On 04 Aug 2003 16:51:13 GMT, cal (BD5ER) wrote:

I was wondering, if one was to make a plastic (read as carbon fiber or
fiberglass) is the layup the same as trying to get plaster smooth?

I find the 2 very similar, but the sheet rock is a whole lot easier to sand and
you don't have to be precise. It just has to look good. This is true of
fuselages but wings have to be "right".

I find the glass easier to work with, but I can't cut a board in two
and put it back together straight.

Then again, I'm working a lot with pre molded shells, and closed cell
foam that is used in the sandwich type construction.

I find the sanding more difficult with glass, but the lay-ups much
easier. You slop on the resin, work it in, work out the air bubbles,
put on a layer of peel ply and work out the excess resin which tends
to wick out through the peel ply.

OTOH, I ain't no expert at this stuff.


Don't let that scare you away from a glass plane. The work required is really
not as much as most claim - if - IF - you do good work from the foam up.

Same as sheet rock. If you have to cover up a poor foundation you have more
work.
Since I started comparing my lay-ups to the factory lay-ups and vacuum
bagging, I feel a lot better about my work. :-))

Roger Halstead (K8RI EN73 & ARRL Life Member)
www.rogerhalstead.com
N833R World's oldest Debonair? (S# CD-2)