ORIGINAL: troyhm
Hi Everyone
Can you vacuum bag an internal structure ? For example an engine bay or would it just be easier to layup without the bagging. If so how could you make sure of proper adhesion between the materials and take out any excess resin.
Thanks
Troy
Yes!
I've vaccum-bagged the inside of a fiberglass fuselage. I was building a ducted fan and needed to mount the landing gear directly to the fuse walls. Since the glass was too thin by itself, the only choice I had was to thicken/stregthen the fuselage walls.
First, I cut out a piece of plastic sheeting that was large enough to cover the entire area, then put plumber's putty (dum-dum) around the edges of where the plastic would lay. I mixed up a batch of epoxy and layed the cloth down inside the fuse. Next, I layed the peel-ply, bleeder cloth (paper towels) and finally the plastic sheet down and sealed the edges into the dum-dum.
After that, I simply applied the vacuum and waited for the resin to cure. Next day, I had a very strong fuse with a 'pan' that I could use as a mounting base for the landing gear.
Vacuum will pull the resin/materials down to the surface. Use peel-ply/bleeder cloth to suck up excess resin.
Worked great!
Dan