In Part 7, we tackle vacuum bagging.

By Bob Fritz

Vacuum bagging…it sounds like the next stage of self-expression after you’ve gotten a couple of tattoos and been to the body-piercing shop. But, no, it’s a process for creating very low weight, complex shapes using composite materials.

In previous articles we looked at wet layups where one soaks the fabric in epoxy and then drapes it over the mold. You’ll recall that much effort was expended in getting air out from between the layers and reducing the percentage of epoxy in the product. You’ll also remember in our first article in this series that the strength of this technology comes primarily from the fibers; the epoxy’s job is to prevent shifting of the fibers relative to one another. It follows, then, that when it comes to the epoxy/fiber ratio, the adage, "If enough epoxy is OK, more is better, and too much is just right" is wrong. Once the job of…

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