Well, the propeller did great, but I did finally break it! Lasted almost 5 months before I had a hard landing and ground strike that took 1/4" out of the repair I did on one blade. The repair did not fall clean off at the seam as some suggested, meaning the adhesion to the original prop material was great. I'd call that a win!
For anyone that's working with epoxy resins for the first time, they cure at different rates depending on the thickness poured as well as the temps in the room where its curing. Make sure when looking for resins that you're getting one that will cure correctly at that thickness. There are ones that cure faster but I would trust the slow curing for more strength than the quick ones. The quick curing resins and polyester resins will cure very hot. Polyester has a strong nasty smell as curing, I stay away from it for my projects. It is also not as strong as epoxy from what I understand. Also, great job on the self-repair!
The reason for this is that epoxides are exothermic. The "thicker" the pour, the more heat is contained reducing the cure time drastically. They will all cure correctly at any thickness given they were mixed properly. What varies is your working time, and final cure time. Final cure strength is not determined by the cure speed or thickness. This is determined by the epoxy type, mix ratio, and how well it was mixed. Thickness poured for a given type will only affect how quickly it sets, and may reduce final cure time. Faster epoxides such as "5 minute" give the working time, not final cure time, and they do remain soft for a period after that set time, but will still cure to similar final strength after the full cure time. So your statements are somewhat correct, but not really..... If you pay close attention to the packaging for "fast" epoxides, it will say fast "setting" not fast "curing". Often people are very confused by this, or simply ignore the meaning of words.
Hey man great looking repairs! I have had great luck with adding some silica powder (thickener) to fill in some cavities on carbon and fiberglass. It really helps holding shape on longer cures too. Not to be a safety Sally, but use a respirator when sanding that stuff- it's incredibly bad for the lungs!
That resin is casting resin. Its fine for that purpose, but has a very long cure time to allow gas bubbles to escape for clear casts. Laminating resin is more appropriate for this job. You can reduce the cure time significantly of any epoxide resins by elevating the temperature. Even to just 100deg with a space heater pointed at it will reduce the cure time dramatically. On the order of a magnitude with many resins.
@@AveryFlies Also, you need to commence with the subsequent layers before the previous layers cure for proper bond. If you allow previous layers to cure, you will need to prep the surface by scuffing etc. for proper bond. You want to apply subsequent layers while the previous resin is in a gel state so the new layer resin will interlink. If applying to cured resin with no prep, there is potential for it to delaminate.
It's called Q bond, link in the description. From smell and appearance, it's similar to super thin CA glue and baking soda, but with what looks like some metal powder mixed in there. amzn.to/3MmInr4
Looks good. Getting into repair myself. Got a 3 blade 160 to try my first actual repair on. Do you happen to know how much can be added, I got one missing about 6" of blade missing?
Wow. Scary on so many levels. Such as the epoxy taking 24 hours to cure because your method of pouring each part into the container cannot possibly be accurate for the correct ratio. And fixing a prop.... there is a reason you got your hands on a broken carbon prop. Because they AREN'T MEANT TO BE FIXED. Ever see one explode because of cracks that could not be seen? Obviously not. Did you re-balance the prop after you "fixed" it? Doubt it! What a joke.
Sorry you didn't like the content. People repair carbon fiber props all the time. I will strive to be more exact in measuring in the future. Yes, the balance was after repair, and I had to adjust it a few times to get it balanced. It runs great and flies fine, time will tell who is right, and if it blows I'll make a video on that and remove this one. I'm sure you'll find happiness in my misfortune.
@@AveryFlies The problem with repairing props, especially carbon ones, is that a tip strike can cause cracks that run up into the blade of the prop that cannot be detected, and can cause the blade to catastrophically fail under load. And use graduated mixing cups. Cheap, and will ensure perfect ratios that will result in proper epoxy setting. After all, your life is depending on properly cured epoxy, no?
@@ragemore7750 the prop isn't really keeping me from dying, that's the wings job. So while a prop failure is definitely not something I want, landing out is less an emergency and more of a nuisance. The glider keeps gliding just fine, keeping landing spots in range is a big part of learning to fly. Grinding back past the damage hopefully solves the crack problem, but you're right, it is a risk that I'm accepting. Hopefully my pre and post flight checks will catch it if something gets worse. As for mixing, yes, next time it will be in a graduated cylinder. It cured slow because it was meant for mold and table making, not because the mix was bad, and it's all rock hard. I flew it again tonight. I will keep flying it and keep viewers updated.
@@AveryFlies lol like I said.. wrong on so many levels. Prop explodes, sends shards through your rigging or worse into the back of your neck. Sure, tell me again how a disintegrating prop isnt a danger. lol
@@ragemore7750 Even a couple holes in your wing won't bring you down like a rock. Many paramotor pilots repair damaged propeller tips like this. "Ever see one explode because of cracks that could not be seen? " - personally no. Have you? Gotta link? Any stats on this? Anecdotes are not data sir.
Well, the propeller did great, but I did finally break it! Lasted almost 5 months before I had a hard landing and ground strike that took 1/4" out of the repair I did on one blade. The repair did not fall clean off at the seam as some suggested, meaning the adhesion to the original prop material was great. I'd call that a win!
Great video have missed you for a while well done
kind regards Sean from Ireland
For anyone that's working with epoxy resins for the first time, they cure at different rates depending on the thickness poured as well as the temps in the room where its curing. Make sure when looking for resins that you're getting one that will cure correctly at that thickness. There are ones that cure faster but I would trust the slow curing for more strength than the quick ones. The quick curing resins and polyester resins will cure very hot. Polyester has a strong nasty smell as curing, I stay away from it for my projects. It is also not as strong as epoxy from what I understand. Also, great job on the self-repair!
Good info! Mind if I pin it for others?
The reason for this is that epoxides are exothermic. The "thicker" the pour, the more heat is contained reducing the cure time drastically. They will all cure correctly at any thickness given they were mixed properly. What varies is your working time, and final cure time. Final cure strength is not determined by the cure speed or thickness. This is determined by the epoxy type, mix ratio, and how well it was mixed. Thickness poured for a given type will only affect how quickly it sets, and may reduce final cure time. Faster epoxides such as "5 minute" give the working time, not final cure time, and they do remain soft for a period after that set time, but will still cure to similar final strength after the full cure time. So your statements are somewhat correct, but not really..... If you pay close attention to the packaging for "fast" epoxides, it will say fast "setting" not fast "curing". Often people are very confused by this, or simply ignore the meaning of words.
Hey man great looking repairs! I have had great luck with adding some silica powder (thickener) to fill in some cavities on carbon and fiberglass. It really helps holding shape on longer cures too. Not to be a safety Sally, but use a respirator when sanding that stuff- it's incredibly bad for the lungs!
but moooooooooom respirators look dumb! Haha thanks, hopefully I don't have to do this too often.
@@AveryFlies 🤣
That resin is casting resin. Its fine for that purpose, but has a very long cure time to allow gas bubbles to escape for clear casts. Laminating resin is more appropriate for this job. You can reduce the cure time significantly of any epoxide resins by elevating the temperature. Even to just 100deg with a space heater pointed at it will reduce the cure time dramatically. On the order of a magnitude with many resins.
Good to know for future projects, thanks!
@@AveryFlies Also, you need to commence with the subsequent layers before the previous layers cure for proper bond. If you allow previous layers to cure, you will need to prep the surface by scuffing etc. for proper bond. You want to apply subsequent layers while the previous resin is in a gel state so the new layer resin will interlink. If applying to cured resin with no prep, there is potential for it to delaminate.
What's the stuff you were using with super glue?
It's called Q bond, link in the description. From smell and appearance, it's similar to super thin CA glue and baking soda, but with what looks like some metal powder mixed in there.
amzn.to/3MmInr4
Plus the vinyl tape will help protect the repair from The UV rays.
The thought hadn't occurred to me, but I guess so! I did it purely for aesthetics 😊
Looks good. Getting into repair myself. Got a 3 blade 160 to try my first actual repair on. Do you happen to know how much can be added, I got one missing about 6" of blade missing?
I don't know if there's any hard fast rule, but personally if anything major happens in the inner 2/3rds I wouldn't try it.
You might try Kyle Oglees method of making a mold from a fresh prop, that way you can reconstruct major sections and retain the shape.
@@AveryFlies thank you. That's what I was thinking on going with how he does it. Thanks on the 2/3 thing also.
Wow. Scary on so many levels. Such as the epoxy taking 24 hours to cure because your method of pouring each part into the container cannot possibly be accurate for the correct ratio. And fixing a prop.... there is a reason you got your hands on a broken carbon prop. Because they AREN'T MEANT TO BE FIXED. Ever see one explode because of cracks that could not be seen? Obviously not. Did you re-balance the prop after you "fixed" it? Doubt it! What a joke.
Sorry you didn't like the content. People repair carbon fiber props all the time. I will strive to be more exact in measuring in the future. Yes, the balance was after repair, and I had to adjust it a few times to get it balanced. It runs great and flies fine, time will tell who is right, and if it blows I'll make a video on that and remove this one. I'm sure you'll find happiness in my misfortune.
@@AveryFlies The problem with repairing props, especially carbon ones, is that a tip strike can cause cracks that run up into the blade of the prop that cannot be detected, and can cause the blade to catastrophically fail under load. And use graduated mixing cups. Cheap, and will ensure perfect ratios that will result in proper epoxy setting. After all, your life is depending on properly cured epoxy, no?
@@ragemore7750 the prop isn't really keeping me from dying, that's the wings job. So while a prop failure is definitely not something I want, landing out is less an emergency and more of a nuisance. The glider keeps gliding just fine, keeping landing spots in range is a big part of learning to fly.
Grinding back past the damage hopefully solves the crack problem, but you're right, it is a risk that I'm accepting. Hopefully my pre and post flight checks will catch it if something gets worse. As for mixing, yes, next time it will be in a graduated cylinder. It cured slow because it was meant for mold and table making, not because the mix was bad, and it's all rock hard.
I flew it again tonight. I will keep flying it and keep viewers updated.
@@AveryFlies lol like I said.. wrong on so many levels. Prop explodes, sends shards through your rigging or worse into the back of your neck. Sure, tell me again how a disintegrating prop isnt a danger. lol
@@ragemore7750 Even a couple holes in your wing won't bring you down like a rock. Many paramotor pilots repair damaged propeller tips like this. "Ever see one explode because of cracks that could not be seen? " - personally no. Have you? Gotta link? Any stats on this? Anecdotes are not data sir.