# Basalt Fiber Fabrics



## Nick Gencarelle (Aug 19, 2019)

https://basalt-fabric.com. We make composites rock. Our fibers are made from rocks that are melted and pulled into filaments just like fiberglass, carbon or Kevlar but the fibers have much higher impact properties than the others. It is all natural, safe, non-respirable ( of course wear masks when sanding etc.), UV immune, non-conductive, recyclable and handles salts and chemicals and higher and lower temperatures. Basalt is much less expensive than carbon or Kevlar or an S-glass which it compares to. Bounce off of things that would normally leave a hole in other fiber fabrics. A nice golden color when used with the right resins if desired. When a blister happens on a gel-coat basalt does not wick water badly.
Call Nick 401-481-8422 [email protected]


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## Silent Drifter (Apr 29, 2021)

Good info ,yes we have had a member do test i believe it was Chris Morejohn ? with the Basalt its some tuff stuff i believe his test showed it was really strong added to regular glass also.....i believe biggest negative was it didnt like to bend at edges as easy as regular glass but still doable!


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

I used Nick's 300 gram basalt on my Conchfish. It is super easy to work with, even easier than 10oz cloth IMO.


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## weldandglass (Sep 29, 2009)

There's not as much testing data out on basalt as the other fibers that have been around longer but there's a few snippets from some useful studies:

























Basalt's overall performance in an epoxy matrix is on par with e-glass. Carbon wins out for stiffness and light weight weight of the fiber and s-glass wins in the toughness category (best stress to strain ratio).


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## Silent Drifter (Apr 29, 2021)

Sublime said:


> I used Nick's 300 gram basalt on my Conchfish. It is super easy to work with, even easier than 10oz cloth IMO.


Yeah i been reading back through Mr Morejohn"s build ,Starting Beryllium 18.5 ,Boron 17.9 and Puffer Fish 19 Skiff Builds .... Awesome stuff,hes very talented as most know👍


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## Sublime (Oct 9, 2015)

I think most everyone has been using the next heaviest twill. I believe the 300 gram I used comes out to around 9oz. I did three layers of that and on the bottom I threw in a layer of 10oz cloth for good measure.


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## jonny (May 1, 2007)

I have yet to play with any of this. Definitely has my interest


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## citadelmarineservices (Jan 22, 2021)

Don't mean to de rail, but wonder if anyone has made rod blanks with basalt.


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## Silent Drifter (Apr 29, 2021)

Long as its Basalt related its not a Derail 😉 how about a push pole made from Basalt 👍


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## WC53 (Dec 2, 2015)

I have seen some basalt innegra blend builds on canoe forums for impact resistance. Not sure that would work with a cored hull.


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Silent Drifter said:


> Long as its Basalt related its not a Derail 😉 how about a push pole made from Basalt 👍


I know there are braided basalt sleeves and unidirectional fabrics available. I’m sure @Nick Gencarelle can get them!😉


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

jonny said:


> I have yet to play with any of this. Definitely has my interest


I’ve been playing with it. I encourage you to order up a couple yds and do the same! I like what I am seeing here with my test panels. My test panels are in a vinylester matrix with 3/4” and 1/2” foams, 2mm soric and 4mm soric infusion cores. IMO, it lays up like Glass but a tad stiffer much like the next weight up cloth would act like. Or like a 12k vs 6k carbon maybe?


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## Silent Drifter (Apr 29, 2021)

Would be fun to build a mold from PVC And make your on push pole ...


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## Tilly_Copano (Feb 12, 2017)

Silent Drifter said:


> Would be fun to build a mold from PVC And make your on push pole ...


How hard is something like this to do?


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## JC Designs (Apr 5, 2020)

Tilly_Copano said:


> How hard is something like this to do?


Depends on how bad you want the mandrel out of the part. I used an aluminum mandrel but had the part stuck due to friction and not being able to keep the mandrel straight while trying to remove the pole. It can and will be done, I just have to practice some more.


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## 17376 (May 5, 2017)

@Nick Gencarelle we probably would use it more of it if the price was different. It was told to us that we would get it for "x" amount. When we would call you, it would be 1/2 the price more..


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## Silent Drifter (Apr 29, 2021)

JC is more experienced than me ,but i think the key thing would be the release agent on PVC and the way you secured the outer covering ? Im thinking after applying the resin soaked basalt that you could wrap it with packaging tape and i mean backwards so it releases after curing, mind you im pulling all this from between my back pockets as ive never tried it but might 🤣 ive seen videos of third world guys building pangas with packaging tape as a release...


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