JKA
Paddler
Hello The Brains Trust, I have a question.
How resistant to ultra violet light, ie sunlight, is carbon and epoxy? The interweb seems divided on the subject (and there's a thing huh!)
The deck-line fittings on my Romany have taken a hiding over the years and some are starting to crack. A friend has helped me make a mould from which I'm planning to construct more solid fittings, with more material in the area that has force applied when pulling up on the lines, similar to the current iteration from SKUK:
Mine will also be twice as 'long' as the commercial ones, again to add strength.
I was going to use a slurry of epoxy and chopped carbon and compress it using the mould. The result would then be machined and drilled on his mill, with appropriate PPE!
However, he has also questioned how UV, which we have in abundance down here, would treat the result. Given that the originals are made from some form of plastic, I suspect my new ones will out last the rest of the boat, and probably me.
However, am I actually on a hiding to nothing and they'll fail at the first sunny day? Enquiring minds want to know.
Cheers
John
How resistant to ultra violet light, ie sunlight, is carbon and epoxy? The interweb seems divided on the subject (and there's a thing huh!)
The deck-line fittings on my Romany have taken a hiding over the years and some are starting to crack. A friend has helped me make a mould from which I'm planning to construct more solid fittings, with more material in the area that has force applied when pulling up on the lines, similar to the current iteration from SKUK:

Mine will also be twice as 'long' as the commercial ones, again to add strength.
I was going to use a slurry of epoxy and chopped carbon and compress it using the mould. The result would then be machined and drilled on his mill, with appropriate PPE!
However, he has also questioned how UV, which we have in abundance down here, would treat the result. Given that the originals are made from some form of plastic, I suspect my new ones will out last the rest of the boat, and probably me.
However, am I actually on a hiding to nothing and they'll fail at the first sunny day? Enquiring minds want to know.
Cheers
John