> How To

Abrasive Grinding
Instructions for preparing metallographic specimens by abrasive grinding. Materials include composites and ceramics. Includes recommended procedures, abrasive products, machine speeds, etc.

Anodizing Aluminum
Ron Newman shows how to anodize aluminum in your garage. Article is about telescopes, but applies to any aluminum parts. Warning: anodizing is a hazardous operation!

Anthony's Board Building Links
Extensive collection of links on surfboard and sailboard building. I've linked to some of the composite how to's, but Anthony has a lot more information..

Basics of Vacuum Bagging
All vacuum bags are made in essentially the same way. This article shows the basic components of a bag and how they go together.

Bicycle Frame Part 1
Damon Rinard shows how he made a carbon bicycle frame in his garage. This page is an overview with pictures; be sure to also read the full article. And check out his home page.

Bicycle Frame Part 2
Damon Rinard is working on a new composite bicycle frame. Follow the progress on his new Web page, complete with pictures and descriptions.

Boatbuilding Methods
Pictorial overviews of boatbuilding with plywood, one-off fiberglass, steel & aluminum, and strip planking. Pages must be viewed sequentially, but otherwise the content is good.

Boatbuilding with Bead and Cove
Ad for a book on building boats with foam core systems. A few sample pictures, plus the Forward and Introduction, are on the site.

Book of Boat Designs
Plans and kits for 21 or so boats from Glen-L Marine Designs. Catalog gives descriptions and photos of finished boats. Most plans are in the $30-$40 range.

Boston Whaler Repair
James Hebert explains how he repaired some nicks and gouges in the fiberglass hull of his Boston Whaler. No pictures, but a nicely detailed step-by-step description.

The Cheap Little Sucker
Build your own vacuum pump for about $20 in parts and a salvaged compressor. Includes picture, hand-drawn schematic, and text instructions.

Clay Tools
A very detailed report on making layup masters and molds from clay. Not exactly a how to, but there's probably enough info to make a tool from the report. Clay can be used on large tools.

The Complete Surfing Guide for Coaches
How to design, build, and repair surfboards. Everything from the workstand to the design to the finishing work. Not entirely accurate; don't wash with acetone.

Construction and Flat Laminate Techniques
A brief overview of material selection and laminate design, geared towards model rockets. Fairly detailed instructions for making flat laminates. From Dangerous Dave.

Covering Models with Fiberglass Cloth
Jim Ryan shows how to layup glass on airplane models for a good finish. The technique is applicable in many situations, and he includes instructions on priming and painting.

Decorative and Industrial Resin Castings
Goldenwest Manufacturing gives instructions for making castings using a rigid resin and using a flexible RTV silicone. Such castings can be used as layup or molding tools.

Ding Repair FAQ
FAQ for fixing dings in fiberglass surfboards. Some good manufacturing tips. Review of a workshop makes an incorrect dig at autoclave molding, but otherwise a good page.

Dobsonian Telescope
Steve Scampini describes how he built a Dobsonian telescope. He doesn't use any composites, but points out where the plywood base could be made lighter with the use of a sandwich material. The tube could probably also be composite.

E-42 CARON Rocket
Brief description of the manufacture of an amature rocket made from composites. Not much detail, but interesting discussion of using PVC pipe as a mold.

Epoxy Board Repair Forum
Tom Sullivan answers questions about repairing sailboards. Some good general repair techniques.

Epoxy Tooling
Instructions for making master plugs and epoxy tooling. Full set of steps, but some details are missing if you haven't done this before.

Fairing Model
Series of articles detailing the manufacture of a rocket fairing fiberglass prototype. Illustrates techniques for making large, inexpensive structures.

Fiberglass Mold Construction
Detailed description, but no graphics, of building a fiberglass mold for boats. Plug prep, mold construction, finishing, break-in, and maintenance.

Fiberglassing with Epoxy
How to work with epoxy in general, plus methods for covering wood and making repairs. Properties and handling techniques for Fiberlay's systems, but article still has good general info.

Fibre Glast Brochures
Collection of how to brochures, charts, and product guidelines. Covers fundamentals, repairs, plug and mold construction, safety, and more. Full text, good details, but no figures.

Flexible Molds
Although you probably don't want a flexible mold for composites, the techniques apply to making tools from masters. Detailed instructions with nice illustrations.

Gelcoat Application
Instructions for getting good gelcoating results. Includes proper mixing techniques, working conditions, and illustrations of application techniques. From Aplicator System AB.

Graf Snowboards
How to build your own snowboard, from initial design through layup and finishing. Detailed instructions, good pictures. Download snoCAD software to help create your design.

Hand Mixing Epoxies
How to mix two-part epoxy resins. Includes safety instructions, tips for avoiding contamination, and information about surface preparation and appropriate mold releases.

Hand Mixing Urethanes
How to mix urethane resins. Includes safety instructions, tips for avoiding contamination, and information about appropriate mold releases.

Hexcel Composite Repair Manual
Overview of damage evaluation and repair techniques, with a focus on sandwich structures. Not enough information for detailed repair design, but good descriptions and illustrations of the general process.

Hotwire Discussion
Transcript of an e-mail conversation about the best way to hotwire wing cores. It's unedited, but the discussion has some good pointers on proper techniques.

Kayak Construction
A former aerospace engineer shows how he designed and built a Kevlar kayak. Detailed text description, lots of advice, and many nice pictures. From Ray Jardine.

Kleb's Custom Board Building Project
Detailed description of building a sailboard. Good pictures, concise but accurate text. Article is on several pages for quick loading.

Lost Foam Technique
Louis Dionne shows how to layup over foam and then dissolve the mold away. A good method for one-off parts. Nice article with detailed instructions.

Make Your Own Bow
Bingham Projects offers instructions and materials for making your own archery bows. No how to info online, but this is the only home-built archery site I have found.

Making a Propellor Mold
Bill Lee shows how to make a cast epoxy mold from an existing propellor. The methods are applicable to making castings from many objects. Actual layup of the part isn't shown.

Mark Langford's KR2S Project
Detailed description of the manufacture of a KR2S experimental aircraft. Lots of pictures taken at various stages of assembly; good text descriptions.

Mastbox Repair
Excellent step-by-step instructions on repairing a windsurf mastbox. Includes pictures, lists of materials and equipment, and sources for supplies.

Mixing Epoxies
Instructions on mixing epoxy adhesives and casting compounds by hand, from Star Technology. Talks about proper mix ratios, surface preparation, degassing, mold releases and more.

Mixing Urethanes
Instructions on mixing urethane adhesives and elastomers by hand, from Star Technology. Talks about proper mix ratios, avoiding moisture contamination, degassing, mold releases and more.

Mold Construction Techniques
Some pointers on building molds in the form of an e-mail response. Covers material selection and manufacturing techniques. From Dangerous Dave.

One-Off Foam Construction
How to build a foam-core auto body using a disposable plywood frame. The technique can be applied to many structures, and plans for many vehicles can be purchased.

Peltzer Cockpit Fairing
Eric Peltzer describes the design and construction of a windshield fairing for a Yamaha motorcycle. The description of the manufacturing process (foam master, fiberglass mold) is brief but has some useful information.

Polyester Plug and Mold Building
Overview of building plugs and pulling molds (or layup tools) from them. Not really enough detail to be a complete how to, but a decent overview of the process.

Practical Aspects of Hand Layup
Overview of laying up composites, including mold prep. Not a lot of detail, but a good section on gel-coat troubleshooting. Some sections "to be continued."

Rainer's Home Baked Board
Fairly long article on a homebuilt sailboard project. Not the best writing, but there are some very good lessons learned.

Refinishing Wood Trim with West System Epoxy
The proper way to seal wood trim on a boat. Although written for a specific application, has some good general techniques for protecting structures using epoxy.

Sailboard Fins
Detailed manufacturing instructions down to the equipment needed and consumables used. Good pictures and design drawings, plus some general design advice.

Sailplane Building Tips
A collection of articles on building and flying sailplanes, including several that deal with composites. Check out, for example, "Building for Slope Crashes," "Construction Tips," "Hot to Make Foam Templates," "How to Paint a Composite Wing," and "Vacuum Bagging a Wing," among others.

Sketch Modeling
Sketch models are rough 3D models of objects made with foam, cardboard and foam core. This site has detailed, pictorial instructions for shaping foam with a hotwire and other tools, and for making structures from cardboard.

Sprayup
Brief description of good sprayup techniques. Includes information on machine calibration and illustrations showing how to hold the gun. From Aplicator System AB.

Stevenson Projects
Plans for building a variety of boats. All designs are wood but are helped by a fiberglass overlay. Slide show of one boat being built. Most plans $10-$30.

Vacuum Bagging Balsa and Foam Wings
Step-by-step instructions, with pictures, on how to apply balsa sheeting to foam wings, including glass or carbon reinforcement. Several pictures are missing. By Ralph Weaver.

Vacuum Bagging Wings
How to layup and cure small foam core wings with fiberglass and wood veneer skins. Includes some general design advice. Good pictures; annoying background pattern; text only version.