How to Use Flax Fibre in Composites; Performance and Processing
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In this composites video tutorial we take a closer look at flax fibre and its use as a reinforcement in composites. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this natural fibre as a reinforcement, as well as discussing some of the environmental and performance considerations of flax fibre laminates.
In the second half of the tutorial includes a practical demonstration, performing a resin infusion of a flax fibre reinforced chair moulding using a high bio-content epoxy resin.
Flax Fibre Natural Reinforcements available to buy on our website:
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I wish you had a presence in the USA. You guys have everything.....including the elusive KNOWLEDGE that can be so painful and expensive to acquire without excellent instruction. Amazing work.
They do ship to the USA and their prices are competitive. I fail to see how being UK based is a problem for a quality, competitively priced product.
I totally agree and would like to see them open a warehouse in the US.
@@houseofno It is mainly the delay and expense of the international shipping. If needed, returns/exchanges become impractical. With that said, the domestic vendors for composite supplies are not even close to Easy Composites. Maybe it will be worth the wait.
Agree used to use fiberglast but their selection and service just has not kept up to the industry
Guys, we completely agree with all of the comments here. Our prices are definitely competitive and shipping prices can even be comparable (sometimes) but there are also plenty of extra hassles around importing into the US that we can't do much about without a presence 'on the ground'. For non-haz products in particular, we do good business into the US and have some great relationships with regular customers. For haz products it is more expensive to ship, damage in transit is more likely, delays happen and we have additional paperwork (like TSCAs which need completing in advance). We really value our US customers and we're constantly thinking about ways to support you all better. Rest assured, we have plans and we're working towards them. In the meantime, enjoy the content and buy from us where it makes sense to do so : )
The only problem with this channel is that it’s too long between new videos being released. We want more!
Thanks Karl, we're doing our best to produce more content; it's not easy sometimes as we're also running a very busy business and helping customers a lot through our other support channels too but we would like to increase the frequency of our video releases.
@@easycompositestv make video from customers order, that will be great
This
@@easycompositestv you guys are awesome.
@@easycompositestv I'm a believer in quality over quantity and this channel doesn't disappoint. Of course If you can knock even more content out of the same quality then do so but I'd be prepared to wait if needs be.
I've got a warehouse of extra flax fibre I was going to have shipped to the dump, I caught this video just in time! Thanks for the save, Easy Composites Ltd.
as someone who just finished a semester of material science with a large segment on natural fibre this channel is a goldmine
it seems that hemp would be a stronger alternative, but i don't know much about that. Do you have any insight to offer?
Hi Ryan, indeed it does look like hemp fibre does have good potential as a natural reinforcement. We've read papers which have demonstrated hemp fibre yielding better mechanical results than flex fibre but, as far as we've seen, this is only with lab-scale produced hemp fibre which has been specially prepared and conditioned so as to retain and optimise its mechanical properties for composites. As yet (again, to the best of our knowledge) hemp fibre, mass produced in the traditional way, does not retain its mechanical advantage over mass produced flax fibre, but if the lab production techniques are successfully scaled up then it could do, so it's a space worth watching.
I think you could really come up with some great uses for flax, as it doesn't have the political barriers of hemp, and according to the video has quite an established infrastructure in place, If you are a chemist come up with a resin based on linseed oil, you would make millions..
@@walruschicken Well, linseed oil on cloth is well-known for self ignition, so it's got that in common with resin plus hardeners :)
@@neilbarnes3557 Yes it does! I've seen it happen too many times, you would be surprised how many aren't aware of that. It would be a great product if some chemist out there could figure it out
Fun fact: Flax is a very, very low-stretch fiber; it's in the same class as the aramids, at least as far as stretch is concerned. Until the advent of Dacron and the other high-tech fabrics, the very best racing sails were made of Irish linen.
One has to ask why use Flax or Hemp rather than FG? The only reason I can think of is cosmetics. Any have another idea?
@@iancormie9916 Very low stretch, linen drapes beautifully, extremely low-carbon-footprint, quite a bit cheaper than carbon, and it looks nice. This is what you want, if you want this sort of thing. It won't work for all applications, and that's OK.
@@iancormie9916 I am thinking of using it to replace the wood grain inserts on my Mercedes 300E (1987) as they are showing signs of cracking and age as is usual for them. The flax offers the cosmetic value that wood does I think. A natural fibre and subtle variability that carbon fiber wont offer. If I add a cherry red tined clearcoat across the top it may yield a nice result.
@@generalvoltage1821 Did you try your project on your car? 🍒
Misread that as _arachnids!_ Slightly disturbing images of stretchy, bouncing spiders dancing before my eyes... 😳
I don't even do anything with composites, but I always watch these videos and it makes me want to have a go.
That is the point of these videos
Great information about flax fiber! Now Im thinking about where might it come in handy in an aerospace application…🤔😁
Thanks guys : ) Maybe just a nod to it on your project, a small section of your dash?!
@@easycompositestv exactly! Maybe the “woody style” interior details.
Fantastic explanation of flax fiber vacuum bagging and resin infusion.
Thanks Andie, appreciated.
I love this channel for the techniques they share. Gives you all sorts of DIY ideas.
Really appreciate the kind comment!
i would love classes like this near me. Ive done intro to composites and loved it. just 1 day of composites knowledge and hands on with kevlar and CF
If this isn't THE COOLEST way of manufacturing parts then I haven't seen it in my 42 years 😎 Absolutely brilliant video as always - thank you.!
Glad you liked it!
Very informative. It's first time i'm watching flax fibre composites.
HUGE bonus points for saying "damping" and not "dampening"! I consider that a sure sign of competence :) (Of course I suppose you could say "dampening the flax with resin results in a strong part with great damping" and be clever too.)
Very educational, Paul. You make it to look easy.
Flax Micarta is my favorite material of all time, thanks for this video!
You’re welcome, yes, that would be a nice material to work with.
Very informative as always. You somehow always manage to make a video about a dry topic entertaining and fly by in what feels like half its runtime. I'd love to see some content about Flax as core material in the future ... as well as 3d printed parts as cores for complex shapes.
The high resin uptake and naturally low compressive strength of flax makes it particularly unsuitable as a core material. Either it's fully wetted-out, in which case it would have great compressive strength (from the cured resin) but would be very dense (almost the same density of the resin) or it remains at least partially 'dry' in which case the compressive strength is very low. There are however natural materials that make fantastic core materials, like balsa wood and cork.
This is great, I've never seen a product using this. I can't wait to see some.
I’ve been watching a lot of your videos I’m so intrigued thanks for the info all of this is cool!
Looking forward to the future of flax composites. Thanks for making a video on them
You're welcome, thanks for the comment!
As always your videos are top quality, very inspiring and look like it can be done really easy. So pro and your skill are impeccable. I really appreciate your advice about reusing not only to be green but also to save some money and most of all going as GREEN as possible.
Glad you enjoyed the video Jan!
This channel is a goldmine of invaluable industry specific advice and data which would otherwise be virtually impossible to obtain. Indeed, many companies would treat this information as trade secrets and intellectual property, and guard it jealously. So I’m hugely grateful to you for sharing it. You obviously sharing your trade secrets because there’s a huge and developing market for this technology which is likely to attract more and more funding, due to its supposed environmental credentials. However, the hugely increased time and labour factors involved here, as well as the added real costs, tends to mean the genuine advantages and therefore benefits, are always going to be somewhat limited, as you alluded to here, for which I’m also grateful. That’s an indication of genuine integrity. And as much as I personally love that a natural fibre is being used to manufacture items, I’m also aware that if suitable growing land is utilised to produce flax crops, at the cost of food crops, and without addressing these issues, ultimately this is only going to be harmful to humans. Humans SHOULD matter more than anything else, even the environment. But that’s not the case when it comes to the psychopathic elites and the powers that shouldn’t be. The climate agenda and the demonisation of carbon, and the false apportioning of blame, both upon humans and even of course carbon itself, is very very dangerous. Trillions of dollars are being thrown at a fake problem, whilst humans are actually starving, and nothing of substance is being done to address that problem. We need to find a balance. We also need to stop pretending that it’s okay to play pretend games with such hugely important issues, for example fake discovery of ‘unintended consequences’ sometime down the line. Now I’m going to channel my inner Steve Jobs to figure out how to use this material - in a genuinely sustainable manner. 🧐😎😜 Thank you again for sharing Peace
Really enjoyed you fast tutorial on setup with this! Often, I would see carbon fiber and fiberglass in-house. I'm glad to see the level of flax used on the AW609 aircraft on both the mid-wing spar and the fuselage as well as nacelle panels. It's lightweight and has excellent sound properties as well!
Amazing channel. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Incredibly fascinating!
what a great, pragmatic video. I hope this takes off.
Seems like a fantastic choice for interior panels.
Excellent and informative presentation; as always. I have changed a projects materials from aluminum to carbon primarily due to some of your videos prompting. Thanks.
Thanks Donald, I'm glad we've inspired you to get into the fascinating world of composite manufacturing!
@@easycompositestv Thankfully you dont use your powers of persuasion(& education) for evil; such as becoming used car salesmen and convincing everyone to buy used TVR's with dodgy electrics. 😁
Very well explained, you all should definitely do more education videos, this is great!
Thanks Kenza, we're doing our best. Make sure you've checked through our back-catalogue though, we have quite a few videos of a similar style on other composites subjects.
How does the cost compare to traditional glass / Carbon layups of similar dimensions and density? Only thing missing from this video. Love the level of knowledge and ease of instruction you guys give!
Depends on source, but I suspect some sources are going to be dirt cheap.
As mentioned below they are more expensive than using cheap fibreglass and polyester resins but generally the green credentials are often more of a priority than raw cost. We suspect as natural fibres and bio based resins become more popular, the costs will likely come down.
If you get composite specific stuff, it's gonna cost more. If you source bulk flax/linen it can be much cheaper.
Way less than carbon
Watch the sales at fabric stores, and buy 100% linen when you see a weave and weight you like on sale.
Hi from Argetina !! Awesome videos. I use vinyl ester resins and silicone molds for electric things inside, like copper coils etc , and I encapsulate it
great job - easy to follow and concise presentation
Appreciate the kind comment Peter!
Amazing work and interesting chosen materials to work with I didn’t expect it looks with good at all definitely gonna buy some and try it myself thank you so much easycomposite
Certainly if you like the appearance of some woods, the Flax once laminated does have its own unique natural appeal.
Это лучшая лекция про композитные материалы и применение в гараже/ кухне/мастерской. Даже гугль переводчик справился со всеми терминами и отлично перевел на русский язык. Огромное спасибо.
Glad you enjoyed the video!
Thanks again for the video. Always informative.
You're very welcome, glad you enjoyed it :)
That was really interesting and the result is attractive. I can imagine using flax to make curved doors for a timber sideboard, as one example. Thanks, Paul - I appreciate your clear explanations and recommendations.
Cheers Justin, appreciate the feedback. Agreed, I think flax has some good applications in moulded furniture and architectural pieces; in these applications weight is less critical but your priorities are for an easily mouldable material with reasonable strength and a good aesthetic.
@@easycompositestv once innovative furniture manufacturers like IKEA start using it to make stronger and lighter chairs, it will become mainstream.
I'm so excited to see this video. Thanks so much for your collaborative culture. I love how more and more the ideology of "knowledge is "power" is being left behind. Here in New Zealand we have two species of flax that are native to our country. The genus is completely different from the european linen plant. The NZ flax fibre is very long, fine and very strong. It is strong enough that our indigenous people (Maori) have used it for making all kinds of constructions of items that need strength such as baskets and ropes. When europeans got onto it, they milled it to produce rope, in fact during the world wars, we exported our ropes to europe. Then Nylon came along and the mills have all closed down. I have been playing around with flax fibre in the hope that I can eventually build a bike frame but will need to trial first some projects such as bike saddles etc. It was interesting to hear that epoxy is the way to go with flax because of moisture tolerance (all my carbon work is done with polyester resin). I have also been researching whether there is an organic resin that will be compatible with flax fibre. I'm sure it'll be out there somewhere.
I had the same or similar thoughts here in Tokoroa. Also I can still recall the flax fibre farms around Bulls on SH1 as a kid… Laurie
Idk if I've misunderstood your intent - quite possibly I have - but why on earth would you be _glad_ if "knowledge is power" becomes a thing of the past?! 😳 Knowledge is surely *_liberating?!_* Giving us the ability to survive and thrive in the world - the essence of freedom - and we can't have real power without freedom. This video epitomises how having and sharing knowledge is the cornerstone of reputation and influence, no? We're all impressed by the level of expertise and wisdom from Easy Composites... 🤗
Thanks for explaining that it is very different from carbon and fiberglass. My first experience with it was disappointing, because I was expecting something more like fiberglass. But you do have me thinking of interesting uses for the material!
Hi Fredy, yes, the performance of flax will come as a shock if you're expecting its properties and behaviour to be closer to glass fibre (as you sometimes see it, rather misleadingly, compared to). It's still an interesting material and reinforcement but we tend to find that combining it with other types of reinforcement (like we did in our skateboard tutorial a few years ago) is a more practical way to work with it.
Very instructive video.👍 Already excited to see how you made the snowboard🙂
Thanks. The snowboard used a UD flax 'top-sheet' which was also resin infused. Most of the rest of the snowboard was fairly conventional construction although this is a topic we will cover in a future tutorial (snowboard construction, not flax snowboard construction in particular) so stay subbed if you're interested in snowboard construction.
@@easycompositestv omg, you spoiled the next video😱🤣 I tryed last year to infuse ski "in one shoot" with top sheet. I little bit tricky but the result was quitte good... I stay tuned for your nexts videos👍
Excellent video! My friends have used bamboo fibers in some of the project.
Hi Bibin, yes, indeed, very similar principles, properties and considerations.
This looks like a great alternative to carbon fibre for replacing the wood grain strips and console (sun cracked) in my Mercedes W124 300E rolling project. A cherry red tinted clearcoat over the top might make a lovely natural fibre looking insert alternative.
As always : instructive. Thank you.
Cheers Vincent, you're welcome.
Truly comprehensive and well produced video!👌🏻 I will only comment that it would’ve been good to mention that Flax reinforcement isn’t so compatible with cheaper resins like Polyester or Vinylester for infusion processes, unless you either use a very special, water-agnostic initiator, or you go through the suggested steps on the video to dry up the Flax reinforcement every single time. Obviously Epoxy resins don’t mind the humidity-water content.
Thanks for the comment, there's always something we miss! You are absolutely right, drying the fibre is much more important with polyester and vinylester resins. We'll be sure to add the information onto our product listings.
thank you for the true performance numbers.
Fantastica realizzazione con il nuovo tessuto 👍🏻
You know, I could do with a getting started video that shows what beginners should (and needn't) get and also compares the various starter kits you offer.
Now I'm getting ideas of forged flax fiber intake manifolds and cam covers.
Thank you for making this video!
Thanks for the comment!
if someone just told me that flax of all things could become a "space age" composite material along i wouldnt believe it, but i just saw it.... Amazing.
Brilliant informative tutorial as always, thank you for sharing the wisdom. Great tip, like on letting the pot line run for a bit longer to reduce tension and let any voids shrink ! As described, for none weight critical parts it’s very effective, bulks up well and without mesh/peel offers quite a reduction in plastic consumables. Have you had any success with silicon buckets/cake tray type containers for the epoxy - as a reusable item. I’m aware the platinum of some silicones will interfere with Polyester setting, but considering for epoxy.
Hi Logan, thanks for the comments. You can certainly use re-usable polypropylene containers as your resin bucket. Epoxy won't stick to PP at all so this is a good option; just let it cure and then knock it out. Cured silicone won't affect the curing of epoxy in any way but you will find that epoxy quickly degrades silicone (you'll see it within a few uses) and so, give the cost and bulk involved in any kind of silicone container, you'd be much better of sticking with PP or PE.
I have never had to SLOW down a video before ... that includes being a part of KZhead University for over 10 years
That looks really cool.
Would be amazing to see an analysis of hemp fiber.
That chair looks fantastic. I'm quite familiar with this design of plastic chair and having that extra stiffness would be quite noticeable. People grabbing hold of this kind of a chair would probably go "wow that looks and feels good!" Perhaps not necessary for your average school diner chair but could be quite the conversational piece in a corporate meeting space.
That chair is cool. Love the look, would make nice Bike bodywork. 70's Candy/20's FlaxFibre... Custom world should be looking into this.
Honestly I would love some exploration about some practical applications of flax fiber composites, because as much as I love composites, I really want a more environmentally conscious option as well.
We do have a video coming up in the summer where we will make a larger component using flax fibre reinforcement. We agree with you entirely that we should all strive to enjoy our making, engineering, and use of equipment and components but try to reduce our environmental impact as we do it. In this video, we tried to be honest about the complexities of doing that and acknowledged that it's not always just a case of choosing 'greener' materials without considering the whole lifecycle... don't get me started on bamboo/epoxy drinking cups! However, if we're at least thinking about these things, earnestly, and trying to understand alternative materials better then that is steps in the right direction.
@@easycompositestv Did this video get published?
Reminds me of picking up flax on Runescape 15 years ago :D
Really enjoyed You fast tutorial on setup with this. I live in Ethiopian i went to make your jop how to get this mold
What a great video. thank you.
Would love to see a video of how you made the snowboard!!
Hey 👋! Would really appreciate if you showed us how to make holes for screws and stuff in composites, and to strengthen that area for bearing all the loads.
Thanks for the suggestion, we do hope to make a tutorial focussing on fixing, fixtures and fasteners for composites in the future so this is one we're already thinking about.
@@easycompositestv thanks. You guys make great content. Learnt a lot 👍
Another awesome video!
Thanks JB!
Super travail, j'adore le résultat final. Bonjour à l'équipe easy composites.
Merci beaucoup Jean François, c'est super d'entendre que vous avez apprécié le projet.
What a cool looking material, I have been thinking about using this for an RC chassis that I have had an idea for.. would love to see how you made the skateboard and snowboard with the wood in the middle
Hi Adrian, thanks for the comment, we did a video a few years back on the skateboard build, it's worth checking out, I made the snowboard just as a prop for this video but I hope to share something on snowboard building in the future.
Skateboard video: kzhead.info/sun/ppaag5V_baumYGw/bejne.html
@@easycompositestv thanks for the reply and I will go and find that one on the skateboard..
great content guys, i had to subscribe. since i do a lot with resin too your info has good value to me. Thank you for sharing your infos so freely, i know you promote your stuff with that too, but that is absolute no problem, i would love to buy stuff from you but since you are no longer in the EU, it is much more troulbe to order in GB. by the way, flax is also called linen, wich is great. Linen micarta is a great material for knife handles 🙂
We now have an EU website specifically for EU customers here: www.easycomposites.eu/
@@easycompositestv ok, that is great 😍 i guess i will have a look there pretty soon 😊
That chair is beautiful. I wish you sold them so I could buy it right now.
Haha, thanks Kirt. Maybe another viewer will take inspiration and start putting them into production. We made the mould a couple of years back when we were planning on doing a collab with @Matthieu Libeert but due to Covid we didn't get the chance to use it.
It would be interesting to see how this material would perform for drone frames
Really informative, thanks! 😎🇦🇺
Cheers Jack, appreciated.
Great tutorial! Is there a way to get the surface to be less "shiny"? Similar to the snowboard that is shown.
The surface imitates the mould so a shiny mould will yield a shiny part; as such, you could choose to refinish the mould so any future parts come out with the required finish or, alternatively, you could either a) lightly abrade the surface with a fine wet/dry abrasive paper or scotch pad or could clear coat the finished piece with a matt or satin lacquer.
@@easycompositestv I have another question: How thick will one sheet of flax fiber result in in the final product? Will the thickness of the sheet be very different before and after the process?
At work we made some flax rear wings for several race cars using prepreg flax and that stuff was not fun. It looked cool however once it was lacquered.
would love to see a video using thin film recycled thermoplastic compression moulding technique
Great content 👍 good Job 👍 🌸
That would be interesting to see the combination of thin glass surfaces and the flax core. Feels like it would give the best of both worlds! :)
I had the same thought
Potentially it could be a good combo subject to testing. Probably not as light as a typical foam core due to resin uptake but could be beneficial.
@@easycompositestv Absolutely, with the additional benefit being the simplification of vacuuming process. May I ask a question? I tried an oversimplified process for vacuum infusion. I put the ply on a layer of cling film, mixed resin added a blob on one side of that ply. On the other one I put a massive wick of paper towels that also acted as aid conduit. I then closed the envelope and used my vacuum pump. It turned into a sort of squeeshy maluable material that was easy to turn into flat sheet, wrap around simple molds etc. Cling film was easy to stretch and conformed nicely to simple shapes. I'm pretty sure if used on a vacuum forming machine - it would stretch and conform to 3d shapes like the hot plastic sheets do but without the need for heat obviously. I really like to experiment with these things, would you like to try something like that?
Excellent video! Is it possible to have a clearer final rendering by using pigments in the resin? thank you !
You can add pigments to the resin if you want to change the colours but normally that would be in a gelcoat. With infusion, the resin layer is so thin that you would, at best, get a patchy finish.
Thank you sir, your chanel is very informative, as a beginer we got lot of tips and practical ideas, can you please make a comprehensive video over vacume pump, that required for vacume infusion, how much vacume presure required for specific area.
I’m pretty sure they have an older video (or videos) cover a pump selection and usage. As well as layup and techniques that can improve the chances of getting a fully infused and strong part.
Hi Fawad, as Jeremiah commented, we have done a feature on vacuum pump selection in a previous video, here: kzhead.info/sun/l8-kpquxj6Ctgqs/bejne.html although the video focusses on one of our pumps in particular, there is some information in there which discusses general vacuum pump selection. We also have multiple videos on resin infusion which discuss required vacuum levels etc, please have a look through our back-catalogue of resin infusion videos.
You guys should do a video on spraying clear over finished parts.
Hi Johny, that video is already in the planning stage so it will be coming along eventually.
Like focal in their speakers 👌
Natural fibres like flax do have good vibration damping properties.
Thank you, thank you, thank you my saviors! I'm a luthier experimenting (struggling) with composites in natural fibres for a couple of years, and I have never been able to find very useful information about them online: I would LOVE to see more videos about natural fibers, the clarity and the quality of the information you give in your videos are always excellent. I use jute and I have the same darkening "problem" (which frankly bothers me a bit). I noticed that it is possible to control it a little thanks to your SMC Vacuum Regulator: the lower the vacuum, the lighter the color. However, this has its drawbacks during the infusion and I am forced to use a flow media. With manual lamination and consolidation with a vacuum bag, however, the color remains light, even at full vacuum. Do you have any experience or advice about it? I would have a lot of other questions to ask you, but I don't want to be annoying!
Hi Antica, no problem. The darkening you're seeing is just the normal appearance change when materials with complex surfaces (which makes them look lighter) get wetted out. When you manage to achieve a lighter appearance, it's because you're not properly wetting out the reinforcement. Think of flax (or Jute) just like blond hair, when it's wet, it looks a lot darker. I'm afraid that there isn't really much that can be done about the darkening of the flax when it's wetted out, without compromising the mechanical properties by limiting the wetting out of the fibres.
@@easycompositestv Thank you very much, I will try to do some tests to compare light colored parts (infused at -0.6 bar) with dark parts (infused at full vacuum) but so far I have never noticed any mechanical differences. Maybe I still lack the knowledge to be able to notice them. One last question, if I may: when you leave the dry layup under vaccum to "dehumidify" for 5 hours, the pump is off, right? I imagine the moisture will remain in the bag and will be removed by letting the pump run for a while before starting the real infusion. Thanks again Marco PS please, a video about Fibrimat too, if you can 🙏
I am so glad you made this video, I had been contemplating using natural fibre, and now I know where to get it from, but from what you were saying of sound deadening properties, it would not be good for a musical, stringed, instrument?
Hi Dec, well, flax is very well known for its anti-vibration properties so there is indeed going to be a significant impact on the sound of an instrument however I don’t think that rules out its use altogether; for example carbon fibre instruments are often considered ‘too bright’ and so selective combination of carbon and flax could tune the sound to something better than either material on its own.
It would be cool to see strength tests on other natural materials. How strong would sheep’s wool be I wonder.
That's a good idea for a KZhead channel. If you have a local fabric store I would tell them what you are planning to do and they would probably cut you a deal on the fabric. I want to try a hemp and silk laminate.
Hmmm. Silk is already quite strong and light, with a very fine thread and tight weave. For small parts, you could just upcycle silk shirts from the shonky shop.
We haven't got any materials to compare it to, but yes it would be interesting to see.
@@easycompositestv Hemp?
I'm glad he talked in consumables and sustainability/reusability of related products
As you mentioned, with this type of flax weave, you don't need the mesh, even when using a unidirectional fiber underneath. Maybe you could use a flax weave in a multi-composite layup alongside carbon and/or Kevlar instead of a mesh to get this aesthetic and reduce material costs? Maybe there is also a way to use something like a 2-part vacuum mold to replace the bag and peel ply and get a scalable system with less waste material for more sustainable parts. The only thing that I can't really think of a solution off-hand for is the feed spiral, but I'm sure something like this already exists.
For 2-part vacuum molds you can engineer grooves and gaps where you would otherwise need to use feed spirals and/or infusion mesh where possible. Vacuum bagging does let you more easily see and take care of eventual leaks from stray fibers stuck between the butyl rubber and sealing surfaces. You win some you lose some.
Very good information
Glad you enjoyed!
@@easycompositestv working on composites is always fun and enthralling
Have you done any material on hand layup of flax, and how to avoid pinholes/ dry spots as flax seems to be vulnerable to this problem?
Hand lay up without vacuum can be problematic as it tends to swell so not always ideal.
@@easycompositestv I have made some tests of flax fibers with gurit ampro clr epoxy, and using clothes storage bag vacuumbag ( "the househould method"🙂) So I had some vacuum there, but is this sufficient? Would the resin uptake be larger in a hand layup? I made 2 samples where fiber to resin ratios was 1:2 and 1:3 respectively. But the final weight of the samples were only a couple of grams different to each other while the expected difference would be 10 grams. I think this suggest the resin uptake is stable at 1:2 fibre:resin. The surplus resin went into the breathercloth I suppose. Thank you for all the good instructions.
Excellent
I'm wondering if in the future you will also offer a synthetic spider silk fibre to be used in the manufacturing of some composite parts, that gorgeous rich golden sheen it has
very good dear
it would be amazing to work with dyneema product to show how expedient is it in different industry areas. Good luck guys!
Thanks for the suggestion En-Nur, we do plan to do more videos in future which cover the basic properties and advantages of a wide range of composite reinforcements. When we do this video we would certainly hope to include Dyneema.
Great video! Any plan to do a video on Basalt fiber?
Possibly! It depends on how much more common it becomes and if there is enough to warrant a dedicated video.
Is hemp composite stronger by weight compared with flax ? With thanks, love your excellent instructional presentation.
We do not have any hemp to test at present to compare.
@@easycompositestv Thankyou for your reply. Hemp industrial use is quite common now, ie insulation, rope and clothing but would need to be processed like the flax. I believe hemp would perform better than flax.
awesome!
Thank you on this video. Never saw material like this, its brilliant. But for more stiffness can i in 2. layer set carbon fiber? To have stronger part but still flexibel. How will that work? Great work guys, thank you.
You can certainly mix in other laminate materials such as carbon fibre if needs be.
Nice work! Have you done anything with Basalt fibres? It’s been touted as the new eco alternative with good strength and weight properties.
Hi Kev, no, we've only had limited experience with basalt fibre. It is indeed suggested as a more eco-alternative to glass fibre but, as with all these things, there's quite a bit to consider 'in the round' in terms of whether it offers real advantages. Maybe one for us to take a closer look at in the future video!
The unidirectional material must be great for center consoles and other interior pieces on classic cars!
How does the resin factor into the environmental impact, are there eco friendly resins to use for composting said composite material?
Hi Tim, we tried to discuss the *some* of the considerations of the resin half of the equation in the video, one of the main ones being the environmental impact of the resin production in general (and the fact that you'll need more of it if the reinforcement has a lower performance) but there is plenty more to dig into on the resin production and lifecycle too. We cover a bit more about this in our product spotlight video on the IB2 bio-epoxy infusion resin, you can watch that over on our products channel here: kzhead.info/sun/qNF7qdmpmIqNq3k/bejne.html
Hi, could you do more videos about natural fibers and sustainable composites?
Hi Marcel, we will be doing another flax video in the summer. We might also look at other fibres (such as basalt) in the future.
Impressive
The seats in my car are made of Flax Fibre, so far they've been wearing very well.
I am excited by the potential of this in so many applicators, has anyone looked into making a resin directly from linseed oil, as it literally comes from processing flax? I am familiar with the bio resin, and I was told it was developed from the by products of paper manufacturing. some chemist out there has to have the answer!
Hi Aaron, if you watch the spotlight video we did on the bio resins recently (link in the description) it includes a segment on the broad chemistry behind the bio-derived element; there are a lot of potential sources. As for linseed, I’m not sure but I bet you could find some papers on it if you do some digging.
@@easycompositestv thank you ! I will check that out, My old shop mate used the resin for making surfboards and I was very impressed with the quality and the fact that there was no smell at all.
The cyclone testing station in Townsville Australia uses this between plywood laminations and then shoots a 4” square hardwood block at it at over 300km/hr. Goes right through but they told me its better than carbon and glass.
Hmmm, well, I’m not sure what the nature or purpose of that test is exactly… if you wanted a material that would perform well in this test you’d want to include Aramid fibre (like Kevlar) which would have a much higher impact strength than any of the other materials mentioned. We’ve made ballistic door panels in this way and you couldn’t shoot a bullet through them, never mind a block of wood only going 300mph.
@@easycompositestv thats what I thought but then again.. it is a university that likes to be eco friendly in every way possible. That was what I got out of it.
would be good for making mold with instead of glass molds