I have designed my first hydrofoil front Wing but need help with the carbon fiber layup schedule. I’m unsure which weight of fabric or direction of fabric and how many layers I should be using. I have a hydrofoil Wing blank that CNC’d out of foam and plan on vacuum bagging it. Any suggested layups would be a great help! It is 100 cm wide.
I’m not sure how deep you want to dive into this, but it’s not going to happen perfectly the first time. If you’re unsure about what you want, just buy a good working setup and enjoy the ride. However, if you’re serious about starting this journey, be prepared to make at least a couple of wings in the beginning to understand that is not so easy.
A blank wrapped with reinforcement is a pretty basic construction. At least, you’ll need to use wood instead foam. For the layup a minimum of 600g per side—something like 300g biaxial and 300g unidirectional (UD). In the middle, you can add extra UD patches for additional stiffness.
Enjoy!
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Yeah, I can’t think of any possible reason to make your own front wing. Boards For sure, but the front wing has too much going on and there are too many out there that are good and cheap available to bother. Also, I feel like the lay up is the easiest part of the equation to figure out. If you’re asking questions about your lay up there’s 1000 other things in the design you’ve already screwed up. You could probably make a serviceable beginner wing pretty easily but why would you invest all that energy into something you’re gonna be riding for two months? You can make a beginner wing but why bother, you can’t make an advanced wing don’t waste your time
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As far as I know, all production foils are molded pre-preg. You are going to wet lay, so you will be wrapping the edges. If it were me, I’d use at least two layers of 5.8oz carbon 2 x 2 twil, plus extra for however you are making a stab attachment, wrap the edges two inches, then one, add a top layer of 4oz glass to help sand, then fair and gelcoat your monstrosity when done!
Google is your friend here:
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Thanks for the input. Definitely, not a beginner at foiling but want to experience how slight changes in design change the riding experience and I enjoy the design and manufacturing process. I have experience making boards and using fiberglass but never with carbon and wasn’t sure how much material I would need to maintain a stiff wing. I thought about doing an infusion mold but wasn’t sure how to mate the top and bottom molds together.
Sweet video!