George said:
> I often recommend a book on composites but ...

> Perhaps we should all walk down to the local Land Grant college, each
> state has 2 and they all teach engineering, and ask advice.

Actually, we only have one Land Grant college here that teaches engineering; I went there. They have a super composites lab. In fact, they gave me a grocery bag full of cast-off glass scraps. I have 12 oz. uni, 10 oz. uni, 10 oz. 45/45 bi, some tridirectional, some carbon fiber, but sorry, George, no satin to try. :( They're all pretty small pieces, but I'm learning a lot making paddle blades from them! They buy their composite cloth in bulk; i.e. they buy cloth that may have a tiny weaving defect that makes it unsuitable for aerospace work, and is sold cheaply by the pound. Hence, they were not at all reluctant to give a bunch to a schmuck grad student who asked nicely.

They taught me quite a bit when I just stopped by after class a few times. Of course, they used high-temp. cure polyester resins, but what they told me about layups, glass bagging, etc. could come in handy someday!

Shawn