This is time to replace the front fender. The rear one has already been made in Carbon fiber. On top of this the original front fender is damaged, heavy, therefore it does not have any more reason to stay on the bike. This is a D.I.Y project.
The fender has been drawn on the computer and then developed to produce a backbone and rib structure for the Plug. All the cuts have been made on the CNC in 5mm plywood. From this plug we will be able to extract a female mould.
From this stage @ D.I.Y. we still have some work, the voids were filled with foam (basic insulation foam no need for fancy). Shape is obtained by sanding away thus excess of foam down to the ribs. Then fairing is applied and passed onto the CNC again .............................. some stages and long hours later - Voilà:
And from that plug (nicely primed and painted), we used Vinylestrrgelcoat and fiberglass to produce two "split"pieces to make the mould. Indeed the shape being symmetrical I could produce the 2 halves from the same plug. I just needed to be precise on the position of the locators.
It is now time to infuse parts. Lets do the the first one with what we know: Carbon fiber.
D.I.Y will do experiments on others materials but for this you will have to be patient, as we will test lots of different combinations in order to get what we want. Let's go back to our project and see the Magics of infusion operate: One half of the mould removed!!!
And now the part raw of infusion. Just need to do the trimming, the details and clear coat.
Sophie is sleeping this morning this is a good time to do a post cure of the fender in the salon as it is raining outside. If she could sleep couple more hours this would be great.
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