amateur wingmast

I am thinking about building a carbon rotating wingmast, does anyone have any hints on simple amateur DIY methods to use?
Do I really have to build a female mold or are there other ways?
I will have to get an expert to calculate the structures of course.

Luftis

 

There are a couple of ways to do this without a mold: one is to build it like you would a strip hull construction, with little cedar strips, in two halfs and glue together. Another is to use a hot wire cut foam core. You can even solvent-melt the foam out of the mast shell when done. If you seach the archives there are links site with pictures of these methods.

 

G'day,
I sell plans and materials for building a carbon/foam wing mast (stayed or unstayed) with integral sail track and all required fittings that does not require a mould.

Depending on the detail required, our engineer will calculate the scantlings for about $800.

regards,
Rob
www.harryproa.com

 

These guys have the coolest materials for making masts; braided and unidirectional carbon sleeve.

http://www.braider.com/index_lo.html

If your mast is on the long (tall?) side, you'll need to carefully select the resin system and curing schedule to avoid problems.

Jimbo

 

Gary Baigent briefly discusses how be built a wingmast in the following thread: Boat Design Forums > Design > Multihulls
Hydrofoil Trimarans in New Zealand : Attn Gary Baigent

(See the last post, to date)

 

There was a post on catsailor about building strip plank / carbon masts a while ago and a build log. Might be worth a look.

Building a mast