I saw this http://www.losethestraps.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=204 on a journey thru the interweb today and it got me amped on the idea of doing a bit my self (how hard can it be )

I found plenty of how to's for vac pumps and formers but I have a couple of questions involing the layup

Is peel ply necessary or could i get away with polyethelyne sheet? and what is a suitable breather layer,is a specialised material required or is it possible to get away with layered mutton cloth or something along those lines?

I'm just researching at the mo as a recent kite purchase has my brownie points at drangerously low levels

Peelply or release film(like the perforated plastic that baguettes come in) prevent the breather from curing to the laminate. It acts as a non-stick wicking layer and the breather helps bot soak up excess resin and allow the vacuum to progress around the whole laminate.

For breather you can use any cheap fabric. The $5 packs of flannelet sheeting from the Warehouse, old duvet, blanket or anything you were going to throw away anyway. The industrial solution is a firm polyester batting like material and while it works well you can make 2 boards out of the $5 packs of flannelet sheeting from the Warehouse for less than the cost of 1m of the industrial stuff.

Consider all these materials as disposables to the process.

check out the lazy sunday thread for vac pump and board lamainating pics.

be warned it wont be cheap by the time you tool up and build you could have easily bought 2-3 trademe shitters for the same price.

don't let that stop you. its cool to shred on something yourve made yourself.

ps get the right peel ply as you don't want that layer to fail. as guster says almost any fabric can be used as a breather cloth.

Thanks for that info Guster,flannelet sheets fits into the buget plan very nicely,would poly sheet be suitable to cover the former or is waxing definitly required?

Cheers plummet ,will defo check out that thread,once I get started I'll probably make my self alsorts of stuff so it'll be worth it in the long run

depends on the finish you want to achieve. if you want a super shiny finish then yourl need to prep your mould accordingly. if not then using vag bag will work.

Peelply is 100% polyester and you can use polyethylene as both bag and mold surface. It is important to choose a plastic or fabric that does not bond with your resin. Even without the resin bond peelply can be difficult to remove just due to static cling.

Perforated release film is much cheaper than peelply unless you can find a cheap source of finely woven 100% polyester material. Last bit I bought was under $1/m. Since you don't care about colour or pattern there's often bargains to be had at emporiums or fabric stores so do a bit of hunting around.

I use a sheet of aluminium as a mold surface and others use plastic, glass or other treated surface. Cheap clear untinted PVA or carnuba wax makes a good mold release. If using a solid mold surface a release agent is definitely recommended.