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Sunday 11 September 2011

New Mat Build

Right then.  I've got going with my next build. this is gonna be a  leisurely project doing a bit here and there.

No rush... I have mats to ride...

Basically, my plan is to build a mat to the same dimensions at G-Mat 2 (shown below). Prior to its untimely demise, this mat was an absolute delight to ride, particularly in the mush, with a good inch of extra length on G-Mat 3 which is made with chunkier, hollower waves in mind.




So, I've made a start and cut the deck and bottom, both out of 70 denier taffeta weave nylon.  



As you can see, this material is white, however I plan to use acid dyes to give the mat some colour. As of yet, I'm undecided on what colour it will be.  The white is ideal for dying, however I mark up my weld points using masking tape which is later removed. This works well but you go flippin' cross-eyed trying to see where the tape stops and the material starts!


Still, the colour options make it worth while hopefully!

:-)

Onward!!!!

Cheers

G


9 comments:

n s pye said...

i will be waiting with bated breath!

GRAYMAN said...

I'm actually thinking about squaring the front corners to lengthen the rail line. The mat's longer than G-Mat 3 already so the rounder corners at the back as shown on the G-Mat 2 pic will help with turning.

G

cookson said...

Just make it in white. That would look christmasy cool.

GRAYMAN said...

I have plans colour wise... one complex, one less so.

Just marked up the weld points. I-beams to be cut next.

G

pranaglider said...

my vote is for tie dye!

GRAYMAN said...

I do have a tie-die idea for number 5 funnily enough.

G

GRAYMAN said...

I-beams are marked up ready to cut. I've put 4 vent holes in each.

G

GRAYMAN said...

All cut. Stuck in a press now to stick folds in.

G

GRAYMAN said...

I've just done a bit of an experiment which has gone perrrrrdy well!

Did a test dye (in red) to see if the dye would go evenly onto welded and un-welded material and also to see if welds can survive the acid dying process (basically simmering for 30 mins).

The answers are that it does and they can! I pretty pleased :-)

CLICK HERE TO SEE IT

It's more red than it looks in the pic from my phone and anyway, the mat's gonna be yellow.

Plan to do a bit of welding at the weekend.

Cheers

G

PS I strongly dicourage trying to dye a finished mat. Any glued areas (such as around the valve) will definately suffer under those temps.