This looks much like the Van Dusen shop in Concord Mass. If it is so, you couldn't have better assistance with the process....

I do this type of layup myself, though lacking an autoclave I'm not quite this advanced...working on it though....

Jeff Houser

: Thought I would share some photos of the carbon fiber mold I am making at
: work for a K1 racing kayak and some observations that might cross over to
: hand layups on wood strips.

: Below is a picture of the waxed plug covered in a thin gel coat. The gel coat
: is a very viscous epoxy with a black pigment so that any imperfection in
: the mold will be easier to see. After the gel coat partially cures we laid
: 4 layers of carbon alternating the orientation to get the maximum
: stiffness in the mold. It is then bagged, baked in the autoclave under
: preasure. This is followed by 4 more layers of carbon which are bagged and
: baked again. Tomorrow I will lay/bag/bake the final 4 layers.

: Observations

: 1. Even though I felt like we were not wetting out the carbon enough, I was
: amazed at how much epoxy gets sucked through the bleeder by the vacuum bag
: and autoclave. I suspect that if we could employ vacuum bagging at home
: that the weight savings could be significant. It does create a lot of
: material waste.

: 2. During the autoclave steps I was reminded of the advice from this board of
: having your shop hot before layup and let the temp reduce during the cure
: to prevent bubbles. I guess the vacuum bag and the increased pressure
: outside the autoclave prevents bubbles during post cure baking.

: 3. Faring the plug was a lot of work but I got some lessons from a guy who
: has been doing this for 15 years. This guy could pick up minute high/low
: spots just with his hand and by rocking a straight edge over the hull. I
: am still learning but I will try to write some of the techniques down some
: time.

: Well tomorrow I finish the deck mold and start laying up the hull mold.
: Hopfully we will be building the fist prototypes next week.

: Regards,

: Jack