Description:

Have you ever wanted to make large, curved structures like boat hulls, car bodies, or airplane wings? Have you ever wondered how spacecraft like SpaceShipOne or vehicles like the McLaren super car are made? Come to Artisan's Asylum in February and learn how to create light, rigid structures laying up fabric composites on foam!

Come learn the basics of fabric-epoxy composites. In this class, you will start with a foam model and wrap it in fiberglass cloth and epoxy, fair in all of the bumps with polyester body filler, and finally bond on a molded fiberglass stand. Once completed, you'll have the basic tools to design and construct your own wrapped foam composite parts. These skills, in combination with foam sculpting skills, will allow you to create curved forms of arbitrary sizes and wrap them in composites to create rigid, high-strength shapes.

NOTE: If you know you have an epoxy allergy, please do not register for this event.

Class Goals:

Students will learn to layup fiberglass cloth using a 2-part epoxy, fair and finish a composite part with polyester filler and prepare and bond composite parts together. Students will leave with their completed fiberglass flying wing on a stand.

Prerequisites:

None.

Materials Provided:

Fiberglass, epoxy, filler, structural adhesive, sandpaper and latex gloves.

What to Bring:

Please bring a respirator that can handle both particulates and organic vapors (this unit from Amazon would work well, but these are otherwise available from Home Depot and other home improvement stores) and wear clothes you do not mind getting dirty - note that spilled epoxy does not wash off. If you have a latex allergy, please provide your own gloves in which to work.

Instructor Biography:

Ben Zelnick is a mechanical/aerospace engineer who has worked since 2007 for a Boston area company designing and building a carbon fiber composite aircraft. He recently decided to move on and work for himself and is a new member of the Artisan's Asylum community.