George,
I should have mentioned that the small parts like nutplates, all kinds of rivets and the like are frequently best found at Aircraft Spruce. I almost always buy a small bag of any part I need getting at least a few extra and if it’s screws or the like, I’ll buy some a little longer and some a little shorter than I think I need. My goal is to gather extras and create a stash of parts I may need in future.
Sometimes parts I need are not available there and I found that Wicks and WAG might have what I need. Google is a good tool for searching often times.
Just to clarify, peel ply is a synthetic cloth – usually Dacron or Nylon - and it’s used to absorb extra resin. It’s very useful with carbon fiber cloth because the carbon fibers are much stiffer than fiberglass and tend not to stay in place while setting if they are laid down in a single plane. Resin impregnated peel ply acts almost like a tape over the top. It has another advantage in that if left in place after layup on a part you want to bond to something else, removing it just before bonding means you don’t have to sand and clean the part prior to bonding because the surface left by the peel ply is an ideal bonding surface if not contaminated.
If these tricks are not familiar to you I advise finding a mentor or at least playing with some throw away stuff doing some trial work before tackling the jobs on your airplane.
Hope this helps.
John
From: Lancair Mailing List [mailto:lml@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of George Wehrung
Sent: Friday, November 01, 2013 4:25 AM
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Subject: [LML] Re: Fiberglass repair materials
Thanks for the good gouge on this stuff. I will likely also use the carbon fiber peel ply.
I hate shopping at harbor freight as most of the stuff is chinese made and fails. but i guess the rivet tools are simple enough. It's the nut plates i need to replace. I obviously don't know the difference between prepreg and honey comb laminate.
Other repairs I need to make is to the wheel pants, leg fairings and to the firewall on the inside of the cockpit where the exhaust hangers bolts pass through.
Try Dan Newland at www.pegasusaeromarine.com for cloth and resin. I have stopped using fiberglass and all my repairs or mods are carbon fiber cloth these days. The key is to use peel ply to hold the cloth down. I purchase a large roll of peel ply - about 12" or more wide and then just cut what I need off for any size layup. The small narrow rolls are not worth much and over priced. The resin Dan has is higher modulus than the Jeffco and will be stronger at no higher cost. Unless you have an oven and vacuum or a press mold, pre preg material won't work for you. If you are speaking of the honeycomb laminate that is another issue and it's nice to have some scraps around.
Rivets and the like are tools you need around the shop and I suggest you get that stuff at Harbor Freight if you want it cheap. They will work fine and if they don't, toss em out and buy another they are that cheap. Have been using my pop rivet squeezer from them for about ten years with no complaints. These are pop rivets I'm referring to. Consider using those over the beveled aluminum rivets every place where the rivets are not structural but just there to hold a nut plate in place for instance. The cherry pop rivets are SOOOOO much easier to work with and perform just as well. Where I need to squeeze the aluminum rivets, I just borrow a tool from friends t the airport. Can't justify $100 plus to buy that seldom used tool.
My $.02
John Barrett
N31VP
Micro balloons and chopped fiber pretty cheap from Lancair.
Best,
John Barrett
Sent from my iPad
On Oct 31, 2013, at 9:52 AM, George Wehrung <gw5@me.com> wrote:
I know there have been some kits/planes sold and was wondering if anyone has any fiber glass kits/prepreg repair materials for sale? I need everything. No damage but need to be able to make repairs and small modifications to plane such as repairing rock dings and reinforcing build up areas for the baggage door. I also need to remake my leg fairings and repair/reinforce cracks in wheel pants.
I am also looking for rivets, rivet pliers, and the screw bosses as some of mine are in need of replacement.
I know I can get all this from Lancair or other online retailers but was hoping for a good price from someone that no longer gas a need for these items.
Thank you
George
Sent from my iPhone
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