Bonsoir

The glu lasted for a month under rather intensive sailing some 8 hours a day I think.

At the end the glued parts were quite fit with no tendancy to unglue...

This glue is an industrial product, so, I suppose that it should last quite a long time.

3M 927

I also tried without success other way of gluing as Sicaflex or double side supermarket gluing tape... I'm afraid, I forgot to register these failures. 

I've used massivelly grommets on Tyvex. It is not that easy because if you hammer it to hard, the grommet will poncture the Tyvex and you will have a hole in the tyvex and a grommet asside. The easy way of doing it is to have a triple seem to support the grommets. You should not use grommets with teeths because they poncture the Tyvex, just use plain cylindrical ones.

To attache the wishbone battens at the leach i reinforced the area by a patch of tyvex glued around the Leech with 3M 927. 

Eric

If Tyvek roof membrane is what we are talking about – you can buy it by the meter here. (English version available)

Mark wrote Graham, I guess you were using the very soft thin type. Yes, after looking at the video Jab has just posted, I see now that you are correct.

I could find only one company in New Zealand who would sell Tyvek by the metre and it was very soft and beautifully light. I did not realise the construction cover material (as we see in the video that Jan just posted) was somewhat much stiffer and heavier.

Graham, I guess you were using the very soft thin type.

The generic product I have used is for roofs, under slates / tiles.  Thicker and stronger as it has to resist wind loads. It is quite stiff and easy to sew.  (I used it to make a sleeping bag cover)

Anonymous wrote:

A couple of thoughts.

Here in UK, Tyvek type material is now always used under roof slates / tiles.  There are other brands less expensive. 
i would have though sewing is no more time consuming to glueing, especially if Arne easy methods are used. And it saves the cost of glue.

Bonjour

In France Tyvex is also used to cover building scaffolding and support some advertisements during the refit of the building. Some are exposed to wind, sun and moon for many month and sometimes more than a year. 

They are industrially welded in flat seems in huge panels that are attached to the scaffolding by rope lashings. (I'm thinking of one "place de la Concorde" on the "Hotel de la marine" that stayed there for very long time. Mainly one third of the width of the place de la Concorde and something like 6 or 7 floors high).

I've never seen any torn away. Sometimes, workers are opening some "windows" in the panel without any issue. 

I've only done some flat seems often double sewing, as I decided to have some vertical seems. The support of the wishbones where sewn to double the thickness and then sewn horizontally to the skin.

At start, I only sew because I hadn't found the proper glue. Then I glue and sew until I've made the traction tests. Then I just glued. It's much longer to sew than to glue.

The glue I used is just a soft film of glue without any support. It is placed on one the upper side of the under panel with the protection paper in place. The upper panel is then placed above and the protective paper ribbon is taken out by pulling it horizontally sideway while you press on the seem, just behind, to glue the two panels together. After, I press the firmly the joint by sliding my hand on it to crush the glue. I could have used the small roller than is used to crush the joints on wall paper. It is formally the same process, and as fast, as to close a pre-glued enveloppe.

I left the wingsail unprotected for about a month late spring in Britanny. When I dismantled it, I was surprised to see that the white "gaffer tape" that I used to fix the skin on the yard (just to have an aerodynamic shape - no significant effort) was rotted by the UV but the Tyvex was like new. 

I'll reuse the skin for the next prototype (different wishbones and sheeting system) hopefully next year.

Eric ( on a road trip in western Australia)