carbon fiber inlay

[kfxguy]

Here's the battery trays compared to the stock junk. They are made of a thin sheet of basswood and a layer of carbon fiber with epoxy soaked in them. Really stiff and light. I chose to go this route and laminate the wood because it was much cheaper materials wise, took less time and the end result was good enough.

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Here's the trays after milling the slots. I messed up. I was supposed to do 4 smaller slots and accidentally went too far. O well.....not making another set.

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Installed in the hull

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Now im waiting on epoxy to dry on the motor mount. I started it already. Not sure if its what im gonna end up with yet tho. We shall see.

[Wetter]

you're on it, nice flippn' job on your batt trays. darn look like the ones i bought.
keepm' popn'

[kfxguy]

you're on it, nice flippn' job on your batt trays. darn look like the ones i bought.
keepm' popn'

Thanks :) I thought they turned out pretty decent. They aren't perfect but they are close. First time milling wood/cf in my machine. Can't crank down on the vise or they would bend. Im hoping to have this thing ready by the weekend. That depends on how my motor mount turns out.

[Darin Jordan]

Nice work.

For what it's worth, I... and Pro Boat, can't stand the wood in the interior either... It makes the boat look kind of cheap.

Maybe that will change on future offerings. I actually think, with a little redesign of the sponson area, that the battery trays may not even be necessary. Would love to see the cells right on the floors of the sponson canoes.

[kfxguy]

Nice work.

For what it's worth, I... and Pro Boat, can't stand the wood in the interior either... It makes the boat look kind of cheap.

Maybe that will change on future offerings. I actually think, with a little redesign of the sponson area, that the battery trays may not even be necessary. Would love to see the cells right on the floors of the sponson canoes.

Thanks Darin!
I did lower the trays a Tad. The trays sit on the humps toward the outside of the sponsons. It will help with getting the batteries in and out easier. Funny thing is when I removed all the wood stuff, the hull sits flat on a glass table now. Before it would teeter.

[Darin Jordan]

Funny thing is when I removed all the wood stuff, the hull sits flat on a glass table now. Before it would teeter.

That doesn't surprise me at all...

I usually try to run my Pro Boat stuff pretty close to the factory config to find out what it can do "out of the box", but I'm starting to do more testing and research with "variations"...

[kfxguy]

That doesn't surprise me at all...

I usually try to run my Pro Boat stuff pretty close to the factory config to find out what it can do "out of the box", but I'm starting to do more testing and research with "variations"...

Yea I did that too. Lol. It would flip over, over 55 or so mph. After 3 flips, everything inside started coming loose.....the battery trays completely came loose. This is the flip that did it in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiTbc_ghHUE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[Fella1340]

I love how.the battery trays worked out. Nice job. I am curious as to now the machining went. Were
you able to plunge and cut and the finished size and still get those nice clean lines or did you start with a smaller diameter cutter and then mill the finished size. I will be doing similar work over the winter
And would very much like to know how out did it. Thanks, Jeff

[kfxguy]

I love how.the battery trays worked out. Nice job. I am curious as to now the machining went. Were
you able to plunge and cut and the finished size and still get those nice clean lines or did you start with a smaller diameter cutter and then mill the finished size. I will be doing similar work over the winter
And would very much like to know how out did it. Thanks, Jeff

I marked it on the back side. Sanded them to the same exact size on a belt sander. Taped them together with masking tape. Plunge cut both at the same time. It produced a semi clean cut. Didn't splinter the carbon at all. Then I went back over it with a hobby knife and cleaned the holes up. Then finished the edges with 400 grit. I used one size mill bit.

[kfxguy]

Wait till you see what in doing to hold my cooling hose in place. If it works out....its gonna be neat. Hint....made out of cf.....go figure. Lol

[Wetter]

just curious on the CF plates (trays ect...) i know on my rc buggies and cars that on the edges weather be the chassis or shock towers ect...that (we) use CA glue to keep the edges from splintering or fraying on impact, being boats do not tend to incur this type of abuse still i thought i would mention this.
is it something you would do or just ignore in a boat?

[kfxguy]

just curious on the CF plates (trays ect...) i know on my rc buggies and cars that on the edges weather be the chassis or shock towers ect...that (we) use CA glue to keep the edges from splintering or fraying on impact, being boats do not tend to incur this type of abuse still i thought i would mention this.
is it something you would do or just ignore in a boat?

Pretty much all the carbon gets epoxy on it so it serves the same purpose.

[kfxguy]

Motor mount almost done. Its very very strong. Two layers of probably .050 carbon plate sandwiched together, epoxied and dry overnight. Then I made the sides. Im waiting on some sheets im making to finish curing and ill cut the back part out,epoxy it on then mount it in the hull. I used the stock mount t is why I made this ramp. I felt like motor changes and servicing it was much easier.

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[Fella1340]

I am enjoying watching this come together. Keep up the good work!

[kfxguy]

I am enjoying watching this come together. Keep up the good work!

Thanks man. I didn't just make this, I did it a couple weeks ago,but its going in the geico. Its a mamba monster 2 esc that I converted to water cooling. I milled this plate out myself (isn't perfectly symmetrical but it'll work lol) because I didn't like what they offered for a cooling plate.

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This was my first attempt at milling it out. Forgot to leave material where the screw holes go. Ehh

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