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An ideal fiberglass lay-up minimizes the amount of resin because resin by itself adds weight without adding strength. When doing fiberglass lay-up by hand, it is hard to get the minimum amount of resin because you need enough to soak the cloth and the cloth doesn't lay completely flat against the surface. We use only the best quality light weight polyester resins to build the fiberglass cases and they are all rolled by hand. This is how we are able to keep our cases strong, but lighter (the Standard TUFF-LITEs average weight is 62-65lbs). Another slightly more costly solution to this is vacuum bagging with carbon fiber. This is how all our carbon fiber cases are made. |
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Left: Heated and pressurized vacuum chamber |
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Vacuum Chamber This is the typical heated vacuum chamber big enough to place a bass case into. Normally used for expensive car parts or parts in the astrophysics field (yes, rockets!). We put bass cases in them to make them stronger and lighter. There is no stronger material per square inch than carbon fiber. The ULTRA TUFF-LITES are all black inside and painted in high gloss white paint on the exterior. The white exterior helps reflect any unwanted heat rays from sitting too long outside at the airport or on some luggage cart. Need more help or information? E-mail us at info@tuff-lite.com -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What's "Pre-Preg" mean? Intermediate material in a semi-hardened sheet form with thermosetting resins impregnated to Carbon Fiber. This makes the quality of a molded product stable and suitable for automated tape lay-up process. In this process there is no real need to hand spread epoxy. It is automatically done before hand at the carbon fiber plant. |
Vacuum Bagging Process Vacuum bagging uses atmospheric pressure to press the cloth tightly against the surface being covered so that the excess resin is squeezed out and soaked up in a disposable outer wrap. This technique requires a vacuum bag and a vacuum pump capable of pulling a significant vacuum. The bags used in this process are all made by hand according to the size of the piece need. Show here in the picture, we show the long sheets of bag material which closely resembles the same type of material used in oven roasting bags. These are tailor made to the shape of a bass case. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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