Hello, again, Paul:

I am a long-term lurker, mostly very quiet. I appear here because I do know something about composites and their techniques. I have been following the recent line on carbon fiber and I am concerned for my fellow builders. Basically, I see that we have guys building flying machines who are seriously ignorant of basic principles and where ignorance can kill them. No room here for a current course in composite technology, but I think that I would do a great service by offering a very few references that would correct some of the urban legends, folklore, traditions, and rumor that are associated with this field. Naturally, I push my own books, but I won't here because I concentrate on a specific application. For one thing, I suggest to my readers that they stay away from carbon fiber (however cool) in favor of glass for several reasons, not the least being that very few of them will have the necessary technical background to actually realize the design potential of this remarkable material. (Also, you can't see through it when making a layup.) And, yes, carbon and aluminum can make a battery when you don't want them to.

REALLY, REALLY BASIC: Composite Materials Fabrication Handbook #1, by John Wanberg, ISBN 978-1-929133-76-5. Superbly illustrated in color. Yes, he does examples in carbon fiber, but is mostly motivated by cool, not real design limits. Excellent on the grubby details of cutting, mixing, and measuring. No engineering here at all.

THE HARD CORE IN A SINGLE BOOK: Essentials of Advanced Composite Fabrication & Repair, Louis C. Dorworth, et al, ISBN 978-1-56027-752-1.This is a product of Abaris Training, outside Reno. Abaris is now a major trainer for airlines and the military in composite techniques. This book is mostly aimed above the homebuilder but the basics are still there. Lots of good stuff on bonding and adhesion, also on how the composite system actually works. Strips away a lot of folklore.

MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES MADE EASY: Structures, or Why Things Don't Fall Down, by J. E. Gordon, ISBN 0-306-80151. Old, but still in print. If you haven't time for a degree in mechanical engineering and can only read one book, read this one - twice. You will understand shear. Prof. Gordon has the gift of simple explanation. Coincidentally, he was one of the pioneers in fiberglass technology for the first radomes in WW 2.

FOLLOW UP: Website www.freemansupply.com. Freeman is a major industrial composite supplier. They offer a wonderful line of free DVDs on all manner of composite processes and tooling, most of which do not apply to the home builder. I have Making Parts, Patterns, Tools, & Molds, Fourth Edition, which is suitable for the beginner who has just finished Mr. Wanberg's book.

A little homework can save much time, money, and pain.

Zeke Smith