Nidaplast 8 laminating schedule for TX18+10% sole

[Vundu]

Glad to see our sums are the same!

When I ordered the Nidaplast my supplier said to add about about 10% max to my epoxy needs for the scrim soak up. I did, and was left with alot of waste epoxy. I made sure the Nidaplast was dripping wet, added pre wet glass, then more epoxy, and finally rolled on peelply making sure it had total soak through. I am fairly confident that there were no starved areas, as the low uptake did worry me. I have to admit, I was expecting much more soak up based on other peoples experience.

I am exploring more and more with vacuum bagging and really enjoying it, especially when getting wet out glass to fit contours or curves. I am getting 1:1 glass epoxy ratios when working with corelite.

I am using Marine ply out of The far east, that is advertised as BS1088 standard. From weighing sheets it works out at 710kg/m3. So 9mm sheet being 6.39kg/m2 prior to glassing and sealing. It is extremely thirsty. I estimated my total savings in weight at approximately 40-50kg for the sole.

[pee wee]

I estimated my total savings in weight at approximately 40-50kg for the sole.

Thanks for sharing that. That is a significant weight savings, and a permanent one- I'd say it's well worth doing for a boat the size of yours. The boat will float a little higher, the motor will have to push less weight, etc., over the lifetime of the hull.

[fallguy1000]

How are you getting 40-50kg savings?

If the nida is 2kg/sqm less and you have 10sqm, I get 20kg.

[Vundu]

A serious DUHHH moment. I used beam width from transom to bow! that was my mistake, making a huge sole and worked on 800gsm glass + epoxy.
Rough estimate is actually about 14m2 including front deck, and 400gsm of glass and 400g+20% epoxy for hand layup and soaking the ply. So saving is 2.17kg/m2 excluding epoxy on underside of the sole, giving a corrected figure of about 30kg. My apologies if I got anyones heart racing.

[fallguy1000]

All good. I apologize for the nit in me calling you on the error.

[bklake]

Glad to see our sums are the same!

When I ordered the Nidaplast my supplier said to add about about 10% max to my epoxy needs for the scrim soak up. I did, and was left with alot of waste epoxy. I made sure the Nidaplast was dripping wet, added pre wet glass, then more epoxy, and finally rolled on peelply making sure it had total soak through. I am fairly confident that there were no starved areas, as the low uptake did worry me. I have to admit, I was expecting much more soak up based on other peoples experience.

It sounds like the barrier layer that Nidaplast uses actually reduces the amount of resin needed. The Carbon-Core I used did not have a barrier layer and it did soak up a lot of epoxy. I can see more than a few cells that have epoxy squeezed into them. Who knows what the thickness of the epoxy is on the back side of the scrim. The part is in use and I can't cut it up to see. The scrim layer on the Carbon-Core seemed about the thickness of very light weight fiberglass cloth, maybe 2oz surfboard cloth. It shouldn't need a lot of epoxy. New product=new procedures.

1. Nidaplast seems to be a better product for epoxy usage/ waste reduction.
2. I need to explore strand orientation more. I didn't get the stiffness I was expecting. The part is strong enough for what it needs to do but I was expecting more stiffness.

[Vundu]

No worries Fallguy, the whole point for me being on the forum is to learn, I appreciate the fact you checked.

I agree, the Nidaplast does appear to be a great product and easy to use. I saw a video out of the UK by Easycomposites.co.uk (How to make a carbon rear wing) where they used Nomex Honeycomb onto carbon sheet, thickening the epoxy with fumed silica then applying at 500g/m2. It seems alot of extra weight!

I see online alot of people are using Nidaplast vertically as well, on bulkheads and stringers etc. My simple logic says thats not a good idea as the honeycomb is strongest when compressed vertically down the structure walls, not along the walls (if that makes sense). Any thoughts? If its good to use I might use it instead of the 9mm ply for the ribs?

[fallguy1000]

Nida for a structural element needs to be carefully scheduled and more glass.