I just purchased a secondhand NP X6 490 mast which has some considerable cam wear. I have noticed reading on some Formula blog sites that some racers apparently have additional carbon layers added to the lower section of their masts for protection/to withstand additional loads. Also notice that Loft masts have this protection layer on their bottom sections.
Would it be worthwhile me doing this? - was thinking of adding a layer of unidirectional carbon and a further thin protection kevlar cross-weave on top - should make the bottom section bulletproof. Does anyone know anything about doing it or who has done it. Almost tempted to try it myself though worried about the extra layers bonding correctly, affecting the lower mast curve spec's and the extra thickness on cam rotation. Given that NP sails are flexi-top I thought any additional stiffness gained in the bottom would not change the sails characteristics too much?
The alternative is just leave it as is and wait to break the mast (probably damaging the sail). I know I probably should have just taken the hit and forked out for a new one to save the risk?
ok tony it all depends on what model RS slalom you have?? the ultra cams rotate easier and with tuning of the string lengths the difference in the diameters from adding the extra plys will have minimal effect on the rotation. the older sails might require some messing about with.
The hardest bit is about keeping the mast round, thus allowing your cams to rotate freely.
The best bet would be to take it to windrush and ask brett to do it, with prepreg but ask him to cook it prolly 90 deg to reduce any dramas. I would suggest 1 ply of carbon kevlar hybrid weave only ( i think brett has 250gms stuff) for the best wear resistance, however i have the feeling 1 ply of carbon twill would be better since you will be able to sand it and make the finish really good. you could then spray some 2K clear on it aswell to come up with a nice shooth finish. The shrink tape he would use will give you the best finish you could get to ensure roundness but some sanding would be required. It shouldnt cost too much either coz you would onlg be doing local patches where the cams sit +- 50mm, which should have little effect on the bendcurve.
The other thing to do is just wrap some stickyback tygaflor film (teflon impregnated fiberglass fabric) from dotmar plastics where the cams would rotate and see how ya go.
I just noticed the CR Severnes cams are cutting into my 100% carbon mast.
I might try UHMWPE tape and see how it goes. UHMWPE is really tough and slippery.
catalog.cshyde.com/viewitems/tapes-with-psa/uhmw-tape-rubber-adhesive?&forward=1
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UHMWPE
interesting..i had mine an old np matrix wrapped with hard fiberglass resin and fibermat about 1cm around the bottom circumference of mast to reduce the wear caused by the mast extension eating away seems to work
