183 grms for Ver 01 axle

Ver 02 axle polished

Tooling for Carbon Prepreg Trucks and Hubs

Each component required tooling to be constructed to provide
pressure and surface finish and shape.

The parts were machined by hand out of Aluminium & steel and
given a high polish.
The surface of the tooling was either covered in PTFE sheet
or Frekote release agent.
PTFE glass re-enforced self adhesive film allows trapped vapours
to escape when curing.

 
The bearing casing was formed on the above mandrel.
and  consists of wound graphite in a Copper/Epoxy matrix.
The copper aids heat dispersion in the Polymer bearing.

 
Shown above on the left is the housing with the press fit Iglidur Z 12mm
bearing shell. The ID of the bearing shell has to 13.94mm  +- 0.02 mm
to allow compression of the oversize bearing when fitted to give a good
fit to a 12mm OD Titanium axle.
The two halves of the hubs created separately shown on the right prior
to fitting of the bearing casing.

Various special tools and jigs had to be made.

 
Lay-up of each hub with the bearing casing
The small hole is used to locate the valve hole.

 
Checking alignment and the two halves are bonded together.

The hub tooling opened up prior to insertion of the lay-up.

 
The tool holding the hub together under pressure.
Springs either side of the screw studs & O rings  on the centre
axle screw take up the compression as the epoxy flows under
heat & pressure.

Two hour cure at 120 C

Release of hub from tool after cooling.
Liberal use of release agent helps the two halves separate easily.
The O ring in a piston cylinder creates pressure to bond the
bearing housing to the hub lay-up.

 
Un-trimmed finished hub on left with mandrel prior to removal.
On the right the rest of the mandrel has been released showing the
bonded housing (red) now integral with the hub.

Hub prior to trim and hole enlargement for valve.

TRUCKS

Truck tooling hand machined from Aluminium and prepreg Carbon for the
axle support.

 

Removable parts for the king pin housing hole shown on the left.

 
Clamps for the axle

Detail of the king pin and rubber bush housing tooling.

 
Tool for the Truck Hanger plate constructed from carbon using a plug cast from
epoxy/glass fiber composite.

Lay-up and wrap of the axle.
The axle has been previously constructed from machined Titanium stub axles
wrapped in carbon. This first stage of the construction uses Hawkeye
"Shrink Tite" polyamide  tape wound spirally in several layers.
At 140 C the molecules are restructured to create biaxial strain on the film
that applies positive pressure to the carbon lay-up on the mandrel.

Multi -layer prepreg wrap to required thickness
carefully hand cut from 3-D profiles and sections.  

After 120 C cure for 2 hours under vacuum the part is removed
It is shown here still in an untrimmed state.

Finally the parts are trimmed, polished and assembled.

Version 002 Truck with Ti King Pin and hanger on complete hub.

DECK

New design for 1.0 kilo deck.
Full carbon foot platform integral with a thickened spine.

Truck on deck showing experimental carbon dowels and stainless starlock
fasteners used in conjunction with Hylomar TileBond 402 structural adhesive.

Polymer bearings used in a standard Vegas GI hub with a carbon housing
adapter.and a 12mm Carbon/Ti truck axle.