Hey all,

I wanted to try my hand at making some carbon fiber parts but i haven't the slightest clue about how. does anyone have any helpful links, book suggestions, or something along those lines to help me out?

Thank you in advance!

 

hahahahahha.

i only laugh because if it were so simple to explain via text, everyone would do it.

search online for:
# ISBN-10: 1557884986 (or # ISBN-13: 978-1557884985)

and

# ISBN-10: 1859606245 (or # ISBN-13: 978-1859606247)

then go spend about $300 in materials to practice what you learned, then realize, its sometimes cheaper if you let someone else do it and just fund the development so you don't get stuck with the headache.

 

I've learned how to make simple parts on my own. Side moldings for a Civic.
Back in 2000 check out the old school monitor. lol


Battery tie before trimming.

Also learned to fab my own kits. All learned from trial and error. Youtube has some cool videos on there as well.



Still needs body work.

You can also "overlay" the carbon on top of parts. It's just cloth then you put the resin (paint like consistency) and wet out the fabric.


fibreglast.com has some good articles and examples.

 

yeah i know its easier to jsut buy made but i like to try my hand at it just cause i like to do stuff with my own hands. thanx for the advice its much appreciated! ill do my best and well see how it goes.

any more?

 

oh sweet! well ive done fiberglass stuff for hot tubs and stuff so that wassnt to dificult so i thought id dap in this too. thanx for the pics man!

 

This link really kind of helped me out even though it is about motorcycle parts. http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/carbo...orcycle-parts/

There is a carbon fiber shortage right now, so it is a bit expensive to just experiment with.

 

If it's for cosmetic purposes, fibreglast.com has their own "black" fiberglass that looks just like carbon. There are a lot of companies passing fake carbon as real carbon now due to the shortage.

 

is it harder to work with then the real stuff?

 

http://www.racingcomposites.net

Go to that site. That's where I started and still am. Let me tell you, it's not as easy as you think. Also, you'll spend a ton of money to get things right. Depending on what you are making will determine whether you are going to work with polyester or epoxy. Basically here is how it works in a nutshell if you want to do it right. There's challenge after challenge. Trust me when I say, it would probably be cheaper just to buy the part you are looking to make rather than spending more money trying to make the part.

1. Get materials
2. Make a mold
3. Either hand lay, vaccum infuse, etc.
4. Part in cf made

 

yeah it sounds really hard after i looked into it. if i had spare time on my hands i would but... oh well ... ill revert back to looking for people who do this stuff and just ask them to do it for me. thanx for the help everyone!

 

No, its exactly the same as fiberglass. The thickness and how soft the fabric itself is will vary.

 

This might be OT a little... but if you don't have a job, you might want to contact Swift Engineering. They were a Formula Atlantic chassis builder and have moved onto defense projects. I interviewed with them a few months ago and they were hiring people to lay up CF onto open-wheel racer molds, vacuum bagging the stuff, putting them into autoclaves, etc.

"Competition Car Composites" by Simon McBeath may give you a good intro into that stuff too. I haven't read it, but his aero book was a really good way to get into car aerodynamics.

 

Thanks for the book reference. I will take a gander.

Ryan

 

yeah most def ill have a look! thanx for the reference