KnottyBuoyz III - The Project Update - Page 7

**knottybuoyz** · 12-09-2009, 14:21

Last "HoneyDo" complete. Now I can't tell people I'm the house on the street with the gravel driveway!

Next post to this thread will be me putting up the bowshed to build my boat. Standby.....

**Pblais** · 23-09-2009, 21:27

Quote:

Parts are piling up! I had to create a picture inventory so I could remember what I've bought already!

Buying the same stuff twice - devastating!

**knottybuoyz** · 24-09-2009, 03:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pblais

Buying the same stuff twice - devastating!

Hmmmm? Maybe I'll build two boats and stick 'em together eh? Oh my no!

That'd be a catamaran then!

**knottybuoyz** · 12-10-2009, 15:23

The question is: Can you make your own power (AC/DC) distribution panel cheaper than you can buy one? NO! But I'm doing it anyways. Why? Because I can and now that boating season has wrapped up I have a need to tinker. So a custom power distribution panel seems like a good project.

I found a material that is basically dyed carbon fiber, Texalium. It comes in a number of colors and is used primarily as an overlay in various applications. It's not like carbon fiber, it's stiff and will not drape over odd shaped objects but it's perfect for flat panels.

The primary color for the boat is blue so this'll add a nice custom touch. Next step was to plan the panel. Hmmm? A quick google search turns up "Front Panel Designer". Great lil' app perfectly suited to the task. Here's what the output looks like.

Front Panel is designed for people to have them manufacture their panels for you. It'll even cost out the project. They can't engrave on Texalium so we'll use adhesive backed laser engraved labels. Switches are all Carling marine, breakers are all Blue Sea, LED's are Blue Sea as well as the battery switch and analog meters. AC Selector source is Kraus & Naimer.

I got started on this project today creating the panel. Texalium is only 0.015" thick so I had to lay up some fiberglass & core mat to get to the 1/8" thickness req'd for a panel. Took about half an hour to cut and lay up the various materials. One layer of 1708 biaxial & 2mm core mat for the substrate then the Texalium. This gets overlayed with a very fine peel ply (makes peeling everything apart easy hence the name and leaves a nice fine matt finish) (nylon sheet) and the flow media. This gets covered by a special vacuum bagging (infusion) film. Vacuum is applied and the entire stack gets compressed.

Started infusing the panel at 1500 hrs and it was fully infused 40 mins later.

The reddish color comes from the plastic flow media (plastic screen). Resin is fed in the bottom and migrates across the layup to the vacuum at the top. This is done under high vacuum 29" HG. Here's the fully infused panel.

It'll take at least 24 hrs before I can start to pull it apart. The epoxy resin is very thin and has a very long pot life (4 hrs). Because it's such a thin panel I might leave it for 48 hrs for it to stiffen up a bit more before handling it.

Just a rough estimate but this panel cost approx. $50 in materials counting the 4 oz. of epoxy I spilled on the basement floor (which is now waterproofed). There's enough material there to make 3 panels 8" wide x 18" high. Will post pics when I part it from the tooling surface. Standby.

**knottybuoyz** · 13-10-2009, 16:03

This is one of the aspects of the process I totally haven't come to grips with yet, the waste. A lot of material goes in the gash.

I couldn't wait and pulled it off the tooling surface (malamine). Results were not quite what I expected, little rough in some areas and the layup looks a little dry. Too much vacuum maybe. I would have gotten a better surface on the Texalium if I had layed it up upside down on glass. Might try that next.

Sorry about the crappy close up. Cheapo camera, this was the best I could get.

Obviously I haven't perfected my technique yet but I'll get there eventually. The process as a whole has a lot of advantages, too many to go into here and a few drawbacks such as the waste mentioned earlier. Controlling the vacuum is key. I use an automated setup if anyone's interested I'll document that if you like.

I don't know if this piece will work. I read the instructions for the core mat "after" I infused the part. It said "Not Compatible with Epoxy"! Duh! It likely won't bond or won't bond well enough. I did get the thickness I was looking for, well pretty close, was looking for 0.125" and got 0.133".

Oh well lessons learned onto the next one.

**knottybuoyz** · 18-10-2009, 04:21

We now have a prime mover. Yanmar 4-JHTE. It's lightly used, 675 hrs. Comes complete with everything req'd to get it up and running including all manuals, tool kit, wiring harness, gauges, muffler, transmission etc.. $3K US so even if it needs a good overhaul (likely before we install it) we'll still be significantly below cost of a new one.

We'll be heading down to Rhode Island on the 2nd. of November to pick it up! It was this or a cruise in the Caribbean this winter. I left it up to the Admiral to decide. She chose the engine! Good Admiral!

12-09-2009, 14:21	#1
knottybuoyz Moderator Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Canada Boat: Bateau.com TW28 Modified Posts: 2,343	Last "HoneyDo" complete. Now I can't tell people I'm the house on the street with the gravel driveway! Next post to this thread will be me putting up the bowshed to build my boat. Standby..... __________________ Yours Aye! Rick ~^~^~^^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~^~^~~^~^~^^~~^~^ "If it breaks, make it stronger." If it's not broke, try harder!" Author unknown. Last edited by knottybuoyz; 12-09-2009 at 14:32.

12-10-2009, 15:23	#4
knottybuoyz Moderator Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Canada Boat: Bateau.com TW28 Modified Posts: 2,343	The answer is no! The question is: Can you make your own power (AC/DC) distribution panel cheaper than you can buy one? NO! But I'm doing it anyways. Why? Because I can and now that boating season has wrapped up I have a need to tinker. So a custom power distribution panel seems like a good project. I found a material that is basically dyed carbon fiber, Texalium. It comes in a number of colors and is used primarily as an overlay in various applications. It's not like carbon fiber, it's stiff and will not drape over odd shaped objects but it's perfect for flat panels. The primary color for the boat is blue so this'll add a nice custom touch. Next step was to plan the panel. Hmmm? A quick google search turns up "Front Panel Designer". Great lil' app perfectly suited to the task. Here's what the output looks like. Front Panel is designed for people to have them manufacture their panels for you. It'll even cost out the project. They can't engrave on Texalium so we'll use adhesive backed laser engraved labels. Switches are all Carling marine, breakers are all Blue Sea, LED's are Blue Sea as well as the battery switch and analog meters. AC Selector source is Kraus & Naimer. I got started on this project today creating the panel. Texalium is only 0.015" thick so I had to lay up some fiberglass & core mat to get to the 1/8" thickness req'd for a panel. Took about half an hour to cut and lay up the various materials. One layer of 1708 biaxial & 2mm core mat for the substrate then the Texalium. This gets overlayed with a very fine peel ply (makes peeling everything apart easy hence the name and leaves a nice fine matt finish) (nylon sheet) and the flow media. This gets covered by a special vacuum bagging (infusion) film. Vacuum is applied and the entire stack gets compressed. Started infusing the panel at 1500 hrs and it was fully infused 40 mins later. The reddish color comes from the plastic flow media (plastic screen). Resin is fed in the bottom and migrates across the layup to the vacuum at the top. This is done under high vacuum 29" HG. Here's the fully infused panel. It'll take at least 24 hrs before I can start to pull it apart. The epoxy resin is very thin and has a very long pot life (4 hrs). Because it's such a thin panel I might leave it for 48 hrs for it to stiffen up a bit more before handling it. Just a rough estimate but this panel cost approx. $50 in materials counting the 4 oz. of epoxy I spilled on the basement floor (which is now waterproofed). There's enough material there to make 3 panels 8" wide x 18" high. Will post pics when I part it from the tooling surface. Standby. __________________ Yours Aye! Rick ~^~^~^^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~^~^~~^~^~^^~~^~^ "If it breaks, make it stronger." If it's not broke, try harder!" Author unknown. Last edited by knottybuoyz; 12-10-2009 at 16:12.

13-10-2009, 16:03	#5
knottybuoyz Moderator Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Canada Boat: Bateau.com TW28 Modified Posts: 2,343	This is one of the aspects of the process I totally haven't come to grips with yet, the waste. A lot of material goes in the gash. I couldn't wait and pulled it off the tooling surface (malamine). Results were not quite what I expected, little rough in some areas and the layup looks a little dry. Too much vacuum maybe. I would have gotten a better surface on the Texalium if I had layed it up upside down on glass. Might try that next. Sorry about the crappy close up. Cheapo camera, this was the best I could get. Obviously I haven't perfected my technique yet but I'll get there eventually. The process as a whole has a lot of advantages, too many to go into here and a few drawbacks such as the waste mentioned earlier. Controlling the vacuum is key. I use an automated setup if anyone's interested I'll document that if you like. I don't know if this piece will work. I read the instructions for the core mat "after" I infused the part. It said "Not Compatible with Epoxy"! Duh! It likely won't bond or won't bond well enough. I did get the thickness I was looking for, well pretty close, was looking for 0.125" and got 0.133". Oh well lessons learned onto the next one. __________________ Yours Aye! Rick ~^~^~^^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~^~^~~^~^~^^~~^~^ "If it breaks, make it stronger." If it's not broke, try harder!" Author unknown.

18-10-2009, 04:21	#6
knottybuoyz Moderator Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Canada Boat: Bateau.com TW28 Modified Posts: 2,343	We now have a prime mover. Yanmar 4-JHTE. It's lightly used, 675 hrs. Comes complete with everything req'd to get it up and running including all manuals, tool kit, wiring harness, gauges, muffler, transmission etc.. $3K US so even if it needs a good overhaul (likely before we install it) we'll still be significantly below cost of a new one. We'll be heading down to Rhode Island on the 2nd. of November to pick it up! It was this or a cruise in the Caribbean this winter. I left it up to the Admiral to decide. She chose the engine! Good Admiral! __________________ Yours Aye! Rick ~^~^~^^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~^~^~~^~^~^^~~^~^ "If it breaks, make it stronger." If it's not broke, try harder!" Author unknown. Last edited by knottybuoyz; 19-10-2009 at 05:33.

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