djXternal

Ok I was reading on this site: http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/FAQ/index.htm

And He Said Laying Carbon Fiber And Fiberglass was the exact same...
Has anyone had experience with laying carbon fiber? I was gonna make my sub enclosures out of fiberglass with a layer of carbon fiber over it to make it look nice, and was wondering how hard or easy this would be

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jrich523

my dad has done it and he said its the exact same...
why would you layer CF over fiber? why not just make it CF? i cant imagine it would take much more CF to make it strong enough.

dodgetimes2

Because fiberglass is much cheaper, this would be similar to putting veneer over MDF instead of using sold hardwood, much more economical.

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djXternal

exactly

WhiteRabbit

first thing, make sure you use epoxy resin, not polyester. the epoxy is less thixotropic, and can wet teh fibers much better than polyester. the medium cure side B should dry the clearest, fast and slow cure will yellow slightly.

I reccommend leaving a texture, rather than finishing glass smooth. itll lose the 3d nature of the carbon, but it will look totally awesome and be unique from liek a carbon hood or something.

when you cut it, cut it WAY big, the fibers will jsut call out on teh edges. furthermore, dont even lay anything on the carbon. when I was cutting carbon, I laid the scissors right on the cloth, and hte hinge screw on teh scissors tore the carbon and put a permanent dimple in it.

go out and get yourself a squeegee, itll make your job 10x easier. the carbon is a weave, so it will conform to compound corners. once dry laid, you can pour your epoxy on and spready it with the squeegee. always always always make sure its uniform, never ever do a thick layer of resin. you are jsut asking to get nonuniformities, and once you ahve to sand, you ruin the finish without boatloads of work.

good call using it as a veneer, make sure your glass under is vinyl smooth, carpet smooth isnt good enough.

and good luck!

SAScooby

where does one buy the raw carbon fibre from ? and from my understanding of the process involved, the carbon fibre made the way fibreglass is made wont be as strong as carbon fibre made the way the professionals do it, in an autoclave

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ACleanSC4

You can buy basically everything you need here http://www.icancomposites.com/

and you can also check this forum for very helpful tips/tutorials http://www.carbon-werks.com/forum/

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WhiteRabbit

i like a local brick and mortar store www.tapplastics.com

Spaghetti

That carbon-werks site is amazing! I never knew you could do stuff like that at home!

bathbiggles

where do autoclaves come in then? i thought these were essential in cf work?

EBFoxbat

Real carbon fiber is cooked. It's also very expensive (especially when layered) However it is RIDICULOUSLY strong... hence all the military applications.

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WhiteRabbit

its cooked because its prepreg. we can get the same results without furnace curing by using a catalyst

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