Pinning the roof to its support poles – Part 1

Tom wanted to strengthen the bond of the overhanging aft cockpit roof to its supporting fibreglass poles. So I came up with a method to “pin” the poles to the roof, using carbon rod, prior to taping them in.

To make these pins, Tom created a mould for the glass blocks by cutting a 450mm x 150mm trench into a scrap of 16mm Duflex, leaving the glass skin on the bottom. Into this I laid and wet out two layers of 450mm x 150mm quadraxial fabric.

I then laid a 10mm plastic rod, greased with cabinet maker’s wax, which once removed after curing, will form the hole for the carbon pin.

Then I placed and wet out another nine layers of 450mm x 70mm quadraxial fabric on each side of the rod…

… finishing off with three more layers of 450mm x 150mm quadraxial fabric.

Once cured (half an hour later!) Tom had to use a bit of force to remove the plastic rod.

Later, Tom trimmed away the Duflex and using a drop-saw, cut the glass bar into three 150mm square blocks.

Using a 50mm hole saw, he then drilled out the holes to accommodate the fibreglass poles.