Making the form for the V-Mount Strut is a relatively simple undertaking.

 

I started with a 3/4" maple board and cut the 12.5 degree face in the lower portion by setting my table saw blade at an angle.

 

I then cut the board in two pieces, flipped one of the pieces around and glued them together to achieve the V.

 

I then drew a circle at each end matching the diameter of my tailboom at the V-Mount attachment point and rounded the form to match.

I made the form long enough to accommodate several struts at the same time, so I used a .047" diameter drill bit to make 3 holes on each side of the form.

 

I took great care that the holes lined up so that I could push a wire through the form from one side to the other.

 

This wire will shape a hole for the hinge pin so that drilling a hole will not be required.

I then placed some tape over the form to protect the wood from epoxy. 

 

I suppose I should have just waxed it, but this seemed quicker.

 

AS you can see, I only taped off two locations, instead of all three.

I cut a large piece of 5.7 oz. carbon fabric on a 45 degree bias.

 

Then I cut it down into smaller pieces.

I'm going to be using 3 layers of the carbon cloth per strut and as you can see here, I cut enough for 3 struts.

Next I stretched the cloth so that the bias now ran at a 20 degree angle.

 

The piece of paper is a template that I had made indicating the final size needed to be achieved by the stretching.

I then mixed up laminating epoxy and using a spreader, saturated the pieces of cloth.

 

After blotting up as much excess as I could, I draped successive layers of the cloth over the form.

 

Note:  I decided to give slightly more material in the area where the hinge will be by adding 4 more layers of cloth at the top.

 

I then put the form into a bag and kept it under suction overnight.

After the layup cured, the parts were removed from the form, ready to be shaped.

 

Just to avoid confusion...  in this series of pictures, I did not use the .047" wire to form holes.

 

I'm working on a revision to this process that will indeed use the wires...

This page is not complete yet!

 

I have made a small change to the way I'm making these v-struts, so I will be updating this content in a few weeks.

 

Check back for the updated write-up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

-- Current through January 21, 2014