Creating a Homemade Composite Hockey Stick

[Konig von Kuhlem 0]

I've gone into a nerdy mode the last couple days as I found a composite materials textbook from university. Does anybody think it's doable to design and build a OPS with a homemade setup for laying up, baking and curing a stick?

The guys at my work think it wouldn't be too hard. I think the trickiest part is getting the shaft stiffness right and making a strong and nicely shaped blade. I saw that video on youtube a while back on Easton making composite sticks. I think it would be an educational (and fun) experiment.

Any thoughts?

[LkptTiger 1]

My thought is that it would be an effort in futility. I think the process is too intricate and controlled to be correctly carried-out in this type of setting. Then again, I have no sort of engineering background and have never worked with such materials, so I really wouldn't know for sure. Someone a little more educated in these areas might think this sort of experiment to be more "doable" than I do.

Personally, I would never think of taking-on such a project, or buying the product of such a project - but, nonetheless, I'm interested to hear what the experience would be like. If you decide to give it a whirl, be sure to keep us updated.

[Muzza_77 0]

Yeah, try it why not? lol, the only downside would be 'technologies' which wouldn't be present, may i ask why are you doing it? besides the 'fun' part, are the current sticks to expensive or what?

Over the next ten weeks i will be making my own wood sticks. I am refining my game and finding what i like doing more, so i want to try different blades to find which is the best for those skills but also try different blades to see what skills can be improved with a different blade. Now, here in australia for me to buy ten sticks and mould the blades it would cost me $500, so i will make my own for a much much cheaper price. The sticks will only be designed to last 3-4 sessions, just so that i can get a feel for the blade, once i choose a blade, i will buy a stick which best matches the blade which i chose.

goodluck.

[Buzz_LightBeer 962]

seems the heating elements and machining make it impossible for the lay person

[the iceman 132]

If you actually do it and post pictures of the finished product here at MSH, people will just think that is a re-painted Warrior. :)

[Konig von Kuhlem 0]

Yeah, try it why not? lol, the only downside would be 'technologies' which wouldn't be present, may i ask why are you doing it? besides the 'fun' part, are the current sticks to expensive or what?

Over the next ten weeks i will be making my own wood sticks. I am refining my game and finding what i like doing more, so i want to try different blades to find which is the best for those skills but also try different blades to see what skills can be improved with a different blade. Now, here in australia for me to buy ten sticks and mould the blades it would cost me $500, so i will make my own for a much much cheaper price. The sticks will only be designed to last 3-4 sessions, just so that i can get a feel for the blade, once i choose a blade, i will buy a stick which best matches the blade which i chose.

goodluck.

No, sticks aren't too expensive. I would probably still use the commercial OPS available (the S17 looks tempting). A guy at work is making his own surf boards, which gave me the idea. It's more of a learning experience and to apply theoretical engineering knowledge into practical net buldging application. :) I'm not sure if I'll do it yet, as I need to source out supplies and price it out.

[Patrick67 1]

One of my friends is playing with the exact same thought, he has access to the materials and should have enough know-how to give it a shot.

His idea is to use his farvourite wood-blade, make a mold of it, and start chunking out composite material blades. The really difficult part is the layers in the middle for dampening vibration etc, he doesn't have a clue how to do that, but he does have some honey-comb like material though.

[ramensandwich 1]

i'm going to be studying mechanical engineering next year, i'm really in to that kind of thing, this sounds really interesting.

if you already know what pattern you prefer, it shouldn't be that hard. a cnc machine shouldn't be too hard to access, most places around here would charge around $100us for machining a mold like that.

it shouldn't be that hard in theory to just make a "composite" stick, but i'm doubtful about the performance. first off, carbon fiber is very hard and stiff but sucks at durability when flexed. you're gonna have to use fiberglass or possibly kevlar for your basic structure. i think you're going to have an awful difficult time hitting the right balance between carbon and kevlar/glass to get a manageable stiffness. even then, you're going to have to be sure to orient the fibers in your materials in the correct direction on each layer so it doesn't snap the moment a puck hits it.

what kind of work do you do??

[Patrick67 1]

I'm not in that line of work, but my friend is a airplane mechanic.

[TBLfan 25]

I dont see this turning out well.

[DarkStar50 679]

At the NBH meeting this week, I saw a video of a OPS blade being layered up in the factory. The blade was simply(not exactly simple but...)put together layer by layer as it was already assembled to the shaft. This process was so hands-on that I was very surprised to see this was how it was done. Building the blade was not a 60 second, 1-2-3 job. Having seen this one part of the manufacturing process of a OPS, I wish you all the luck in the world. The video also confirmed my belief that it costs more than $8 to build a OPS. Just another Urban Legend that can be put to bed.

[Rustpot 1]

If you're just going to start ME, you won't see anything like that unless you have MSE (Materials Science) classes. Even those are more focused on steel crystals.

The fun stuff you can do in college is limited to who you know, not what you know, since your theoretical work is meaningless unless you actually work with it.

i'm going to be studying mechanical engineering next year, i'm really in to that kind of thing, this sounds really interesting.

[Law Goalie 147]

My grandfather once milled himself a one-piece wood goalie stick. :) I think he's still got it somewhere in his woodshop among the clocks. I'll ask him the next time I'm up. The weight was surprisingly reasonable, and it felt practically indestructible

While we're on the subject, what's the cheapest way to get molds made? Ramen mentioned $100 - where the heck could I get it done that cheaply? I've got an old pair of SLM cowlings that are long-since discontinued but with a very interesting pitch for a goalie skate.

[Rustpot 1]

My grandfather once milled himself a one-piece wood goalie stick. :) I think he's still got it somewhere in his woodshop among the clocks. I'll ask him the next time I'm up. The weight was surprisingly reasonable, and it felt practically indestructible

While we're on the subject, what's the cheapest way to get molds made? Ramen mentioned $100 - where the heck could I get it done that cheaply? I've got an old pair of SLM cowlings that are long-since discontinued but with a very interesting pitch for a goalie skate.

You can get sand molds made for relatively cheap. Getting the material to pour correctly not having the original is the tricky part, as well as getting the mix of materials.

[DarkStar50 679]

Yes. let me clarify something: When I said layering the blade was a hands-on process, I meant it was done by HAND!! Not by a machine, not pre-built, the blade was constructed one layer added after another by hand by a worker, who by the way, was a woman. A very incredible production process in the making of the OPS.

[tomh7 2]

As a mechanical engineer who has worked with composites design I can tell you that there is alot more to it than just laying the material over a form and soaking it with a matrix material. Sure it can be done at home but I wouldn't get my hopes up for matching the durability, structural integrity, and weight of a production product. Even though they may be laid-up by hand, the materials themselves as well as the heating and squeezing are all very precicely controlled by computer.

If you do try this, my suggestion (assuming you have never worked with composites before) would be to start with making flat plate samples to get a feel for how that material works in the dry, wet (assuming no prepreg), and curing phases.

Good luck and keep us posted,

By the way, somebody had to start somewhere when developing these technologies. Why not the garage.

[revolutionz_s13 0]

i used to work for cirrus design building airplanes, and this may be possible if you have the right materials. I would think dry carbon(pre-preg) would work best for this. the trick to getting durability, which is the same thing we did for the airplane parts with cf, is to lay the carbon fiber so the weave in each layer is in the opposite direction of the previous layer. the other thing is to make sure there is absolutely no air/bubbles between layers, as that will greatly reduce the strenght of the cf. the only part you will have trouble with then is finding a oven large enough to put the whole stick into, and able to keep a consistent enough temp to cure it correctly.

[DarkStar50 679]

i used to work for cirrus design building airplanes, and this may be possible if you have the right materials. I would think dry carbon(pre-preg) would work best for this. the trick to getting durability, which is the same thing we did for the airplane parts with cf, is to lay the carbon fiber so the weave in each layer is in the opposite direction of the previous layer. the other thing is to make sure there is absolutely no air/bubbles between layers, as that will greatly reduce the strenght of the cf. the only part you will have trouble with then is finding a oven large enough to put the whole stick into, and able to keep a consistent enough temp to cure it correctly.

Gee, Rocky, I never thought of that!

Oh, Bullwinkle.

[Shark#81 0]

Balsa wood core - including the blade. Sized to allow for the carbon layers of course.

Layers and/or wraps of carbon cloth - wet layup, using West System epoxy.

You can cure, sand, add a new layer, repeat over a couple of days.

Final sanding, clear coat. Done properly it would look really cool - but how durable?? I have no idea. Durability tends to be a function of the core material because carbon is brittle - like glass.

To do one stick - 16 hours first time at say a $50 shop rate = $800.

[Zac911 317]

We can fix it! my dad is like a TV repairman....he has a totally awesome set of tools!!!!!!!

[tuzzifan44 0]

:lol: Classic "Fast Times" quote.

[Zac911 317]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWFLHdu-Pb0

thanx for the refresher....... Don Cherry style........ beauty!

[oliverloran 0]

Haha, so far so good!

I had a coach who wanted to found a composite shaft making company and he started to develop shafts and so on with a guy who was making composite strutures for sailing. They bought a special form, for 2000 USD, just to make a shaft and after 4-5 tries they've done quite a good job. The fact is, the costs were so high, it would have been in the same price range as a Bauer or any other big brands shaft.

Otherwise if im correct there are different tipes of epoxys, some are harder some softer, isn't thats the way how companies define the flex? By using different hardness of epoxys?

[tips09 0]

my dad actually made 2 about a year ago( one for me one for the bro) it worked out better than i expected. Shaft shape was a little off and it was pretty heavy but it had a huge curve that he put on there for me. ( like a kovalchuck prostock)He said it was alot of fun puttin them together. Made for a good experiment.

[mack 44]

I think I'm going to build myself a car.