How would you make a canopy mold?
- Thread starter acerc
- Start date
Bartman
Defender of the Noob!
don't overheat the plastic and make sure there are a lot of holes in the table to suck the air out from under the plastic. the plastic needs to be lowered down onto the plug nice and straight or it might pull if it's moving sideways at all when it first touches the plug
it might take four or five tries to get the temp and amount of sag just right to get the end result perfect
it might take four or five tries to get the temp and amount of sag just right to get the end result perfect
Terryscustom
640cc Uber Pimp
I'm out of town today but can try to find pics. PETG is definitely the material of choice. I used plaster of Paris, Bondo and epoxy primer to finish my plug. I made a few myself by building a box with a ceramic heater laying flat inside it. Put the PETG flat on top in a frame and it heats evenly.
acerc
640cc Uber Pimp
Here is my oven, table, and the frame with the one I pulled from Plexiglas. Maybe I need another element to heat the plastic quicker, when I put the plastic on and cover with the lid it only takes about a minute to heat to 310°. But I do have to put the lid on and pre-heat the space prior to starting. I put the temp gauge between the lid and plastic frame to assure it has reached the temp.
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AsphaltPilot
50cc
Hi get back with me ill take some pic of the ones I made for myB26 its pretty simple. Some Time today.
AsphaltPilot
50cc
Didn't see acerc pic I put the ones I made in the old ladys oven. he he
Bunky.F.Knuckle
150cc
I used a luan base, some white beaded foam and lots of bondo.
I used a jitter bug sander for the initial shape and then some 180 grit paper, all in the foam. Then once I got my desired shape, I laid 3 layers of 8oz glass cloth down with finishing resin. Not being too careful with how much I used, etc..... Just don't want any high bumps or raises in the glass cloth. Then about a 3/8" layer of bond, more for shaping. I got alot of info from Rick at fiber tech. I ended up taking my mold to a local shop, and the they pulled a female from my male canopy mold, to make a new male canopy mold. Ended up getting 3 pretty good canopies. None were perfect, but all very usable.
PETG is perfect for canopies. It is harder to cut, but they are very rigid!
I used a jitter bug sander for the initial shape and then some 180 grit paper, all in the foam. Then once I got my desired shape, I laid 3 layers of 8oz glass cloth down with finishing resin. Not being too careful with how much I used, etc..... Just don't want any high bumps or raises in the glass cloth. Then about a 3/8" layer of bond, more for shaping. I got alot of info from Rick at fiber tech. I ended up taking my mold to a local shop, and the they pulled a female from my male canopy mold, to make a new male canopy mold. Ended up getting 3 pretty good canopies. None were perfect, but all very usable.
PETG is perfect for canopies. It is harder to cut, but they are very rigid!
AsphaltPilot
50cc
acerc
640cc Uber Pimp
You guys have given me a lot to consider and I thank you. With all I have read here and elsewhere I think I will go the glass over foam method. Mostly because it will be a light plug and from what a semi-local vac company employee has explained to me light is what I need.
Thank you to everyone for your responses.
Thank you to everyone for your responses.
grumman-cats
50cc
Here is one of my canopy's that I made for my self designed bearcat. I made the plug out of bondo and pulled a PETG plastic canopy. It came out pretty good but not as clear as I would have liked. I also made a two piece cowling mold that would allow me to build up a fiberglass cowl inside.
