Cozy1200

Help, I've been using plastic to cover my workpieces before weighing them down. The problem is small air pockets are trapping under the plastic and making marks on the part. I thought, sure I go buy some butcher paper. WRONG. Butchers don't use butcher paper here, they put the meat in plastic. Australians call plain newsprint butcher paper, but it doesn't have any coating. Then I thought, I'll revert back to wax paper. Wrong again. I can't track down Wax paper in large enough rolls to make it cost feasable. SUGGESTIONS???

Seeing that we're heading off topic, I might as well join in. Living as in "outsider" in Australia, I'm constantly amazed at the "freedoms" that Australians are willing to give up in the name of "being Safe", "for the good of the people", or "not to be like the bad traits of America". I only half-jokingly tell my friends here that: "We American still value our rights, even if it is the right to be stupid"

Your list of qualifications and expertise never stop amazing me.

I pulled the peel-ply on back of the seatback. The peel-ply makes the surface look nice. There was only a couple shiny spots. After closer examination, I'm a little concerned. The self-made fiasasco with the cling wrap has come back to haunt me. I think I'm looking at an overall dry layup. It looks like a lot of small airbubbles down under the weave. There are a several larger airbubbles less than 1" that I'm confident that I can inject. The pictures don't do justice. [image1] If you look closely, you can see my pencil marks. These are the worst of the dry spots. A couple are quite large. [image2] A spot next to the flox corners. I'm not sure if this is air, but it may be excess micro. [image3] More dry area? [image4] Airbubble. I should be able to inject epoxy here. [image5] And to top it all off, I have a terrible corner that'll need a structural repair. So suggestions? Oh ya, I've given up on the cling wrap. I cut all the glass needed for f-22 & f-28. I'll do that layup tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I know what to avoid now. The good news? I just bought 1,000 tongue depressors for $20. I think Spodman gonna want some!

Holy Cow, where do I start. First I pull the peel-ply off F-22 & F-28. Both turned out real nice. I'm pleased. I am going buy some butcher paper for covering layups before weighting them down. I've been using industrial rolls of cling wrap (the stuff they wrap pallets with) to protect my plywood. The problem is no matter how careful you are, it always wrinkles a little. Especially were it touches other plastic. These wrinkles show up in the final part. Nothing that needs repair, but the part isn't as smooth as it could be. Second, I HATE FLOX CORNERS! It took me between 30 minutes and an hour to put flox in the corners of the seatback. WHAT THE TRICK to putting flox in the corners? The best method I found was to put a blob on a squeegee and use a stiring stick to push it into the corner. Then go back and carefully squeegee off the excess careful not pull it away from the glass or foam. It's wasn't easy and I kept having to go back and touch some up. I still think I ended up with a few few air bubbles where the flox wasn't completely up against the inside edge of the foam. So finally I got to what I thought was acceptably floxed corners. Then I went on to the micro. I made what I thought was a huge batch of micro, but nope, I need more. The center was not a problem, but what's the trick when working close to flox and how close do you get? On one edge I barely touched the flox and pulled out several chunks. I worked careful to get micro up close to the flox, but it simply took forever. Onto the one layer of bid. Should be simple. Big batch of epoxy, oops need more again. A few spots don't want to wet out so add a little heat and squeegee. Well gotta get that edges to hang properly, so mix more epoxy and wet all the edges. Finally the layup looks reasonably good. Put on the peel-ply and add a little more epoxy. I realize now it was probably too little and suck some out of the layup. Squeegee the epoxy around and add a little more heat to wet it out. Now add the plastic, and squeegee more to remove some air bubbles. There's a few bubbles near where the two plies overlay each over. Squeegee a little more with some heat. A few small bubbles near the flox. I keep working it trying to get rid of the small bubbles out. The problem was I kept adding heat. I'm learning MGS 285 wets out so well that heat alone can also make if almost flow right out of the layup making it dry. No I've got a bunch of airbubbles from what I believe is me over working the layup. So I lift the peel-ply add some more epoxy and stipple with some heat. I can definitely tell the layup is beginning to get stiff. A lot more work and finally it's back to a reasonable state. A few small bubbles, but it's as good as it's going to get. Finally time to move on. Hmm. Amy already went to bed. She has been coming out to help stretch out the industrial cling-wrap and and carefully lay in on the layup. Let's see how I can do this by myself. Well there plastic already on the layup with a bit of epoxy. So I pull out about a foot of wrap and carfully lay the roll on the layup. Then stick the cling wrap down to the table and start of the layup. "Gee this works great" as I unroll the cling wrap. I hear some plastic poping and cracking. Oh that must be the airbubble between the plastic and the cling wrap. Move over and do it again. One last look before I weigh it down and this is when I realize I shot myself in the foot. The popping sound was the plastic sticking to the roll of clingwarp. The problem is it is the side that rolling up and away from the layup. Not only did is suck up the cling-wrap, but also the plastic, the peel-ply, and the glass. There are now tones of airbubbles and lifted glass all over the layup. Many of them in different layers. Some under the glass, some between the glass and peel-ply, others between the peel-ply and plastic. So I spent another hour pushing the bubbles together. As this point I see no other options. The layup has the correct amout of epoxy, it just has trapped air-pockets, no dry spots. So finally I poke a few small holes to push the air out. I think I got all the big one and pushed out most of the small ones. I'll now more tomorrow. ...and I know NOT to do that again! So I think I've finally learned to not worry about mixing up too much epoxy or getting it just right. It fairly easy to remove the excess and DON'T overwork it! It's good to know that I should be able to fix any screwup and learn from it. I just learned a lot in a 4 hour out layup that should have taken 2. I hope you all get a laugh out of this. I learn how much I can laugh after I see the cured layup and see what repairs may be needed. I'll have pictures tomorrow. But hey, I'm building a plane and loving it.

Today was a public holiday. Something about a horse race. Our washer/dryer combo died today, so I worked on it for a couple hours and found a transistor on the circuit board was blown. So it looks like we'll be shopping this weekend. I removed the peel-ply from the seatback to what I thought was pretty good layup. On closer inspection I think I found a few air bubbles at the angled area. I didn't think it was that tight of an angle. I wonder if the weight of the hanging cloth pull it up. It looks like I'll be injecting some epoxy soon. Other than that I'm pretty happy with the layup. I wanted something else to be curing while I prep the other side of the seatback so I did the layup on F22 & F28. Again about 2 hours from first micro to cleanup. This time I did use John's plastic peel-ply technique; I'M SOLD. It was so easy to chase bubbles out. I was amazed at how little micro was needed this time. I didn't realize the different type was foam would need such a range of micro, but not it makes sense. As you can see I did not cut the bulkhead foam down to the correct size. I'll be using the router & template technique. The templates were made up a couple months ago. After supper I turned my attention back to the seatback. I used the Fein to remove the excess glass. Then turned it over and sanded the edges and cut the flox triangles into the edges. Using a cone Dremel bit made short work of sanding the backside of the glass in the triangle. The bit would remind you of the Permagrit bits, but I think it's carbide tipped. With the Fein being so easy to use and cut, I'm going to want until AFTER I've don't the second layup to cut the corners and electrical channel. I may even hold off until I'm ready to fit it into the fuse. Glass, Peel-ply, and plastic are all cut and ready for the next layup.

I'm using MGS 285. In OZ it's not an option, it's the only epoxy imported by the distributor. Spruce can't ship it because it's toxic. I don't know if it would be possible to import MGS 335 directly from Germany in small quantities. When we move back to the states, I'll change to 335 on price alone. At least for additional protection, the hand cream sounds appealing. Wearing a long sleeve shirt only puts a layer of clothing you and the epoxy. Wearing a tyvec suit would solve that. My concern is as we head into summer it will get quite hot and a long sleeve shirt/suit would be very uncomfortable. I'm thinking of using the hand cream clear up past my elbows. I'll check the fiberglass supplier that I bought my peel-ply from. www.FGI.com.au

I guess I should rephrase that. Using small bottle that have to be refilled often makes it more noticeable the amount of epoxy used. The pump holds more and would need refilled less often.

I thought I start a more appropriately named thread to document my progress. I prepped the foam for the seatback, F-22, & F-28 over the weekend. It rained solidly so I waited until today to slop epoxy. So TONIGHT I laid the first epoxy in the plane! (where's the backflipping smilie?) Total time from mixing the first batch of micro to final cleanup was just about 2 hours. I was surprised how much epoxy is took to wet up everything. I'm awaiting the rebuild kit for the epoxy pump, so I'm stuck using a scale and plastic bottles. Between the confidence layup and the seatback, I've gone threw .75 liter. I'm using a 1 liter bottle. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, the seat back is a reasonable size. It's probably more physiological than anything. It seems strange to already needed to refill the bottle. It probably won't be an issue if I started using the pump. Someone suggested that I make the micro thick to fill up the open cell foam. The plans says micro slurry should be equal parts microballoons and epoxy. I think I mixed at least two parts balloons to one part epoxy. The layup went fine. I thought I was close to finishing when I applied a little more heat. I squeegeed and took off some more epoxy. Actually too much epoxy, the glass went dry. So back on with a little epoxy. I didn't realize how easy it would be over squeegee a part, especially with heat. I peel-plied the entire layup. It was a little tricky to get it laid out without any wrinkles. After it was lightly wetted out, I covered it in plastic wrap. Then placedt a piece of plywood on top and threw several things on it for weight. We'll see how it turns out tomorrow. After everything was cleaned up, I cut the glass for f-22 & f-28. The foam is ready and I should be able to do the layups tomorrow.

While cleaning up I had a little bit of a scare. Somewhere in the process of cleaning I must have leaned up again something with epoxy on it. I had a blob of epoxy on my T-shirt directly over my stomach and I could feel it touching my skin. I lifted my shirt to see if I had epoxy on me. I was horrified to see a bunch of little red bumps like a rash. I instantly striped my t-shirt and clean up with some clean vinegar. I then washed it off with soap and water. Within an hour the bumps and redness disappeared. This may be a normal reaction when epoxy touch your skin. I won't be taking any chances. The last thing I want/need is to develop a reaction to epoxy. I'm not the type that normally have problems like this. I don't have any reactions or allergies of any sort. I've already heeded other's advice and double glove with latex and nitrile. I'll need to pay closer attention to prevent this happening again. I probably start wearing another shirt or offer a little more protection. Any other suggestions?

Same here, I have the FF points, just didn't do it. Sure, I loaded it down with about everything I had around the shop. I won't rule the VB out. Time to break out your plans. Page 14? ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS says If this is out of date, please someone let me know. Once I read closer and realized it said urethane, I used the 1" think urethane that will be used to build the NACA scoop. I cut it down to 1/2" and made the piece.

Edge, I'm still debating whether there was anything useful in your post or not. But I got a good chuckle out of it! sl My thought on how I would weigh the part down. I plan on using peel-ply on the entire part, then cover with plastic. Then us a sheet of plywood over the entire piece. It should provide a constant pressure across the entire piece.

The practice layup turned out nice, but slightly light at 9.5 oz. No air bubbles present. The top layer is ever so slightly dry and rough. A little bit more epoxy probably would have solved the problem. Live and learn. The dark spots are of no concern, there was a couple pinholes in the plastic. Epoxy soaked threw to the table. A non-Issue because the top had already been waxed. The confidence layup went well and didn't take much time at all. A few days of curing and I'll be showing off to the neighbors. (and of course receiving strange looks). Last night I prep the foam, fiberglass, and peelply for the seatback. I was ready to start slapping epoxy today, but it has been raining steadily for the last 24 hours and humidity was over 85%. So no layups today. I did have a slight (but considerably legitimate) distraction today. The Redbull AirRace world championship round was this weekend in Perth. I had disparately wanted to attended, but was overruled by swmbo. The Australian TV coverage on pretty good with 3 hours each on Saturday and Sunday. Since I couldn't do the seatback layup, I moved forwards with what I could. I prep the foam for F-28 & F-22. I still need to slightly sand the micro joints and cut the fiberglass. depending on how quickly I do the seatback layup tomorrow, I may do these layups as well. BTW, The fein sander is amazing!!! QUESTION???? When I do the seatback layup, should I weigh it down to prevent it from curling when it cures?

We also don't have Diet Pepsi. It's some poor imitation called Pepsi Light. Way too sweet. Coke varieties are pretty good. Also having a fountain machine in gas stations/convenience stores is unheard-of. ...oh, the prices we pay to live in a foreign country. The last two trips home, my parents have met us at the airport. I'm met with a hug and a 32oz McDonald's Diet Coke. I normally polish a second one off before the baggage claim delivers my luggage. ......... Hello, I'm Drew Chaplin. I'm addicted to Diet Coke and I have a problem.

Practice Layup Done!! Doesn't look too bad at this point. I'll have to wait and see how it looks when it's cured. I do know I need to work on keeping the fiber straighter. Onto the Confidence layup, Nat says to use green foam. I have no Green foam. So what type of foam is used? I didn't remember to order extra foam/fiberglass for these layups. The picture frame, out of the foam for the NACA, is there enough left so that I can use some, or should I try to track down something else locally? thanks

Actually, At this point I'm quite please with everything. I haven't inspected all the foam piece by piece, but I've not found any damage or missing items. Spruce was good to work with. Having them return a phone call didn't always work, but email were always answered by the next day. Overall, I'm satisfied with my ASS ORDER. (Ha ha, that funny ASS ORDER). So if they had missed an item, would that mean they Screwed up my ASS? It may contributed to the international shipment that they gave it an extra effort. On my next order, I'm going to take order the CG advise on hardware and order extras. I've made up a spreadsheet of all the hardware used in the plane and in what chapter. To order the majority of the nuts, bolts, screws (Minus the rate large pricey ones) for the plane would cost $300--$500. The the chart you can quickly determine where you'll need them and what the next longer size is. So they idea is to order all the hardware for the plane and the next couple sizes up. Allot of the time, the next size up may be used later in the build. So go ahead and buy it now in case you need it.

I think I'm a builder now. Today Spodman was kind enough to help me transport my shipment from the Customs Broker to my house. He pulled his trailer, but surprisingly it fit in the back of his car. My car wasn't large enough hold some of the stuff so I asked for his help. So below is us having a celebratory beer (or two) after loading the stuff into the shop. I'm still flabbergasted that it cost me a total of $1366 USD to ship and clear $2010 worth of aircraft parts. So, tomorrow will be the first layup.

I missed Cowra this year, but last night at the SAAA meeting, I hear there was a gorgeous LEZ there. There wasn't a direct photo, but did I see a Cozy there?? Drew

Today I picked up 25kG of MGS 235 (about 5-6 gallons) from the distributor on the other side of the city. This is the first official part that will become part of the plane. It was just under $1500AUD. At this current exchange rate that $1350! ouch. The owner was gone, but one of the kids in the store working on some surfboards helped me load the stuff in the car. So I told him it was somewhat of a tradition to take a picture with the deliveryman with the first shipment. He was like "WHAT?????" "You what me to do what?" I told him I just wanted a picture of him holding the epoxy. He agreed. So below is the the kid in the surfboard shop delivery to me my shipment of MGS!!!!!!! THE PRE-BUILD OFFICIALLY ENDS...

thanks for the note, but the shipment is now on it's way. It's good to know that it may be available locally

Bruce, Don Jones produced a dvd of PHOTOs he took at RR. It sounds like he took some air-to-air shots which did interest me. I've read good things from the people that already purchased one. Below is his email. I just ordered one and had it mailed to our US forwarders. Anyone in OZ that would like to buy one, I'll be happy to consolidate an order. I have a small stash of Cozy supplies that my in-laws are getting ready to send over, a few more DVDs will not be a problem. Contact me privately and we'll make arrangements with Don. As a fellow photography, I'd like to help Don. I know he's not getting rich over this.

Aus GA Pilot, Welcome to the forum. Are you in OZ? What part? There are a couple of canards around and I have supplies on order to start a cozy.

Time for a quick update. -Table Frame Built. -Cloth Cabinet built & hung. -Hot Box Done. -Tonight a friend & I are going over to buy wood & masonite for table top & cloth cabinet top. (I have no way of hauling anything wider than 3') My father-in-law is collecting misc stuff that I can't get from spruce. So far I've ordered: -Dust's favorite Sandpaper from Supergrit. I ordered a variety of others to have as well. About $60 worth. -New foam base for my Porter-Cable Speed-Bloc sander. -Dritz Scissors from James Town distributors (Only place I could find that had them in stock and reasonably priced) -DVD of RR photos from Don Jones -Medo Vaccum pump. -RST Antennae Kit When all this arrives he'll ship it out to me. -I've opted NOT to order the fuel sight gauges yet. I'll installed them when the strakes are attached. -The Pump Rebuild kit was back ordered from Spruce. I may call Michaels Engineering direct to see if I can get one. -Webcam up and running. Oh yea, SPRUCE SHIPPED MY ORDER TODAY!!!! ...the pre-build continues...

GUILTY!!! I'm the one that did the poor job. I photoshoped it as a joke about 6 months or a year ago. Good catch. Here's a slight improvement.

Oh course it's already been done. Nat experimented with it before going a more traditional route. ....Sorry, I never get tired of this photograph.