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What else can you use to make a fuse, other than kevlar and glass?

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What else can you use to make a fuse, other than kevlar and glass?

Old 11-08-2003, 04:12 AM
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A.L. Spinz
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Default What else can you use to make a fuse, other than kevlar and glass?

Are their other fabrics that can be used other than fiberglass and $$carbon fiber$$ and $$$kevlar$$$. Why couldn't I used a vinly/polyester blend fabric with an epoxy resin to make a fuse? I'm sure it'd be lighter (maybe not as strong) but let'd face it, a rough landing wouldn't do it. And if it's gonna become a lawn dart and go in, it doesn't matter what its made of... well maybe with all the vibration and other unknown forces being inflicted on the structure in flight, might be an area for concern. What ya'll think?
Old 11-08-2003, 04:15 AM
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A.L. Spinz
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Default RE: What else can you use to make a fuse, other than kevlar and glass?

mind you, I'm speaking of an airframe that's only 48" long or smaller....[&:]
Old 11-08-2003, 05:30 AM
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Default RE: What else can you use to make a fuse, other than kevlar and glass?

Fiberglass is pretty cheap, but there's nothing that says you can't use something else. You may have trouble getting epoxy to wet out a lot of the synthetic fibers. Kevlar has a special coating to help epoxy soak in... your fabric shop blend will not have this. That said, I know a guy who used some lightweight tie-dye'd dacron fabric to give a fuselage a "psychedelic" color scheme.

-David
Old 11-08-2003, 07:08 AM
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Ed Smith
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Default RE: What else can you use to make a fuse, other than kevlar and glass?

Excluding the use of Carbons and Kevlars which generally are not necessary anyway, the material cost for a straightforward glass fuselage is less than balsa.

Ed S
Old 11-08-2003, 11:30 AM
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Default RE: What else can you use to make a fuse, other than kevlar and glass?

Thanks. I'm scratch building an f-18 from my own designed plans and I'm concerned about the weight of the fuse being that it only has a 34"ws. An now that the plug is just about complete....I'm scared to death of glassing and adding too much weight.....it's really an r&d project, but I dont want to have to start over because I made the fuse to heavy. Is it normal practice to add micro ballons to the epoxy while glassing? as you can see I have have no idea what I'm embarking on....a new journey for me.. Thanks. BTW, I'm planning on the lost foam method.
Old 11-08-2003, 12:35 PM
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Goggles
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Default RE: What else can you use to make a fuse, other than kevlar and glass?

Why not make a mold of your plug then you can make as many F-18's as you want. You can do all kinds of experiments to find the lighest fuse and if one goes in you can make another quicer than making a new plug and lost foaming it.
Old 11-08-2003, 01:05 PM
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Default RE: What else can you use to make a fuse, other than kevlar and glass?

There is a material available from CST called Coremat. A cellular cloth 2mm in thickness. It runs $13.40 per yard. (a lot cheaper than carbon or kevlar) I've heard of people using this while laying up in a female mold. First in the mold is about 3oz cloth then coremat. I've never used it myself but have seen some molded fuselages and they're ultra stiff. However a guy told me you have to vacuum bag when using this product.

Todd
Old 11-08-2003, 06:11 PM
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Ed Smith
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Default RE: What else can you use to make a fuse, other than kevlar and glass?

Beware the lost foam method. It sort of works. But you will end up with one disgusting mess inside your fuselage. That melted foam/solvent has to go somewhere. Try melting a small piece of foam first.

Ed s

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