18 Jun 08

Ben and I worked on splicing the body panels together almost all day today. First, we had to PVA the molds, run tape around the edges, and put the body panels in the molds. We used clamps to hold them in place until the vacuum hits them. Luke worked on the loom all day with help from Hunt, and Aaron and Caroline wove until about 4:00pm. There is a good chance that they have woven all the 1/4" material that we will need. Ben and I cut a bunch of 4", 6", and 8" strips of woven veneer to lay in the seams of the molds panels for reinforcement, and we had 2 layers put in place with spray adhesive by lunchtime. After lunch, we were out of weave to use for the splicing, so Ben helped Caroline and Aaron weave while I helped Hunt and Luke on the loom. After a couple of hours, the weaving was finished, so Ben and I went back to setting up the splices. When we finished the last layer of weave, we put down peel ply and bleeder ply, and Caroline and Ben ran the resin supply and vacuum lines while Hunt and I went to get more clamps to seal the lines off when the time comes. Ben, Caroline and I started sealing the bag at around 7:15pm and didn't stop until we finished at 10:15pm. We set some world records in pleat length, but the seal looked pretty good. We went in to eat, and Ben headed out. Luke and Hunt got the loom finished today except for adjustment and a couple tiny details, so we should be ready to move it into its new room and get it set up.