INTRODUCTION

Polyester Fiberglass has been used for a long time in the manufacturing of swimming pools, boat hulls and masts, windsurf boards, skis, in airplanes ( e.g.: A380 ), trains ( e.g.: TGV ), automobiles, wind turbine blades, motorcycle helmets, and even furniture… these various fields of application share the same objective in using polyester fiberglass: very lightweight, high strength, and total impermeability to foreign body attacks.

Components

Polyester and Fiberglass are two complementary components when mixed together in a process called polymerization. Glass fibers provide tensile strength while polyester provides compression strength.

Molding

Our pole production technique uses either a clamshell stainless steel mold heated by pipes carrying water up to 80°C, or a mylar mold which provides flexibility to modify the poles’ taper.

To protect our poles from scratches and weather aggressions, we cover the molds internal surface with a resin called GEL-COAT, which hardens during polymerization and becomes a true shield.

At the same time, several layers of fiberglass material are dipped into resin polyester, wrapped around a mandrel, and then placed in the open mold. As soon as the fiberglass and the catalyzed resin polyester are in contact, a chemical reaction called POLYMERISATION starts, which results in the hardening/curing of the composite material.

Heating the mold with hot water accelerates the polymerization, independently from the ambient temperature and hygrometry, and permits the production of a larger number of poles, all perfectly identical. For the production of customized poles with different tapers, Saint Raphaël’s factory has equipped itself with 5 Mylar molds.

Once taken out of the mold, the pole is trimmed, cut at both extremities, and equipped according to specific needs.