Composite BSI Hatch Lid
For the Fender Locker, I am using standard BSI Moonlight hardware, but decided early that I didn't want to use the the stock acrylic pane. The regular lid weighs a ton and I'm anyway planing on a full Raptor Deck kit for the cockpit floor, so having the translucency isn't a priority. My solution is still in process, but here is a peek at the first steps of making a matching part in carbon.
My router is a home brew. The Z-control is a small shock absorber with a depth stop. We used a bike skewer for quick adjustments. Still it works brilliantly for simple processes. Step one, I surfaced the foam down to 13.65mm thickness, banking on 1mm per side in laminate and paint to bring the total pane up to 5/8" thick. Next, I put a gutter in the core where the seal will reside, and cut a couple of pucks out for the handles. Finally, the hinge grabs onto a 7mm thick tongue, and so that rebate was indexed and milled on both sides accordingly. All the measurements are super critical so that the when the lid is hinged closed, the gasket feels even pressure all around.
For the panel edges, I decided to glue on some scrap RBS batten stock I had kicking around. I knew it would add a little weight, but in doing so the lid could take a pretty solid impact and I could keep the edges crisp. To get the 15mm battens down to 13.65mm wide, I rigged up a mini table saw with the diamond blade in the Dremel, a couple U-bolts from the junk drawer, and a batten screwed to the table to act as a fence.
My router is a home brew. The Z-control is a small shock absorber with a depth stop. We used a bike skewer for quick adjustments. Still it works brilliantly for simple processes. Step one, I surfaced the foam down to 13.65mm thickness, banking on 1mm per side in laminate and paint to bring the total pane up to 5/8" thick. Next, I put a gutter in the core where the seal will reside, and cut a couple of pucks out for the handles. Finally, the hinge grabs onto a 7mm thick tongue, and so that rebate was indexed and milled on both sides accordingly. All the measurements are super critical so that the when the lid is hinged closed, the gasket feels even pressure all around.
For the panel edges, I decided to glue on some scrap RBS batten stock I had kicking around. I knew it would add a little weight, but in doing so the lid could take a pretty solid impact and I could keep the edges crisp. To get the 15mm battens down to 13.65mm wide, I rigged up a mini table saw with the diamond blade in the Dremel, a couple U-bolts from the junk drawer, and a batten screwed to the table to act as a fence.
Next, I cut the G10 pucks out using the imitation band saw. Yes. That's an upside-down jigsaw in a vice... with a zip tie on the trigger. What could possible go wrong?
Here's a pic of the assembled core just before priming and sheathing. Note the gutter is filled with high density filler, and the battens and pucks are adhered.
I bagged the part in two steps. Each side got one 11oz DB90 and one 6oz twill. I wrapped a couple battens of the correct thickness in packing tape and stuck them under the 5mm tongue to keep the vacuum pressure from creating distortion. The final lid came in just slightly heavier than expected at 3 lbs, but it's still a fraction of the stock one, so it feels like a win.
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