The vertical spars went in like a treat.
There was an absolute minimum of wasted glue, and the resulting single skin is now very, very stiff. The next task is to work out where the extra reinforcements will go, that are designed to stop this type of failure, as well as the tube for the control rod then it is time to put it all together. The plan is to do all that tomorrow.
With a busy work schedule leading up to Christmas and christmas itself, there has been very little movement on the new centreboard.
Well I got back into it today with the pull-trusion being glued onto one side of the vertical.
With this foil I am making a conscious effort to take things slow and steady, with a view to maximise strength per gram in the construction. When planning this foil, I thought that I would only be able to get a single length of pull-trusion in the foil and laying flat with a ton of glue to match the square shape into the angle of the foil.
Needless to say I am very happy that I managed to get two full lengths, on edge, essentially forming a box section right through the entire length of the foil, which will give a significant improvement on my current, “soft centre” main foil. (Before anyone mentions it, the screw through the mould and the pull-trusion that looks like it was not straight were adjusted after this photo was taken. Also if you are wondering you are looking at the end of the mould which used to be attached to the square horizontals.)
This new construction method is working out as a much better way for part timers like myself. It removes the need to perform a single, huge one day effort, and makes it a series of nice, simple 1-2 hour jobs, and if you were making multiple foils, you could build several in parallel.
977 grams, that’s how much the completed horizontal weighs, and try as I might I cannot bend it. So to say that I am happy would be understatement of the year.
So I am still on track for my target weight of 2.5KG for the completed foil, which is a nice 2kg weight saving compared to my current one.
The section looks awesome (compared to my current POS foil), and even though it is still the same NACA section as my old one, the new construction method has resulted in a much more accurate shape, with much, much finer leading edges.
The slot has now been cut and the T has been fitted. These shots are just prior to bonding the T in to the horizontal.
After finally getting a week where minor running tweaks to the boat aren’t required it was time to jump back into the construction of my V 2 foils. The next item on the build agenda is the T-joint. Freshly armed with the info from John Ilett that he uses a ton of carbon. I proceeded to use a ton of carbon, also known as 1/2 a Kg of unidirectional cloth.
The idea was to build a T that replaces the two L shaped stainless pieces in my last foil with a solid carbon T that is then bonded to the horizontal and vertical spars. This is a first for my foils to use spars as the old ones relied on the strength of the skins alone with a core of epoxy bog.
The “mould” was very agricultural, but did the job providing a nice square T Join.
Whilst that was curing, it was time to trim the skins, so they match how they were designed, including the thickness.
The back of the T was then removed with a grinder, an some CST pulltrusion bonded in its place. The last shot shows where it will approximately be placed when it is glued together.
