im using that tack stuff to seal vacuum bags, its indeed great to seal, but I bet you never ever get your enclosure off anymore. i actually want to use 1-2mm thick and 2cm wide neoprene band between enclosure and board to avoid the capillary effect of 2 really well fitting surfaces
True a partial vacuum bond can be almost impossible to get apart if you dont break the vacuum first but if theres no vacuum it releases a lot easier, i know a few UK and EU Evolve riders are now using it after the GT and Carbon lid seals have failed in wet conditions, i dont know if Evolve used a neoprene inlay probz not tho!
had like 8 inserts only, but I attached the enclosure to the board anyway to test flex - and it feels largely unaffected, maybe just slightly stiffer, but if so, the difference is so small that I cant really tell for sure. maybe it will be more noticeable when all screws are fixating the enclosure, but I dont actually think so.
because I was asked Ill give a quick update on the inserts and how I do it:
basically I put a lot of effort in exactly measuring the spots where I want inserts BEFORE I actually make the enclosure - I then predrill the holes in order to create small bumps that are visible after Im done with laminating. by that I know exactly where to drill the holes in my enclosure.
when the enclosure is done, i drill m4 holes for my screws, then position the enclosure again on the board and use a marker to mark the holes through the enclosure holes on the board again. it can always be that, while drilling the holes in the enclosure, you are just slightly off and you can correct that by slightly correcting the holes in the board.
then I drill with an 6mm drill bit through the board. why through? well, my inserts are either 8mm or 10mm long, so thats pretty much the thcikness of the board. if you think you might manage without drilling through fine, but most likely youll break through on a few holes anyway or dont manage to get enough depth and while sinking in the inserts, you actually create bumps on the other side cause you didnt drill the holes deep enough.
anyway, sticking the drill bit all the way through. then I use clear tape on the boards top side and cover all holes. turning the board around again and dripping 1-2 drops of thick resin (actually 2 component glue) into the drilled holes to have absolutely crazy fixated inserts later.
then Im screwing in the inserts into the resin - the whole thing will look like this now (from the boards road side):
curing 12 hours and turning the board around youll now have resin on the bottom of the inserts covering the holes you drilled through the board AND at the same time youll have perfectly fixated inserts. picture shows how I remove the clear tape and you can see the slightly yellowish/transparent dried resin:
Amazing, beautiful work. You are truly a master of your craft. Part of me wants to do a custom carbon fiber enclosure like this, but a larger part of me knows it won’t turn out anywhere near as nice, and I’ll just end up disappointed after seeing what it could have been.
yea, it was actually the first thing I removed for 2 reasons - firstly I knew that Ill drill through anyway for the inserts, 2nd it was really cheap grey grip tape with very low grip. the whole board looked bad with it and since its a board without concave and bindings, I knew it wouldnt work for me when I carve on the slip limit of urethane wheels. its really annoying to constantly reposition your feet cause your foot position keeps changing little by little. the only grip where that never happened is vicious for me - put your foot where you want it and carve along for 1hour
hm, I can just encourage everybody to try themselves - all these things arent very hard and it helps to have somebody like me to talk about the issues one had on the way - it took me 2 tries for this kind of enclosure too and I learnt a lot about working with fabric on these kind of sharp features. Im sure next time Id be done on first try - so you build up a lot of very valuable knowledge along the way - and the costs are nearly negligible:
forming an enclosure with wood is basically free - or you can print a form beforehand for more complex enclosures. then you can start making enclosures with glass initially (which costs nearly nothing!) and once you have something that is nice, cover it with one layer of carbon for looks. I always got 1-2 layers of glass on the inside anyway to avoid shorting - carbon is really conducting very well.
all it takes is some dedication and patience, because setting up everything is probably 2-3 hours and then its 24hours waiting for the result.
guess you could stack batteries, but then the slim looks are down the drain. basically double height segments would allow about 80-90 cells in total - at that point you need to be careful through - trampas are made with flex and energy returns in mind - if you have a very thin board like me (14pl), you can theoretically bottom it out - easily with bindings and jumping, probably a lot harder with just carving but with some rough ground, bumpy sidewalks and when pushing outwards hard it might be possible too!
in that case Id try to build the enclosure by using slim segments in the middle of the board and increasingly thicker segments towards the trucks! that way you wont bottom out on your battery and you still have everything below your board!