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7/29/03
Well, I made a set of molds using a chopper gun to save time, but the catalyst pump pulsed during the lay-up and caused all kinds of problems.
I've made molds this way before an didn't have problems, but that's the way
it goes. You get in a hurry and things go haywire! I do not recommend using a chopper gun to make the molds unless you can risk
having a problem.
Here's what I've had to do:
1) refinish the surface of the patterns
2) re-make the molds
3) drag the first set of molds out into the shop yard like a dead carcass.
The molds had hot spots and cold spots from the pulsing of the catalyst pump
which caused deviations. Aaah! The molds could actually be rendered useful
with some work, but I don't feel like messing with them. I already have finished and completed the mold for the canopy again and begin laying up the
mold for the main body tonight.
The process that I'm using is still quick, but I've done it by hand to
remove the risk of having a catalyst pump problem. I'll get some pics out
soon.
Fortunately, I have a newfound friend named Justin Mace who is very experienced with the development of laminar flow wings for experimental
aircraft. He has already donated time to help refinish the patterns prior to
making the current set of molds. It's nice to have some help at this point!
I've been exhausting myself.
Justin has seen the foil design for Lunatic Fringe run in the computerized
wind tunnel simulator and is impressed by the .0011 to .0009 drag numbers
that range from a Reynolds of 7,500,000 to 10,500,000. He feels that the
bike has a good chance of being quick and has volunteered to pit crew for me
at Battle Mountain. We'll get a pic of him put up here, too. His experimental aircraft wings have a pointy leading edge like Lunatic does.
He's also got a few tricks up his sleeve that he developed on his own to
enhance the qualities of laminar air flow. We'll be putting a few of those
to the test on this bike. Thanks to Justin, things are getting back on track.
News about the semi-linear drive system... I'm able to overpower the one-way
clutch mechanism. I can't use it for the race at this time. If a remedy evolves down the road we might be able to try it out. It slipped when I
exerted about 300 pounds of pressure using the right leg. The left side held
at that level of effort. I really appreciate the effort that TRB Systems put
forth to get the system to me, though. It wasn't designed to function for
the application that I'm trying to use it for, but it was worth a try.
Assuming that no other major glitches surface, the parts will be pulled from
the mold this weekend. Parts for the bike itself are beginning to show up at
Ajo Bikes. As soon as the fork and wheels show up, we'll be off to making
the frame... real quick-like. =)
8/1/03
Things are going really well at this point! I made my first canopy in the
mold as an experiment last night to see how light I could make it. It held
together with plenty of strength but couldn't hold its shape with pressure.
he real canopy will be laid up tonight. More bike parts are coming in, too.
Now that I'm past this mold hurdle everything else is so simple by comparison!
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8/10/03
Here I'm hammering on the canopy mold to remove the pattern. I've got 110 psi
going through the hose to deliver air into the mold. It helped a lot! It
gave a resounding POP then the mold jumped up off of the pattern. =) The
mold was laid up with 3 layers of 3 oz. chopped strand mat and some honeycomb ribbing for extra strength. No gel-coat was used... remember, I'm
in a big hurry!
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The mold is off of the canopy. Yeah!
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Close-up showing the piece of tape over
the air hole used to blow the mold off of the pattern... very useful for popping out parts, too!
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| Now it's time to make the
female mold for the main body. This shows tape and metal flanges on the main body.
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Honeycomb is held on the sides
of the main body with homemade putty.
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| Close-up of the fiberglass securing the honeycomb.
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First layer of vinylester and chopped strand mat in mold.
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| Layer of extra glass along edge to help resist flex.
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New-found friend Justin lays up first layer of what may become bike frame. This composite laminate will be easy to cut and turn into a strong
bike frame.
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| Honeycomb was laid up next.
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The laminate was sandwiched in between two boards,
and then weighted during the cure to properly impregnate the material.
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| Second layer is fiberglass cloth (eventually two layers)
laid in over the chopped strand mat, then wetted with vinylester.
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Honeycomb strips were added to make it beefy!
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| Putty holds the honeycomb in place since this is a hand
lay-up, not vacuum bagged. This goes really fast.
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After glassing a narrow strip over the honeycomb to get maximum
strength, the honeycomb laminate is then covered over to protect the honeycomb from getting wet or damaged and losing its strength.
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| The canopy is molded, oh, baby!
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I tried laying under this
thing to see if I fit... I do!
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| At 16 pounds, it's not bad for a hand lay up and it's really, really
strong. I can stand on it.
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The main body 3 piece female
mold is now cleaned and ready to make the part... go, go, go!
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8/12/03
To make the main body fairing I began by carefully laying in fiberglass mat
and vinylester to the edges of the molded area. I didn't want glass going
past the molded edges so that it would be easy to trim later. There is 'glass on the top and bottom of the fins.
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Putty with micro-spheres was then applied to all areas where the molds come
together. This will make an easily sand-able seam, plus makes the fins solid.
I bolted it all together in a hurry before the putty cured. Excess mostly
squeezed inward.
The putty was smoothed after mold assembly, then 'glass was applied over it
to connect the panels.
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| Honeycomb was then puttied in place and 'glassed over. This is going to be
really rigid. I don't want the sides to bow with the build up of air pressure as the bike comes to speed.
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8/14/03
I pulled the main body fairing out of the mold... YES!
Untrimmed it weighs 46 pounds. The canopy weighs 16. So, we're looking at
somewhere around 60-65 pounds after it's been trimmed fitted and painted,
plus the bike weight, plus me. This'll work! I had estimated a bike+fairing
weight of around 80 pounds. My computations of potential speed were based
upon 80 pounds for the bike. For a race with a -1.19 degree slope it's perfect!
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| The main body could probably have been about 6 pounds lighter, but I wanted
to be sure of stiffness and strength. It's got those, no problemo. Now, to do the dressing of the parts this weekend and install tabs to align
them will be fun, fun, fun! The fins molded very well and will dial in quickly with a sanding block to
remove flashing. It's so nice to have a composite fairing to work with instead of a wooden pattern. Yeah!
The molds worked very well. The parts are formed well. All is well in my
little world.
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8/21/03
O. K. boys and girls, its time to kick it in overdrive. The following pics
are from one nights work. 'Did some body work, fit prep and cutting.
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The fairings line up just fine. I sanded inside the upper fairing rim to
prep it for the addition of tabs. I'm actually laying up the alignment tabs
tonight as I take a break and update the site.
Front and rear, everything's fine.
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| Wheel openings are located and cut. Butterfly
opening for the front will be dialed in after the frame is in the bike to achieve minimal cut.
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Ground clearance will actually be about 1/2" less
than this.
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Ah, my new set of Pantour wheels. The disc brakes aren't attached yet. The
front is a 1" travel with heavy duty elastomer. The fork is from a new EZ
tandem. It's cheap and already set up for disc brakes and designed for a
long bike. EZ answer! A pair of 20" 451 Stelvio tires will get this thing
rolling along, oh, baby!
Today I talked with my buddy, Justin, and he's on board for helping me bang
out the frame next week. This weekend dials in the seat and completes bodywork prior to paint. Many pics will follow.
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8/25/03
Fiberglass was applied over paste mold release around the edge of the main body. After curing this will be mated to the canopy to achieve a
good fit or alignment. It was intentionally layered thickly so that there
would be room to grind away excess later after achieving proper fit.
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Canopy placed over puttied flange to cure. After overnight, it
was lifted off with the flange permanently bonded to the upper canopy.
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During cure, I used high-tech equipment to make sure that the
edges were lined up well. The slightest amount of pressure improved alignment.
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The canopy with flange helps keep the fairing sections aligned.
Excess material will be ground away.
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It dawned on me after sitting many times on the changing seat
pattern that the pattern was based upon a real seat, so why make a mold,
then a seat? The pattern is now the seat! I'll glass over the custom shaped
foam to strengthen it. I adjusted the angle of the bottom to fit the new
laid back position. Shoulder areas were removed to relieve stress on the
shoulder blades caused by the arms forward position. A neck rest was added
to eliminate stress and position the head properly. This seat is really,
really comfortable. I could easily sleep in it. After Battle Mountain, I'll
pull a mold from it to make a lighter version. For now, it'll be adequate
for the race... I'm tight on time!
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| Posing to take measurements for frame and make sure that there are
no head height interference problems with the canopy.
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Leg extension shows us where to put the bottom bracket shell. I
actually ended up with 14" of width for my 'Q' factor, more than I thought
I'd have. I'm happy about that. There is barely enough room in front for the
wheel to turn. I couldn't have made this any smaller and still fit me inside, and still have been able to turn a little. The aerodynamics are more
important than anything else. Be faithful to the foil! I'm building everything else to
accommodate the foil shape. Fairing first, bike second.
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| Here's some serious high-tech alignment in action... scrap wood, a
permanent marker, and a measuring tape. I fit, the wheels fit, now we'll
just connect the dots to make a frame hold it all together. 2" chromoly tubing will suffice.
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After making some cuts and filing the edges, its "Time to braze!"
Yeah! The final stages have begun!
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Justin is jumping all over the frame making part of the project.
I'm kind of brain dead from working until 11:30 pm last night on the fairing. It's easy to watch Justin go. I'm doing the brazing and making sure
that the frame fits the bike's needs, but Justin is the one that is alert at
this point and is keeping me on track. He even supplied me with the 2" tubing... what a guy. He even points out when I need to do a better brazing
job as I sleepily go about my business. The frame is turning out to be simple. We have gussets to reinforce the braze at the main junction.
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| Justin flattened the bottom of the joint to minimize risk of high centering the
bike if it is used after Battle Mountain for rides without the fairing; smart. The tubing is already marked for head tubes and
approximate bottom bracket locations. We're waiting for the rear wheel
from Pantour and the custom gears from Warhawk Industries to determine
the rest of the bike. They should be here Monday!
The engineer at Pantour, Morten, and Dena have worked closely with me to
develop a rear wheel just for use at Battle Mountain. It has lower rolling
resistance than their standard wheel and will be very strong. Thanks to Pantour for the killer wheels! Thanks to Ajo Bikes for sponsoring them! This
all just wouldn't be possible without the sponsors. What a good group of
people.
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I've gotta keep my cool! I sat in the closed fairing for only 20
seconds and could feel the stuffiness already. Yikes! I downloaded NACA duct
profiles from the WISIL site (thanks Warren) and made stencils to mark locations. The first study was to look at how they would work on the sides
at th rear, but this messes with the laminar flow characteristics... a big
no-no. After applying the red stencil, I soon washed them off with acetone,
never to be considered again.
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I even considered putting vents on the canopy near where my face
would be. Hmm, only if my other vents don't seem to provide adequate air. I
washed these off as well.
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Ah, hah! The bottom part of the fairing is a non-laminar surface. I
can do it all from there! Entry and exit. Rear reversed NACA ducts for dumping it all out. We'll find out in two weeks if it works.
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| Furthest forward vents to cool the leg motors.
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Central vents located just aft of the seat bottom to vent upward
across torso and head with tubing.
I'll put fiberglass sides on the vents after e-mailing these pics
to Warren, then flip it over and do a little Bondo work.
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It'll be just like having a cold Arctic blast of air... yeah, right! I'm just glad that I'm
used to the 110 degree days and 3000 foot elevation here in Tucson, Arizona.
Every day in the summer is like being in a cooker. I pity the guys that live
at cool, comfortable sea level. Ah, hah, there is a reason to live here in
the desert, hmm. Maybe (next year) I'll have time to train at the top of our
local mountain at 10,000 feet elevation over the weekends. That should help
with next year's race. For now, there's no real time for training, just lots
of red meat... yummy.
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here to go to Page 3 - Making the seat, frame and drivetrain
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| More soon!
Jeff Bales
Tucson, AZ |
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