Thread: Can't find Carbon Fiber or Kevlar Tutorials...

If you know how to lay up fiberglass, then you know how to lay up carbon fiber. With carbon fiber, you use Epoxy resin.

you wont need and autoclave... depending on the different types of resin it will cure at different temps. You can also add dye to the resin to add some color to the carbon fiber. If you can fiberglass you can carbon fiber. Its basically the same process. If your doing something that is very detailed you might need to vaccum bag it.

No, you can dye the cloth itself before laying it. Adding tint to the resin will just result in a tinted color on everything. Carbon fiber is real easy to use, you just have to be very precise. Remember that the look you are going for is the carbon itself, where with fiberglass you will be primering and painting it. If you want a good surface, everything has to be smooth before you apply it, and you need to use mylar and a gelcoat to make it perfectly smooth. You don't have much room for error. If you want something to look really nice, make a two part mold for the part, and press the gelcoat over the CF mat. Again, it just has to be perfect to come out perfect.
Dave
Also, check selectproducts.com, they have lots of info and videos available.

If you want the coloured fibre effect use a carbon/kevlar weave/twill were the kevlar has been dyed (carbon is black an not absorbant and kevlar is very absorbant - hence why you should protect it from moisture as it will eventualy break down). You can get these in plain weave (like a chess board) or twill weave (a diagonal stair pattern) and they usually come in 2 or 4mm weave sizes and drape much better then UD material - infact i fon't recoment anyone uses UD unless they really know what they are doing as it has all kinds of problmes. Don't forget to rotate the layers of cloth for good allround strength (ie 0/90 then the next layer +-45) unless you specifically want to tailor the properties. Vacuum bagging can much more than the autoclave in consolidating the resin and fibres and this consists of some special sheeting (which you can get from your carbon supplier), a pump (improvise on that) and some putty to seal it off but you do have to cure it somewhere warm. YOu also need a roller to get all the air out of the layup (again consolidating it) as any voids will seriously affect your strength. The resin choice is pretty critical so get soemthing designed for hobbies that doesnt need a high temp cure but an old oven would be perfect id your part will fit (about 50degC normally helps - the same as used for the high strength araldite). As dave said, use a gelcoat, this is a the hard shiny outer layer of resin which helps prevent moisture ingress - epoxy also absorbs moisture over time and turns white (in warm and moist environments composites have a reduced strength). Also if you are goign to drilling holes or bolting areas add extra layers of matting at different angles to pad up the area around the holes and phase out layers in steps (ie dont suddenly have 5 layers finishing at once where you have been padding up a cut-out). Again as dave said - surface prep is important if you want a good finish but also dont forget to use a release agent!

jsut to add, dying the resin is a very good alternative to painting (infact is more common than painting due to the fact it is permanant and doesnt have the usual adhesion problems of paint). The only reason for painting is for additonal weather protection or to get a finish eg metallic/texture that you cant get with dye. Most kit cars are provided in basic coloured gel coat and yes they may look plastic and nasty but your dash is plastic anyway so it will look ok if this is what you are using it for. + painting a car is expensive and adds weight - two enemies of a kit car.