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elton01

Starting a CCM.

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In hindsight it was probably a complete waste of money and a bigger headache than I expected. It didnt add any structural strength and sanding it was a huge PITA!!!! I would discourage you from the idea.

Bart




Typically the advantages of CF over regular glass don't present themselves unless vacuum bagging and autoclaving yet you have the downsides you list. It is even a hard fact to impress upon aircraft homebuilders.

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Typically the advantages of CF over regular glass don't present themselves unless vacuum bagging and autoclaving yet you have the downsides you list. It is even a hard fact to impress upon aircraft homebuilders.



I've always said the advantage of CF is stiffness, not strength. It's why we use CF for our top plates. We don't care if the shell is super stiff (it's spherically re-inforced anyway), but we need the plates to be stiff.
www.WingsuitPhotos.com

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If you want carbon fibre to add structural strength, then you need to follow a fiber clock, and lay the fiber down in proper orientation with each successive layer. This is true no matter if you autoclave or wet lay up.
I don't want structural strength or stiffness, just the CF panel to show through the clear starburst that will be on the side of the helmet and box. The box and helmet will be white, with the carbon fiber starburst in relief and surrounded with navy blue pinstripe.
I looked at what Brett did, and saw that he did a CF sandwich of inner layer CF, glass, intermediate layer CF, glass, outer layer CF. This is definitely more than I want. I'm going to go with 5-7 layers of glass, with one outer layer of CF, or perhaps not even a full layer, but only 2 small CF "patches" where I'm going to do the starbursts. This does nothing structurally, will allow the helmet to still have some give, but still cosmetically give me the CF look, which I've always found to be an attractive option.
Matt has indicated that it's better to have a bit of flex in the helmet, so I'm just going to do the patches. I also don't want to have to deal with the "PITA" that Brett describes.:D

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The first time I saw CCM I asked what it meant. Wes looked at me with that sly smile and said "Cranial Camera Mount." I said "It's a camera helmet." "Oh no" he said, "a helmet implies safety and protection and I don't want anybody thinking this thing will protect them."
I miss him.

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Hey Matt,

Yeah, I liked your idea of keeping the front flat. It just seems a lot easier to wrap the glass when you don't have to worry about following the countour of a nose, lips and eye sockets. :)As for the table becoming a work bench, yep, great minds think alike and also, since it's a bit colder up here and garage isn't heated I have to accept the "any port in a storm" method.

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Wow, looks really nice so far. I recommend Partal mold wax as a release wax. Also, Partal spray on mold release makes things come apart very nicely.

Also, Express Composites now sells a Carbon/Kevlar hybrid cloth. Very cool stuff and you may want to look into it. It combines the rigidity of carbon with the strength of Kevlar. Plus, it looks cool as hell.

Keep posting pictures. Thanks.
Birdshit & Fools Productions

"Son, only two things fall from the sky."

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Hey SJF,

Yeah, I use partall wax with miller stepenson A122 spray on PTFE mold release.
Winning combination to be sure. I've been able to literally untape my molds and they just fall off the parts that I've laid up.
I don't really have to buy any of my glass/carbon supplies since we have so many cut offs from work that I can get 2x2 or 2x4 pieces without much trouble. I just have to go down to the floor and ask the guys not to throw out the larger pieces.:)

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Just a quick update with some pics.

I know I shouldn't have used the CF, but I couldn't resist. So the initial lay-up consists of two layer CF, two layer glass.
When I do the next lay-up (crown), I'll do three layers glass and the last CF for cosmetic (light satin weave CF).
The mounting plate will be 4 layers CF.

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So,

Today I wrapped my helmet plug with the following:

1 layer carbon
2 glass
1 carbon
1 glass
1 carbon

I left it rough on all the edges, with plenty of overhang. I made sure that the important middle was well wet out and bonded. It has been indicated by the red lines in the photos where the finished edges of the helmet will be located.:)LOTS of sanding ahead.:S

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Finished roughing out the helmet. I'm machining the hinge as we speak. I'm going with a poor man's rough rendition of the BH cutaway hinge. It looks good on Matt's and is clean.
I weighed the helmet as is right now and it comes in at 2.9 lbs without any accessories.
It needs the top plate, hinge, closing clasp and of course cameras. I hope to keep it under 8.3 lbs when fully done. I think it will be achievable.

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I don't know how to explain it, but I actually ENJOYED being in that plaster shell. It was like meditation or something. When they finally cut it off, I was amazed at how bright and loud everything was.



Me too, i can say that i have enjoyed too. I fell relaxed.

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***Thank you. Ha... yeah, it was quite traumatizing getting my head wrapped. I was at Wes's shop by myself
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Resurecting an old thread with an update on building a CCM without cacooning the whole head as per the instructions. If being cacooned is a truamatic deal breaker on obtaining your own CCM , be advised you have options. I just didn't think it was needed. I use goggles or safety glasses to protect the eyes from plaster juice during the casting but leave the face skin not covered by neoprene rubber exposed. After the cast is split I tape some plastic over the opening before the foam pour. It's that simple. Pictures to follow.

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Another benefit of using goggles or glasses during the casting is the fact that you will use them with the finished CCM on jumps and you have allowed for their bulk.

You can use any flexible plastic to cover the face opening and tape it in place. The face opening provides a better method of pushing the plug out of the front cast half than the plans.

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