I watched a few of the videos on the Metan site and learned a few things. It looks like they buy rigid foam sheets and score & perf them. that's a little cheaper. It doesn't look like there's much precision involved - just a saw and a drill. They also bag under the layup on the table and use weights at the edges to keep it flat under vacuum. I assumed that I would need to draw it down to a rigid form. Some of this is minor stuff but still good to know. The whole think looks like redneck arts & crafts.
I noticed that the Metan VI includes keeping the vacuum on during infusion. Some of the videos I have seen from suppliers show a layup under vacuum and then the existing vacuum draws the resin in - no pump running when the resin goes in. I just assumed the pump was there to hopefully salvage the part in case of leak. Is there a right way? Why?
Thanks for the resin summary erebus. That's kind of what I was thinking but I wasn't sure. I have never seen it summarized enough for my attention span.
I haven't found thinned VE or PE but I haven't looked very much - I am sure I will find it. I'm near Ft Lauderdale so if its about boats they sell it here. I read that styrene can be added to PE (not sure about VE) to thin it but I didn't see much about how it affects the strength. I imagine it would have to diminish the strength of the resin if 10-15% of "not resin" were added. Maybe someone else would know more about thinning.
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