Fibreglass Mandrels in UK

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amell

amell

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Would like to have a go at making my own fibreglass tubes. Can't seem to find the right Mandrels in the UK - anyone got a lead I can follow? I did contemplate just using coupling tube but am concerned it's not dimensionally stable enough.
 
Ebay. There's a bunch of UK sellers that sell round aluminum tubing. Just get a tube with the OD of the airframe you want to roll.
 
conman13 said:
Just get a tube with the OD of the airframe you want to roll.
Click to expand...

Almost! Consider the laminate thickness you expect to layup for the application and then reduce the OD of the tube to accommodate this or you OD will be greater than expected. You may suffer issues with pulling the moulding if the mandrel is no suitably coated in release which is why many are very slightly tapered. PVA (not the glue) is OK but consider waxes and silicon too for release.

You thinking glass, carbon, kevlar? Also, polyester or Epoxy (need to consider binders in your cloths if applicable)?

Just my penny worth.
 
JohnRE said:
Almost! Consider the laminate thickness you expect to layup for the application and then reduce the OD of the tube to accommodate this or you OD will be greater than expected. You may suffer issues with pulling the moulding if the mandrel is no suitably coated in release which is why many are very slightly tapered. PVA (not the glue) is OK but consider waxes and silicon too for release.

You thinking glass, carbon, kevlar? Also, polyester or Epoxy (need to consider binders in your cloths if applicable)?



Just my penny worth.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the correction. Wrap the mandrel with 1 layer of mylar. it will make the tube easy to remove from the mandrel.
 

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