Building the carbon fiber traveler

Whew.. it’s been a busy few weeks with no time to work on the boat.  Dad’s gone this weekend, so it’s just me doing some work.  We all know how I love to sand, so no progress on the main hull until he gets back to help 😉

Decided to spend today starting to make the traveler.  Two weeks ago we ordered some boat stuff and it’s been tricking in over the past week.  Among some of the goodies received (I’ll take pictures tomorrow) : main hatch (Lewmar) to make template on deck and aft cabin – will order second another time, screen to go with hatch so we can plan interior part of it; opening portlight for aft cabin (Lewmar) – we will most likely install two more just forward of the forward beam bulkhead, below the gunwale – it gets hot in Texas; Harken 1616 traveler 1.8 meter length; WEST System Aluminium wash (scary stuff if you read the label!); 6061 T6 tapping plate for traveler 72″ long; UHMW for rudder casette.

I should also note that we got a few more items for the main hull a few weeks ago to start making provisions for them (foredeck cleat, hinges for anchor well, more inspection plates, etc).

Whew.. anyway… on to the fun….

Started by cutting out all the pieces of foam needed to make the traveler core.  I thought it would be easiest to make the outside pieces of foam 2″ tall, and the inside pieces of foam 1-11/16″ tall to allow for the 6061T6 tapping plate

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I wrapped the tapping plate in packing tape so it would not stick, and then assembled with bog and tons of clamps.  The picture above is after taking the tapping plate back out.

I peeled off the tape and proceeded to do the 2-part aluminium prep wash from WEST System on the bar.  Pretty scary stuff and I’m glad I didn’t read the MSDS, just made sure to have eye protection, respirator, gloves and worked outside. After the second (neutralizing) wash, the bar needs to air-dry.

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Stuff worked good – took off the manufacturing ink stamps, my sharpie markings, etc.  After dry, went straight into the foam core with bog and clamped against something straight.  You can see the Harken 1616 track (wrapped in tape) and a 6′ straight tube with tape acting as my straight edges.

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After curing, I attacked the foam with a router for the corners and sander

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One of the things ordered during this down-time was some carbon fiber in a 45-45 weave.  I could not source the stuff at a reasonible price.  Surfing Jay’s site I saw a link to a place called Soller Composites.  They appeared to have exactly what we needed.  They sell 45-45 woven carbon fiber “socks” in different diameters that you can use to make tubes.  Well a rectangle is basically a tube, and they even have conversion calculators on their site if you don’t have perfectly round things…  I ordered 2.5″ dia sleeve (in the proper weight…. hint, it’s 0.1oz less than the spec in the plans).  Also ordered some other stuff with the plan of splitting the sleeve on one “side” and then having a flat 45-45 piece of carbon for making the rudder casette.  One of the other things they sell is a coated heat-shrink tubing that resin does not stick to.

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Since it’s 45-45 and woven together, it acts like an acordian – you have to bunch it together to open it up and put it on the piece, then pull it taught against the part.

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At this stage, I worked epoxy all through the part, squeezing it through and making sure it’s saturated.  Then I worked the heat-shrink on the part and started from the middle, working out.

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Once complete, I noticed it developed a bit of a “bend” in the traveler.

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No worries – I still have a track and thick tube to act as straight edges.  Here’s the traveler clamped and curing.

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So far, I really like this stuff… I’m hoping I feel the same way when I cut the tube off in the morning to apply the UD layers and remaining laminate (I purchased enough heat-shrink tubing to also do the last layers of the traveler after UD to try and keep the part as straight and true as possible).