Archive for the ‘Fiberglass’ Category

Paul de Bakker Joins Goodwinds Staff

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Goodwinds.com welcomes Paul de Bakker to our staff!  Paul has joined us as the Deputy Director of Sales, and he brings to Goodwinds his extensive knowledge of carbon and fiberglass (he has a degree in Composites Engineering!) as well as his vast experience designing, building, and flying kites.

Paul is originally from Holland, and he has lived in the United States for the past couple of years with his wife, Delita.  During that time, he formed his own boutique kite company, Focus Kite Designs, with a longtime friend and fellow kiteflyer, Hunter Brown.  The two design and build upscale, high-quality kites for shipment all over the world.

We at Goodwinds lured Paul and Delita away from North Carolina with the promise of hiking Washington’s beautiful mountains, kiteboarding in the fantastic Puget Sound, and participating in kite competitions, such as the Washington State International Kite Festival, in the Pacific Northwest.  Paul is quite the competitor, routinely placing in both indoor and outdoor kite competitions:

 

 We are so excited to have Paul with us at Goodwinds.com.  He’s young, he’s fun, and he’s extremely knowledgeable.  He will be working with a variety of industries, including hobby and RC stores, to meet their carbon and fiberglass needs.  Drop us a line and say hello to Paul today!

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Posted in Carbon, Customers, Fiberglass, General, Kites | 2 Comments »

Let’s Talk Fiberglass

Monday, January 4th, 2010
Wow, fiberglass.  Used in so many things.  In fact, your Corvette body is made out of it (you know, if you have one).  So is the insulation in your house.  Maybe even your cast if you break a bone.

But that’s not what Goodwinds sells.  We provide American-made fiberglass rods and tubes from 0.060 inches in diameter up to over 1 inch in diameter, used in kites, tents, archery, RC hobbies, catamerans, and lots of industrial purposes including snow plow guides, underground gas detection, and inflatable jetliner slides (in case of emergency).

So what are fiberglass rods and tubes?  How are they made?  What is so special about them, anyhow?

Fiberglass Tubes

Fiberglass Tubes

Well, fiberglass is, essentially, teeny-tiny fibers of glass that are reinforced with a polymer, usually an epoxy or vinylester resin.  The tubes Goodwinds supplies are called Filament Wound Epoxy Tubing (FWET) and are created through a continuous winding process that can create tubes with very thin walls which are then reinforced with impregnated epoxy.  These tubes are strong and somewhat flexible, and are great insulators.

Fiberglass Rods

Fiberglass Rods


The fiberglass rods Goodwinds supplies are formed from a pultrusion process – basically, a pulling of the fibers of glass through the polymer to bind them.  These rods are flexible and have a great strength-to-weight ratio.  If you’re interested in learning more about the pultrusion process, our supplier, Glasforms, has a guide with photos on their website here.

We love fiberglass rods and tubes, and we know our customers do, too.  It is heavy and strong, flexible and durable.  Best of all, it’s inexpensive, especially compared to carbon rods and tubes.  If you’re looking to do a project and weight is not an issue, fiberglass is a very cost-effective way to go.  The great flexibility of fiberglass is why it is used for tent poles and backpack stays, LARP swords and kites – fiberglass can accept a lot of shock force, bending without breaking.

What do you use fiberglass rods and tubes for?  Tell us about your projects, we’d love to hear about them!

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Posted in Fiberglass, General | 2 Comments »