Divinycell cored composite

[stripperguy]

Sure, anything is possible, but...the need is there to quickly heat the foam over relatively large areas at a time. A layer of metal could allow me to use induction heating, but the power supplies for that get complicated.
I'm thinking just a few straps, maybe with some deadweights, to some load to the foam. Once formed, I could add a few staples beyond the sheer line, just to hold everything until it's glassed.
I think it will all work OK.
Next comes the hardest part...Waiting until I have time and a new workspace to do it!! I am soon to be homeless, staying at my daughter's house while building a new place. That interim will be tough for me to do much other than work on the new house, and take care of our rental properties.

 

[sailsman63]

I wouldn't want to heat all of the battens and forms, that would just take longer to cool and lock in the curves in the H80. I'm just now thinking of a small hand held quartz infrared heater, with a reflector behind it, kind of like a magic wand that is waved over the future hull. What was that company I used to buy elements from...Ahh, WECO. Wait a minute!! Why not just use a quartz lamp work light? Already has the reflector, electrical connectors, etc. Something around 1,000 watts...

Gentlemen? Ladies? What say you?

Hmmm....

Standard Quartz/halogen worklight sets seem to cap at around 500W/bulb, though you can get infrared bulbs for them. (perhaps leave off the glass front?)

You can get paint-curing lights that come in at the 1000W range, but $$$, especially if you don't have other uses for them. You may be on the right track, here. At least one of the larger boat builders that I ran across uses a giant infrared table to heat 3' X 3' sections of foam for the hull.

I frankly had no idea that it would be that hard to raise the temperature of the foam... learn something every day.

 

[stripperguy]

I built a thermal cycling chamber a few years ago, in another life. I used 8 1500 watt quartz infrared lamps in a custom alumina enclosure with Yttria Stabilized Zirconia lamp holders. The test sample cycled from ambient to 1,500F in less than 25 seconds.
Anyway, I did a sample piece in the basement the other day with a 500 watt work light...with the glass shield removed.

 

[sailsman63]

Cool.... how well did that work out? (worklight)

As a side question, can you tell about what the older test sample was? How did its absorbtion rate compare to the foam?

 

[stripperguy]

Cool.... how well did that work out? (worklight)

As a side question, can you tell about what the older test sample was? How did its absorbtion rate compare to the foam?

I'll take a few photos tonight, I think...skied all day in 16" of powder, so I'm a tad tired.

The worklight was just right. Hold it a few inches away and wave it around like the magic wand that it is, and voila! Thermally formed H80.
Older sample? Absorption rate? Not sure what you're asking.

 

[sailsman63]

Older sample? Absorption rate? Not sure what you're asking.

I was curious about that thermal cycling chamber from "Another Life" and wondered if the samples were something that tended to absorb infrared more easily than foam.

Glad you got to enjoy some snow. This thread has got me thinking about my next (Hopeful) build again... I sometimes think I enjoy the build as much as the use.

 

[stripperguy]

Oh, I gotcha...The samples were Inconel X750 with a proprietary coating that were undergoing an accelerated life test. Each sample was instrumented with a fine gage type "K" thermcouple, sample size roughly 1 x 1 x 1/4", roughly 1.2 oz.
I did enjoy the skiing (Mt Snow n VT) it snowed all day with about a foot of fresh powder. Some spots were knee deep and untracked!

As far as the builds, I suppose many of us are the same as you. I certainly enjoy the builds, particularly new methods, materials and designs. But, there are some aspects of the builds that I where I do not deviate from previous efforts. Specifically, I won't use anything other than Dynel fiber for abrasion resistance...