Willow...An Evolution
- Thread starter troybilt
- Start date
Re: Willow...Roller
Thanks man. I appreciate it.
Swagger made special mounts that bolt to the forks. I bent the bars and headlight mounts and welded em up. There are photos of the mounts right after I received them from Swagger located somewhere in the thread. They really are an amazing piece. He does some kick ass work for sure!
pawn said:
Thanks man. I appreciate it.
Swagger made special mounts that bolt to the forks. I bent the bars and headlight mounts and welded em up. There are photos of the mounts right after I received them from Swagger located somewhere in the thread. They really are an amazing piece. He does some kick ass work for sure!
Re: Willow...Roller
Thanks for the link!
Well right there they are. Joe that is fantastic! Damn, I'm not sure if they will work on my bars. My bars are slightly less than 7/8" because I used pipe.??? I'd love to have a better understanding how it works.JRK5892 said:
Thanks for the link!
Re: Willow...Roller
Well the clouds hit hard today so I headed to Jim's shop to work on the tank. Yesterday Jim hit the mold with a thick layer of gel coat. I cut a pattern out of paper that I used for all layers of fiberglass and polyester. Every piece was cut on a bias meaning the pieces were cut on a 45* to the the material. This was done for strength and also it helps the layers work and lay down in tight places. The first layer was a layer of 1.7 oz fiberglass. The second layer was polyester. Jim called this layer the outside layer of a polyester fiberglass sandwich. Ends up I work way slower than Jim expected and thats about all I got done (Jims been doing production quality composite work for an extremely long time. The times he quoted me was based on his ability not mine, lol) He said the tank would be done in less than 2 hrs. This first part took two hrs and there are a bunch more layers to go.
Self photo cutting glass
Glass (left) and polyester (right) . The polyester will be the impact protection bladder
Cutting out pieces of polyester. Below is one of the larger pattern pieces. I used two different sizes. The other was slightly smaller used on the back of the tank. Notice Jim's reminder ote for me to cut all the pieces on a bias...lol. Awesome to have his watchful eye
This is after the first layer of polyester. The black is the gel coat underneath (will be the surface of the outside of the tank). The polyester is used as the impact 'bladder' material. Jim says kelvar would be ok but he's seen it fracture in extreme conditions. He claims the polyester won't. Upon sever impact it will get soft and squishy but not fracture.
This is the mold with the first layers of the tank inside. It has 1 layer of polyester and one layer of fiberglass. After the resin kicked we took a knife and trimmed the edge clean and sanded the surface then left for the evening
Well the clouds hit hard today so I headed to Jim's shop to work on the tank. Yesterday Jim hit the mold with a thick layer of gel coat. I cut a pattern out of paper that I used for all layers of fiberglass and polyester. Every piece was cut on a bias meaning the pieces were cut on a 45* to the the material. This was done for strength and also it helps the layers work and lay down in tight places. The first layer was a layer of 1.7 oz fiberglass. The second layer was polyester. Jim called this layer the outside layer of a polyester fiberglass sandwich. Ends up I work way slower than Jim expected and thats about all I got done (Jims been doing production quality composite work for an extremely long time. The times he quoted me was based on his ability not mine, lol) He said the tank would be done in less than 2 hrs. This first part took two hrs and there are a bunch more layers to go.
Self photo cutting glass
Glass (left) and polyester (right) . The polyester will be the impact protection bladder
Cutting out pieces of polyester. Below is one of the larger pattern pieces. I used two different sizes. The other was slightly smaller used on the back of the tank. Notice Jim's reminder ote for me to cut all the pieces on a bias...lol. Awesome to have his watchful eye
This is after the first layer of polyester. The black is the gel coat underneath (will be the surface of the outside of the tank). The polyester is used as the impact 'bladder' material. Jim says kelvar would be ok but he's seen it fracture in extreme conditions. He claims the polyester won't. Upon sever impact it will get soft and squishy but not fracture.
This is the mold with the first layers of the tank inside. It has 1 layer of polyester and one layer of fiberglass. After the resin kicked we took a knife and trimmed the edge clean and sanded the surface then left for the evening
Re: Willow...Roller
So today I arrived and Jim said he thought I had it under control. He had confidence in me and knew I could handle it and headed to the basement to use his table saw. Needless to say I was a little nervous to get everything right. The prevous work was done under his watchful eye. He really kept a short string on me. I'd love to have had a tape recorder for our previous work. I can only imagine his thoughts. I've not done much fiberglass work in the past
Today I road the 400 f there. All the way I kept thinking of some of the things he's said like, "That's the right pace Troy." or, "Don't putz around Troy. You are putzing too much Troy. Troy you have to listen to me, work faster." See you were trying to play a game with it teasing it about kicking. Had it kicked you'd been in a world of hurt." Lol. He really says some funny shit. Anyhow, I know he had plenty of compliments too but its hard to focus on that when you are the green horn in the room. lol. I do remember him saying that I was working to his standard, only very slow. And that the end prouduct will be top notch. Jim is pretty straight forward and says whats on his mind. I doesnt' use a filter at all. lol. Anyhow, I've got my fingers crossed ...
Today I started out by cutting the rest of the layers. Every protrusion would have small pieces to build up the thickness. Jim wanted about 1/4" of thickness so there were 7 layers of fiberglass for the protrusions. the petcocks and the filler bung will be cut later and a product called G-Flex to "glue" them in. The purchases on the bottom of the tank where it will get mounted to the frame got the same treatment. Those pieces were about 2"x2" and the same with the ones for the petcock. There will also be a vent on top of the tank so it got the same 2"x2" pieces 7 layers thick.
I then cut enough glass for 2 more layers of glass and a final layer of polyester. The polyester is the final layer and the matching half of the polyester fiberglass sandwich. So between the two days the tank had an inner and outter layer of polyester, sandwiching 3 layers of fiberglass. With the protrusion areas having 7 more layers of glass.
Adding up the layers
Self photo of me working out bubbles. For all fiberglass work I was gloved up and wore a mask. I never used a roller for any of the tank layers. The brush was my only tool. In this photo I was finished up and using the brush like a pin popping bubbles. I make it sound like they were big and plentiful. Not the case. There were just a few and pretty small at that. Anyhow, its almost like throwing a dart.
The day went very well. I didn't lose any resin kicking in the cup, got all the glass to lay and had very few bubbles.
So this is how I left it today. Tomorrow I'll pop the tank form the molds. The one thing I forgot to mention is that Jim used wax tape to make a joggle joint were the two halve will get joined together. Its like a ship lap. Basically he used a product that was sticky on one side and heavy wax on the other. This was put on the edge of the mold to create a lip that will slide into the other half. I'll grab a photo of the joggle joint once I pop the molds.
Once these set up and the edges are trimmed they will get popped. Should be tomorrow (if it rains. So I'm doing rain dances tonight, haha). The mount holes will get drilled slightly larger so there is room for a little play. I picked up T nuts from our local hardware that will first get G-flexed in place while sitting on the mount tabs on the frame. It needs to be as Jim says, " it needs to be happy so it doesnt bind and hold the tank crooked." Once its set, I'll drill for the filler and other bungs and they will G-Flexed in. Then once everything inside is sanded with 50 grit for tooth the two halves will get a product brushed on called Novalac epoxy liner then they will get bonded together with g-Flex. Tank's done except for paint!
This is all new stuff for me so I hope I'm repeating at least half this right :dunno:
Stay tuned...
So today I arrived and Jim said he thought I had it under control. He had confidence in me and knew I could handle it and headed to the basement to use his table saw. Needless to say I was a little nervous to get everything right. The prevous work was done under his watchful eye. He really kept a short string on me. I'd love to have had a tape recorder for our previous work. I can only imagine his thoughts. I've not done much fiberglass work in the past
Today I road the 400 f there. All the way I kept thinking of some of the things he's said like, "That's the right pace Troy." or, "Don't putz around Troy. You are putzing too much Troy. Troy you have to listen to me, work faster." See you were trying to play a game with it teasing it about kicking. Had it kicked you'd been in a world of hurt." Lol. He really says some funny shit. Anyhow, I know he had plenty of compliments too but its hard to focus on that when you are the green horn in the room. lol. I do remember him saying that I was working to his standard, only very slow
. And that the end prouduct will be top notch. Jim is pretty straight forward and says whats on his mind. I doesnt' use a filter at all. lol. Anyhow, I've got my fingers crossed ...Today I started out by cutting the rest of the layers. Every protrusion would have small pieces to build up the thickness. Jim wanted about 1/4" of thickness so there were 7 layers of fiberglass for the protrusions. the petcocks and the filler bung will be cut later and a product called G-Flex to "glue" them in. The purchases on the bottom of the tank where it will get mounted to the frame got the same treatment. Those pieces were about 2"x2" and the same with the ones for the petcock. There will also be a vent on top of the tank so it got the same 2"x2" pieces 7 layers thick.
I then cut enough glass for 2 more layers of glass and a final layer of polyester. The polyester is the final layer and the matching half of the polyester fiberglass sandwich. So between the two days the tank had an inner and outter layer of polyester, sandwiching 3 layers of fiberglass. With the protrusion areas having 7 more layers of glass.
Adding up the layers
Self photo of me working out bubbles. For all fiberglass work I was gloved up and wore a mask. I never used a roller for any of the tank layers. The brush was my only tool. In this photo I was finished up and using the brush like a pin popping bubbles. I make it sound like they were big and plentiful. Not the case. There were just a few and pretty small at that. Anyhow, its almost like throwing a dart.
The day went very well. I didn't lose any resin kicking in the cup, got all the glass to lay and had very few bubbles.
So this is how I left it today. Tomorrow I'll pop the tank form the molds. The one thing I forgot to mention is that Jim used wax tape to make a joggle joint were the two halve will get joined together. Its like a ship lap. Basically he used a product that was sticky on one side and heavy wax on the other. This was put on the edge of the mold to create a lip that will slide into the other half. I'll grab a photo of the joggle joint once I pop the molds.
Once these set up and the edges are trimmed they will get popped. Should be tomorrow (if it rains. So I'm doing rain dances tonight, haha). The mount holes will get drilled slightly larger so there is room for a little play. I picked up T nuts from our local hardware that will first get G-flexed in place while sitting on the mount tabs on the frame. It needs to be as Jim says, " it needs to be happy so it doesnt bind and hold the tank crooked." Once its set, I'll drill for the filler and other bungs and they will G-Flexed in. Then once everything inside is sanded with 50 grit for tooth the two halves will get a product brushed on called Novalac epoxy liner then they will get bonded together with g-Flex. Tank's done except for paint!
This is all new stuff for me so I hope I'm repeating at least half this right :dunno:
Stay tuned...
JustinLonghorn
No Purple Hearts, No Blue Ribbons
Re: Willow...Tank Progress
That had to be quite the experience, working with a master of his craft like that. One of those once in a lifetime experiences.
This bike build has been quite the journey, eh?
That had to be quite the experience, working with a master of his craft like that. One of those once in a lifetime experiences.
This bike build has been quite the journey, eh?
Re: Willow...Tank Progress
Thanks fellas glad you're digging it so far.
More progress:
The edges of the tank had a good bit excess. Jim let me borrow some clothes to keep the glass off while I trimmed it down to spec
Got the edges close with the big grinder and 50 grit. Switched to a wood block and hand sanded with 50 grit. worked the edges down even with the mold:
Popped the tank from both molds and rubbed the mold release off with 0000 steel wool and water. Then spent about 3 hrs 'worrying' the pieces together. Not sure if i heard Jim correct on the terminology but that's what he called the process of making the two halfs fit together properly. Lots of critical sanding and such.
The pieces are now just snapped together. I drilled the hole for the vent and marked for the filler
I stuck the elbow for the vent in place and same with the filler. They both need adjusted. The filler will have some clearance and the vent is leaning away from the backbone. But you get the idea...So please pardon the fiberglass dust on the frame. She'll need a good bath when its all said an done ;D but here it is...
Still need to drill for the fuel lines and the mount tabs. I'll grab some internal pics of the tank and the joggle joint before the tank gets bonded and when I get the chance
Thanks fellas glad you're digging it so far.
More progress:
The edges of the tank had a good bit excess. Jim let me borrow some clothes to keep the glass off while I trimmed it down to spec
Got the edges close with the big grinder and 50 grit. Switched to a wood block and hand sanded with 50 grit. worked the edges down even with the mold:
Popped the tank from both molds and rubbed the mold release off with 0000 steel wool and water. Then spent about 3 hrs 'worrying' the pieces together. Not sure if i heard Jim correct on the terminology but that's what he called the process of making the two halfs fit together properly. Lots of critical sanding and such.
The pieces are now just snapped together. I drilled the hole for the vent and marked for the filler
I stuck the elbow for the vent in place and same with the filler. They both need adjusted. The filler will have some clearance and the vent is leaning away from the backbone. But you get the idea...So please pardon the fiberglass dust on the frame. She'll need a good bath when its all said an done ;D but here it is...
Still need to drill for the fuel lines and the mount tabs. I'll grab some internal pics of the tank and the joggle joint before the tank gets bonded and when I get the chance
JustinLonghorn
No Purple Hearts, No Blue Ribbons
Re: Willow...Tank Progress
Yes sir. Absolutely beautiful. I am running out of adjectives for this thing. Just, well, perfection.
Pure Sex.
Yes sir. Absolutely beautiful. I am running out of adjectives for this thing. Just, well, perfection.
Pure Sex.
