: Yah I'm going to use 1/4 inch birch ply then putting kevlar fabric on the
: inside. The exterior would be mostly biaxial glass with a final layer of
: kevlar felt. I'm wondering what the felt's properties are. As far as
: impact/stiffness/brittleness I know it's very abrasion resistant, but what
: else? I'm planing on building the deck out of all glass with a wood spar
: down the center. I will build the structure of the inside making a
: composite/foam or wood center pillar, then forming foam outfitting then
: laying the deck glass over the outfitting. The only thing stopping me is
: the abrasion/impact resistance. I think the felt might be my answer. I
: would lay the felt then put release cloth over it to get a decent finish.
: So whudya think? How will the high tensile streinth felt do with epoxy?

Like Lee said, felt is a waste of epoxy...unless you vacuum bag it. Kevlar also "floats". It's much less dense than epoxy, and you'll actually end up with a pool of epoxy under the felt, with the epoxy floating over it, not quite saturated. You continue to add saturation coats and the kevlar continues to rise higher. A definite candidate for vacuum bagging.

You'll have high abrasion resistance, but your impact resistance comes from teh glass and birch. The kevlar will flex without deforming, past a point where your glass and wood will have cracks. If you want impact resistance, go all kevlar, or plan on the glass providing that protection.

I want to build my own kevlar boating helmet!

Shawn