1. This is the mould, a piece of aluminium 700 x 350 x 25mm thick with half the wing machined into it. ie 4mm deep at the center and 1.5 mm deep at the tips. This mould makes top half and bottom half of the wing. The mould is machined on a CNC milling machine, and then finished by hand, starting with 320 paper and working down to 2000 and polishing to a mirrror finish. Before it is used it has a quick polish to remove any residue. Because of the polished surface, reflections of a wall with hanging helmet dominate this photo.
2. Mould is polished. This is for the wing top skin.
3. Mould Release wax is applied (PLP10) and then polished.
4. Mould ready to use. The reflections seen from the mould in this photo are of the wooden ceiling in Grant's workshop. Grooves have been machined around the edges of the mould with a 8mm diameter ballnose cutter 4mm deep. 8mm diameter aluminium rods are put in these grooves and allow the excess epoxy to be easily pushed under the plastic to these areas. Small lines (0.5mm wide) have been machined at the edges outside the wing cavity to allow the top and bottom halfs to be aligned during assembly.
5. Carbon cloth layed out. This is for the top side of the wing... carbon cloth is 94 gsm cloth. cut at 45 degree bias.
6. The cloth is laid out in the mould. The white stuff is 60 gsm Spectra at the hinge line.
7. Epoxy is put on the cloth roughly, in one position.
8. Plastic sheet is put over the mould and sealed to a 2mm thick plastic sheet below the mould. It is sealed using caulking compound such as "No More Gaps". A sheet of Cloth underneath the mould enables air to be removed easily. The grey tube seen exiting the far left of this picture goes to a vacuum pump.
9. The epoxy is spread out underneath the plastic using a piece of balsa wood.
10. Spreading the epoxy.
