Prospect Snowboards

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prospectsnow
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Prospect Snowboards

Post by prospectsnow »

A few weeks in the making, a long time in search of dime priced material, and I'm finally almost done. This beast is burly. I estimate that it comes to about 3500 lbs.

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prospectsnow
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First Test

Post by prospectsnow »

Tested out a longboard concept model cut out last year and stuck some light glass and carbon stringers on. Pressed it at 40psi overnight.
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prospectsnow
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Heat Controller

Post by prospectsnow »

I got an idea to pick up a ammo box when looking at electrical enclosures. They seemed to be pricey and these ammo boxes are dirt cheap. Not to mention they look way cooler.

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Not thinking I drilled some holes directly behind the panel to lock down the top. I'll have to move the TC and Blanket plugs from where they are now.

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doughboyshredder
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Post by doughboyshredder »

I suggest adding another bladder. With your current setup 40 psi at the bladder is probably more like 25 psi at the laminate.
prospectsnow
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Post by prospectsnow »

Yeah, I ended up adding and now have 3 hoses running the length. 3x the opportunities for leaks though. Almost leak free at the moment, just need to butter it up a bit more.

Got a tip from some a factory guy that just having the angle iron is tough on the bladder, especially when pressing in volume. He suggested to clamp it off slightly at the ends just inside the angle iron so the pull at that joint isn't so severe. Tried a couple 2x4s and broke them. Maybe a little extra angle iron will do.

So it sounds like we are expecting a loss in PSI from hose to the actual laminate?
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falls
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Post by falls »

It's just a surface area thing.
If you have 40PSI of air in the hose it means that for every square inch of hose applying force to the laminate you will be exerting 40 pounds over that square inch.
What doughboy meant was that if you had only those two hoses like in your picture when the press was inflated there wouldn't be an area of hose applying force to every part of the board (becasue of the gap between them). Therefore say if only 3/4 of the board's surface area was having hose apply downward force to it then only 3/4 of your board's surface area is experiencing 40PSI. If you use the cat track like you do this evenly distributes the force over the whole laminate, but can't make up for the loss of 40 pounds for every square inch that the hose isn't touching the cat track (ie. the gap between your hoses).

The perfect scenario is having hose apply pressure over every square inch of your board, therfore the PSI in the hose is equal to the PSI experienced by the laminate. With your 3 hoses now there will be much smaller gaps between the hoses when at pressure so you will be approaching a situation where PSI in the hose = PSI at the laminate.
Don't wait up, I'm off to kill Summer....
prospectsnow
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Post by prospectsnow »

here is what I'm trying on the ends to relieve some of the stress at the joint on the hose. This shows the 3 hose setup I've got going as well.

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prospectsnow
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Post by prospectsnow »

decided to go with two pids and TCs

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doughboyshredder
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Post by doughboyshredder »

prospectsnow wrote:here is what I'm trying on the ends to relieve some of the stress at the joint on the hose. This shows the 3 hose setup I've got going as well.

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good idea.

Re: pressure and hoses

surface area of the hose contact (contact patch) times psi at the hose divided by actual area of the laminate = psi at the laminate. That's one of the reason you don't want your bladders to have to inflate a lot. It reduces the contact patch. A small contact patch and a big laminate = low pressure. This is also one of the reasons that people have issues with the tip and tail bends. The larger surface area there combined with the thinner material(which makes the hoses have to inflate more reducing the contact patch) reduces the pressure that's being exerted. One of the reasons that having rams at the radius is so nice (see on3p thread).
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threeninethree
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Post by threeninethree »

I see your using some outrigger beams for the castor mounts.. the extra height is nice along with locking the bottom press cavity beams from the top and bottom.
~ Matt
prospectsnow
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Post by prospectsnow »

Yes, the extra beams I had are from a few mess ups I had along the way. Thankfully they didn't cost much. I used some 8" 4 footers for stability. I had 2 18" short sections left I stacked on top of the outriggers to make a layup table right in front of the cavity.

I have 6 casters on and this is still tough to move around. A slight concern if you are thinking of outriggers is I see a lot of flex when moving side to side (basically the way an I beam isn't meant to support). If you have a heavy press I could see lighter beams buckle.
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threeninethree
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Post by threeninethree »

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My press also uses 8" beams for outriggers. I haven't noticed much flex although it has not really moved from its current location.
~ Matt
prospectsnow
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Post by prospectsnow »

Great Press!
The cement in our workshop has some decent sized cracks that the casters hang up on. I think the diameter on your casters are a bit bigger too.

I'm a bit wary as well. I had a set of beams bounce off the boat lift we used for painting and moving the beams around pictured above. Thankfully I was out of the way, they were bolted together, and no one else was around so there was minimal carnage except for the shat in my pants.
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Richuk
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Post by Richuk »

Have you guys considered using vertically welded flat bar to stabilise the I-beam?

Did you use the three quarter load rule for your castors? Having used six, I'm thinking your well aware ;)
prospectsnow
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Post by prospectsnow »

we're going to toss on 2 more casters to see if that will lighten the load. It is a pretty tough to move because of the weight, not that I need it to be totally mobile. I may take it to the local trade show out here if I can get it transported.

I moved it again last week for some pictures and got the same results. I think I'm going to toss a flat bar to help stabilize.
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