neck area trimmed



All calibrated wax is placed.



The whole part area has layers of tape with the thickness of the peelply.



Placing a gardenhose to represent the MTI composite hose volume.



Placing the resin distrubution channel.



Everything placed and now putting release wax on it.

[littlesmith]

2 component reusable silicone vacuumbag. This is good for the environment since is reduces disposable waste like vacuumfilm and vacuumtape and the chance for leaks is lower then with the thin vacuumfilm.





If you touch this, you could become a turtle...



2 layers silicone = 200 Euro (224.95 U.S. dollars).

[Brad Goodman]

Great stuff!

Wow! as my Grandmother used to say " You have the patience of a plaster saint!"

I have been watching this thread since the beginning and I must say I was "skeptical" at first, but now I see that you are getting close to your goal.

I can't wait to see (and hear) a finished guitar.

[littlesmith]

Originally Posted by Brad Goodman

Great stuff!

Wow! as my Grandmother used to say " You have the patience of a plaster saint!"

I have been watching this thread since the beginning and I must say I was "skeptical" at first, but now I see that you are getting close to your goal.

I can't wait to see (and hear) a finished guitar.

Thank you! I`m trying. You can hear generation 1.0 here :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msvlzbOaDgQ

[littlesmith]

A leak.



Making a fiberglass rim to clamp the edge of the vacuumbag



The fiberglass rim before trimming off the sharp edges.



Trimmed fiberglass rim.



Test body 1 construction, first infusion test. Making paper templates to accuratly cut the fabrics.



The outer skin pieces of non slip carbon fiber.



The first layer carefully attached with infusion spray glue.



Continuing the fabric stack with fiberglass. This model has fiberglass between an inner and outer layer of carbonfiber to reduce the consumer price.



First resin infusion test. A mold should hold vacuum and survive a drop test, that means you turn the pump off and the needle on the vacuumgauge shoulds stay where it is for an hour. This bag can not hold a vacuum and this infusion epoxy is fully cured in 3 days. You can not leave a pump on for 3 days, so i need different epoxy that cures in 8 hours. Unfortunatly the entire loan has been spent so i don`t know how i will proceed.

[printer2]

Why can't you keep the pump on for three days, doesn't it cycle on and off?

[LouieAtienza]

Originally Posted by printer2

Why can't you keep the pump on for three days, doesn't it cycle on and off?

Exactly.......