Jump to content

Cabinet for fibereglass


David Pierce

Recommended Posts

Someone please check me on this, but I believe BID and UNI come on rolls 36 inches wide. (Or is it 38?) A roll of peel ply is 48 inches.

 

Truth be told, I never took the time to build a cabinet. I bought the cloth in small allotments. I just kept the rolls wrapped up in their brown shipping paper and stored them in a dry place.

 

Buying cloth in large allotments has its pros and cons. The pros include having lots of cloth on hand with minimal shipping charges. The cons are that the longer the cloth sits out, the more water (humidity) it can absorb. Larger rolls can be harder to manhandle when doing layups (like when rolling out the cloth when covering the wings....). And of course, you must build a cabinet. :-)

 

Just kidding on the cabinet. It's a good idea to have one. (But you can get by without one too.) I got too "absorbed" (pun, get it?) into the building of the plane to build a cabinet. I didn't have a heat box for the epoxy pumps until year 3.

 

...Wayne Hicks

Wayne Hicks

Cozy IV Plans #678

http://www.ez.org/pages/waynehicks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My Uni and BID rolls are 39". I'll have to find another home for my peel ply - it's 48" just like you said, and my cabinet is 40".

 

I did fall into one nice device. While scouting through the local transfer station (aka dump) looking for dorm refers, I came across a "church table" with fold up legs that folds in the middle. I tossed the messed up particle board top, recovered it with plywood/formica and hinged it to the front of my cabinet. Now the front cabinet cover unfolds and drops down into a 42"x96" cutting table on nice metal legs.

...Destiny's Plaything...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If i were to do anything diferent it would be to have a roll around rack to roll the glass off of and onto the big layups with out having to lift the rolls of uni. Damn stuff is heavy

 

enjoy the build

 

dust

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I built my cabinet ~48" wide. I had the room and didn't see the point of cutting a perfectly good piece of plywood. Did the same as everybody else with the folding leg on the front that drops down to form the table. I used OSB for the cover/table (some scrap that I had lying around) and found that I had trouble with the cloth catching on the wood chips. To fix this I bought some of the peel and stick vinyl flooring tiles. The cheapest, whitest I could find at Home Depot. I think they were 60 cents a piece. I covered the table with this and it has been a great cutting surface for the rotary cutters. It is almost as good as the self healing mat I bought on the same day. If I knew it was as good as it is I would have skipped buying the self-healing mat.

 

One final tip. I've used plastic peel ply for all of my layups so far. I get it in rolls that are 52" wide. Too wide for the cabinet, so I cut off one end with the Fien tool (will the uses of this little wonder tool end???). This gave me a roll of plastic about 6" wide that is PERFECT for doing BID tapes.

Rui Lopes

Cozy MkIV S/N: 1121

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmmm, build a cabinet instead of a plane. Yep, you purest will balk, but I just hung (?)...hanged(?)....mounted my rolls of fiberglass from closet rods mounted to the side of my hanger (garage). I keep plastic over it. Cheap, easy and has worked so far.

 

I don't have the option of buying small quantities, I get all of it when the kit is delivered. In Houston, I am not sure how not to be bothered by humidity. Don't have a hot box for the epoxy either...but we stay pretty warm down here most days.

 

As to a cutting surface, per Velocity Inc's recommendation, I use a "luan" (hollow-core interior door...I prefer unpainted) door on saw horses. It is not as fancey as a table with folding legs, but it is very mobile and can be easily stored away. I have a couple and can set them up where and if needed. At only about $15.00 a piece, I really don't mind them getting trashed. Now, as to cutting glass, I STRONGLY recommend the "pizza cutter" rotary (me and rotary...see a theme? <g>) razor blade cutter. IMNSHO, it is FAR superior and easier than scissors.

 

FWIW.

 

All the best,

 

Chris

Christopher Barber

Velocity SE/FG w/yoke. Zoom, zoom, zoom.

www.LoneStarVelocity.com

 

Live with Passion...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have a magic workshop, i haven't built a thing, a workbench is mentioned in the plans, and whalla i go to plane day and one appears. a hot box/mixing station is needed and i go to plane day and it is there as if by magic, it seems to just grow out of the floor.

 

special saw horses are needed at a specific height and suddenly they are there, this plane building stuff is mystical magical stuff, i have even heard of a magic credit card that can be used to obtain materials and supplies for a plane.

 

(oh btw thanks clifford the wizard)

 

enjoy the build

 

dust

maker wood dust and shavings - foam and fiberglass dust and one day a cozy will pop out, enjoying the build

 

i can be reached at

 

http://www.canardcommunity.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, you all measured out the cloth cabinet just fine, anyone know the dimensions of the epoxy pump? Looking at the catalog it "appears" to be about 20" high, maybe 12" wide and maybe 10" deep?

 

Am I close? About to begin finally and am cleaning out the shop and constructing the table, thought I might just box in a level of shelves and insulate for an epoxy pump but haven't ordered it yet.

 

Any help is appreciated.

 

Stewart

Stew Joslin

Coventry, Connecticut

Plans #1287

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...

I was looking for a good movable rack for my cloth. I had one made out of 2 X 4's and some conduit pipe but was not easily moveable. I did my wing layups by myself since it was so easy to just roll the cloth over the foam

and drop it down slowly into place. Seems to be easy to avoid alot of wrinkles.

 

I found this modular clothes rack that seems to fill the bill. $65.50.

http://www.garmentrack.com/easaszrac.html

 

These commercial units seemed to be overkill for me. http://www.fibreglast.com/showproducts-category-Fabric+Racks-134.html

 

The top rod has end pieces that slip over the vertical rods. I will cut off part of the horizontal rod leaving the horizontal ends and leave enough so I can slip in a piece of 1" pipe or conduit. Seems like my cloth has a 1 1/2" diameter paper tube.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was looking for a good movable rack for my cloth. I had one made out of 2 X 4's and some conduit pipe but was not easily moveable. I did my wing layups by myself since it was so easy to just roll the cloth over the foam

and drop it down slowly into place. Seems to be easy to avoid alot of wrinkles.

 

I found this modular clothes rack that seems to fill the bill. $65.50.

http://www.garmentrack.com/easaszrac.html

 

These commercial units seemed to be overkill for me. http://www.fibreglast.com/showproducts-category-Fabric+Racks-134.html

 

The top rod has end pieces that slip over the vertical rods. I will cut off part of the horizontal rod leaving the horizontal ends and leave enough so I can slip in a piece of 1" pipe or conduit. Seems like my cloth has a 1 1/2" diameter paper tube.

the rack works OK on the uni but not on the bid it is best to roll it out on the table to cut. the bid does not work well when pulled off a roll as it tends to distort and strech the fabric out of shape.

Evolultion Eze RG -a two place side by side-200 Knots on 200 HP. A&P / pilot for over 30 years

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I built a cabinet on the first plane it was a waste of time. It was to short to do most things on and was in the way all the time. Now I keep the clothe in a cabinet and put up a piece of melaminen with 2X4's under it it is slick and does not catch the clothe it is big enough to roll out the clothe and cut several parts at a time. I put it on saw horses and just set it against the wall when done it takes up very little space. I reccomend a hot box for your epoxy that is time well spent.

Steve Harmon

Lovin Life in Idaho

Cozy IV Plans #1466 N232CZ

http://websites.expercraft.com/bigsteve/

Working on Chapter 19,21

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I just posted some pics of my shop setup for anyone needing some ideas. Its not perfect, not high dollar, but it is effective. If anyone has any questions feel free to email or post back. Other pics are under "general and prebuild" titled "pics of my shop setup" Now its time to get building. I hope the chapter kits get here this week.

post-5372-141090158759_thumb.jpg

post-5372-141090158762_thumb.jpg

post-5372-141090158765_thumb.jpg

post-5372-141090158767_thumb.jpg

post-5372-14109015877_thumb.jpg

Rob Wiehl

COZY MKIV #1521

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information