Re: Lynch motorcycle (long)

[ScuderiaEV@aol.com]

In a message dated 30/11/01 03:12:25 GMT Standard Time, 
iamaquarius@mindspring.com writes:

>  I'm a bit envious of
>  a chance to ride in an enclosed vehicle like Cedric's. Perhaps that envy
>  will spark me to spend a bit of time scrounging up old campaign signs to 
get
>  the board material. I haven't found a cheap, easy source fo that material
>  here as of yet. I see a lot of signs made from it, but usually smaller
>  pieces.

We used to use a lot of it on #13, it was fairly cheap from TAP plastics in 
the SF Bay area (as opposed to metal from Allen Steel, which was very 
expensive). I've used ordinary corrugated cardboard coated with thinned 
polyester resin in the past, it's remarkably durable. If you want to get away 
from the 'travelling science project' look, then it's worth making a proper 
moulding. You can make very light mouldings from carbon fibre (because it is 
very stiff), without spending a fortune. Some composite material suppliers 
have rolls of substandard carbon cloth (uneven weave for example). Such cloth 
is unsuitable for structural work, but vastly superior to glass CSM. It 
doesn't seem to be common knowledge than CF can be used with ordinary 
polyester resin, as used with glass. Kevlar has to be used with epoxy resins 
because it won't bond to polyester, but CF is fine. When you're doing 
structural work and are coughing up for CF, you might as well buy the better 
resin as well. The same supplier may well also carry re-blended resin. If a 
batch of resin doesn't meet its specification in some way (cure rate, 
viscosity, thixotropy) it will be rejected for many uses (boat building or 
repairs for example). However by taking a number of out of spec batches, it's 
possible to blend a very usable resin.


Paul Compton
www.sciroccoev.co.uk