Steel Washer Roller, 70 mm / Ø 25 mm
Robust steel consolidation roller for thick and mechanically resistant glass fibre laminates. The disc design provides intensive mechanical action and is particularly suitable for glass fibre mats and heavy glass reinforcements used with polyester, vinyl ester or epoxy resins. This type of roller is less suitable for delicate fabrics and fine composite work.
The steel consolidation roller with disc design is intended for the manual processing of comparatively thick and robust laminates. The individual steel discs act intensively on the wet reinforcement, pressing the glass fibres into the resin and helping to work entrapped air out of the laminate.
This type of roller is particularly useful when processing glass fibre mats and heavy glass reinforcements, for example in combination with polyester or vinyl ester resin. In such laminate structures, relatively strong mechanical consolidation is often required to press the individual layers firmly into place and remove air trapped between the reinforcement layers.
Typical applications
- Thick GRP hand laminates
- Glass fibre mats with polyester or vinyl ester resin
- Heavy glass fabrics and multi-layer laminate structures
- GRP mould making
- Boat and marine construction
- Vehicle construction and industrial GRP components
- Larger repair and reinforcement laminates
Application
After the reinforcement has been thoroughly wetted with resin, the roller is passed repeatedly over the still-wet laminate using controlled pressure. The discs press the reinforcement into the resin and help move entrapped air towards the surface.
For thicker laminate build-ups, it is advisable to consolidate and de-air the individual layers or smaller groups of layers during the laminating process. Several layers that have already been built up are considerably more difficult to consolidate effectively afterwards.
The applied pressure should be sufficient to consolidate the laminate properly without unnecessarily squeezing out resin or displacing the reinforcement.
Suitable materials
- Glass fibre mats
- Heavy glass fabrics
- Other robust glass fibre reinforcements
- Polyester resins
- Vinyl ester resins
- Epoxy resins in correspondingly robust hand-lay-up applications
Technical notes
Due to its comparatively intensive mechanical action, this steel disc roller is not the first choice for delicate reinforcement fabrics, thin laminates or cosmetically critical carbon fibre surfaces. Fine carbon, aramid or lightweight glass fabrics may be displaced or have their fibre orientation disturbed by excessive rolling pressure. More gently acting consolidation rollers are better suited to such applications.
The roller should be cleaned immediately after use while the resin is still uncured. Cured resin residues between the discs can impair both function and consolidation performance.
Technical data
- Working width: 70 mm
- Roller diameter: 25 mm
- Overall length: 26.5 cm
- Roller design: Steel disc roller
