First time for everything

Flem · May 20, 2019, 03:19:31 PM

Matt, Epoxamite is all I use. Never had a failure. Actually if you look at the specs, Epoxamite has better elongation than EA-40. I make my glass for Bows with it.
I lied, just this morning I glued up a Bow with some EA-40 I needed to use up. Part B was starting to get stinky.
That Purple Heart made my saw squeal!

Shredd · May 20, 2019, 09:04:49 PM

Quote from: Flem on May 04, 2019, 04:54:40 PM
60yr old virgin. Don't know if you guy's inspired or cursed me, but this is my first Tri-lam ELB.
Bue is mostly to blame for my affliction. His thread about the ELB's got in my pinhead. So here it is, no glass, no grass. Maple, Purpleheart and Cherry. Don't know if it's going to work, but if it blows I got more wood to play with.
[attachment=1,msg2866542]

In the bag
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Using my favorite epoxy. Love this stuff, it cures in 1hr at 200 degrees.
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What are you using for a breather??

Flem · May 20, 2019, 10:38:01 PM

Dollar store drywall mesh tape on that bow. I discovered shortly after vacuuming this one, that with the bag material I started using, breather is unnecessary. It's got a texture on one side and as long as the texture is on top of the blank, it pulls the vacuum cleanly. This food saver type bag material is awesome, it takes high temps, don't have to worry about sharp edges and it pulls down hard with no stretch.

Shredd · May 20, 2019, 10:58:57 PM

If you get a pinhole on the other end I don't think that mesh is open enough to suck enough air from down there... I often use carpet for a breather... Better safe than sorry... Just my 2 cents...

Flem · May 21, 2019, 09:44:18 AM

Shredd, What do you use for bag material?

Shredd · May 21, 2019, 11:20:44 AM

6 mil plastic sheeting with duct tape on the edges... The only thing I vacuum in bow making is when gluing up a form (screw all the screws and where to put them) and maybe when laminating up some glass block material for my tips...

Flem · May 21, 2019, 10:37:50 PM

I'm skipping the breather from now on, just peel-ply for me. You should try vac'ing a bow sometime, you might be surprised how well it works. But not with visqueen and duct tape!

Shredd · May 22, 2019, 12:18:33 AM

Might do that for a longbow that I want to build...