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- 60-2000 grit sandpaper
- Spray bottle with water
- Shop towels
- System 3000 resin + hardener
- Phenolic microballoons
- Vacuum bagging materials
- Vacuum bag
- Vacuum tape
- Release film
- Peel ply
- Bleeder fabric
- Cabosil (fumed silica)
- Long rod
- Layup jig
- Mold release wax
- Parchment or wax paper
- PVA film
- Mallet
- Popsicle sticks
- Fine-haired brush (This is for applying the PVA film to the mold for mold release. I used a makeup brush, which worked pretty well)
- Heat gun
- Sharp scissors
- Spray glue (Super77, made by 3M)
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- Oven cure
- Wearing gloves, move the nose cone to the oven.
- Position nose cone carefully such that the surface is not touching the oven, as shown below.
- Follow cure cycle for System 3000 epoxy. The color of the epoxy will change from light brown to dark brown/cherry red, as shown below.
Sanding/Filling in Low Spots
- Sand outside
- Sand inside (seam)
- Plane ends
- Fill low spots with ablative + epoxy mixture
- Sand with 60 grit to roughen up because epoxy doesn't stick well to itself. You might have to use a file to get to smaller low spots
- Wipe down surface of nose cone with acetone
- Mix 10g resin + 1.8g hardener (System 3000) + arbitrary amount of phenolic microballoons (just eyeball it until it's about the same consistency as the mixture you made for the ablative coating)
- Carefully apply mixture to low spots, scraping off excess
- Let cure for at least 24 hours and sand
Holes for Coupler
Finishing
- Paint
Lessons Learned:
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