doughboyshredder wrote:Increasing the contact patch, by decreasing the gap between bottom and top mold is another good idea.
What would you say is the perfect gap from mould to mould? The diameter of the firehose will obviously have a big impact on this, I would think that if the fire hose was 4" diameter when fully inflated that as it approaches 2" in height you are seeing the maximum downward force applied.
So in that case if you had 4" hose, a 3" gap from mould to mould, a 1" cat track + the thickness of the board you should be close to ideal?
The smaller the gap the better. There is no amount of inflation where you get "maximum force", it's all pressure. If the hose can only expand 1/2", it's still got the same pressure inside, so the resultant force will be the same (I'm leaving out contact area of course).
When my hose is fully inflated, it's taking up about two inches tops, it's an 8" wide hose un-inflated, I think I could probably get that down to 1". My press is also incredibly cramped though, so I have to keep things tight just to fit.
twizzstyle wrote:The smaller the gap the better. There is no amount of inflation where you get "maximum force", it's all pressure. If the hose can only expand 1/2", it's still got the same pressure inside, so the resultant force will be the same (I'm leaving out contact area of course).
