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Peel Ply

GrinchF16

Well Known Member
Doing some small repairs to my gear leg fairings and looking for Peel Ply. ACS is out of stock and Wicks has a yard for $7 plus $45 for shipping. What are my options? I know Dacron is Polyester but is Polyester Dacron? (like Bourbon is Whiskey but Whiskey is not necessarily Bourbon)Can I go to a local fabric store and just pick up some Polyester fabric?

Thanks
 
Dacron

Doing some small repairs to my gear leg fairings and looking for Peel Ply. ACS is out of stock and Wicks has a yard for $7 plus $45 for shipping. What are my options? I know Dacron is Polyester but is Polyester Dacron? (like Bourbon is Whiskey but Whiskey is not necessarily Bourbon)Can I go to a local fabric store and just pick up some Polyester fabric?

Thanks

I had one friend that was a composite guru when I lived on the other side of the country. He purchased his peel ply at the local fabric store. I remember that you could buy it 'sized' or 'unsized' and we wanted it 'unsized' for use as peel ply.
 
You can get that at any composites supplier. it's not like its aircraft specific.

I haven't ordered anything for a while, but for boat projects I always got all my supplies from US Composites
 
I bought a yard of Dacron (peel ply) at Joann Fabrics locally. It was cheap and works well as peel ply. If you do this, roll it up up around a tube or piece of pvc pipe or something so that you don’t have any folds in it. It lays down flat on your fiberglass layup better that way.

If you feel like going on a short cross country (Cincinnati - KHAO), I’ll give you what I have left. Should be more than enough for what you would need for gear leg fairings.
 
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We have found that dacron interfacing from the fabric store works ok. Not great, but OK. Select an interfacing that has a good surface sheen to it. It releases much better than the material that is kind of dull finished.

I have spent hours trying to pick off peal ply a square inch at a time when it was the dull-finished stuff. The "official" peel ply that you buy at composites supply stores does release better.

Pro tip: if you are having trouble getting peel ply to peel, you can warm the surface locally with a heat gun and it peels right off. Be very careful though, you can scorch or warp a part by overheating it. A hair dryer would be a safer option, but might not get it locally warm enough. Haven't tried that.

Composites supply places: (in no particular order of preference, we tend to shop around for what we need)

Composite Envisions
US Composites
Soler Composites
ACP Composites
Fiberglast
 
Scrap aircraft fabric, generally free from the guy on your airport who recovered his airplane. Unsized polyester.
 
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