Fiberglassing A Tube
I was inspired by Tony Alcocer's videos to make one of my own on some of my techniques. This video is how to reinforce a standard airframe tube with a layer of fiberglass cloth to give it a hard and smooth surface (running time 22 minutes). There is a companion video on cutting fiberglass cloth, which is necessary before laminating a tube.
Here are the highlights from the video:
- Preparing the tube for 'glassing
- Using caps to get perfect results at the ends
- Wetting out the fiberglass cloth and removing excess epoxy
- How to roll on the fiberglass reinforcement
- Using Mylar® sheet to produce a smooth result
"Mylar" is a DuPont trademark for BoPET film and available at Tap Plastics. An alternative is using release fabic (or "peel ply"), which allows you to remove more excess epoxy.
Kenstarr posted a video on a technique for patching imperfections in the surface. This is very useful if you want to use the tube naked and need the surface perfect.