Carbon Fiber Workers !!

[Quad18star]

Anyone on here do any carbon fiber work ??

This morning I've been searching trying to find beginner info on what equipment/tools I would need to start doing carbon fiber work and what the exact process in getting a finished piece is , but I haven't really been able to find much ... well atleast nothing that isn't too hard to understand . From what I've gathered so far , the hardest part seems to get a mold done.

So if anyone does any carbon fiber work , or knows where I can get info on how to get started in this ... please reply , email or PM me .

Thanks

[zeppelin]

i was looking into doing this awhile back, from what ive found the only parts that you could really make for your quad are like the hoods, rear number plate, and some other odd ball peices. you shouldnt make things that have to support anything, like engine mounts. all you have to do is buy a big sheet of carbon and shape it the way you want it , then put a special epoxy on it. the reason you shouldnt make parts of high importance is that unless you buy the stuff to vaccum your peices they wont be as strong as the companyies that actualy seel carbon fiber parts. so it isnt really practical unless you plan on doing it for fun, cause those vaccum things are so expensive

[red2004 TRX450R]

YA a I know a guy what makes fiber glass speaker boxes. and he started makeing carbon fiber ones. same processes!!! but they dont look all that good becasue its real hard to get the carbon fiber to lay nice!!

like zeppelin said

u need expensive equipment to make it much stronger than fiber glass!!!

[Quad18star]

Thanks guys . I ended up finding a really helpful website .. www.fibreglast.com . Tons of info , which actually gets quite overwhelming if you read too much all at once . LOL . But they sell all the stuff you need to start out ( instructional videos , supplies , etc) . I guess once I get a few extra $$ laying around , I'm gunna try it out and see how hard it really is .

ok.. fiberglass and carbon fiber are basically the same.. as far as, they are both a mat, and they both use a resin as a bonding agent.. the difference is and the reason that c/f is much stronger is because it is woven ALOT tighter..

Now you can do the things a few different ways.. such as vaccum bagging, a straight wet layup, or the use of a oven.. You wanna stay away from a wet layup with c/f because youll never get the resin through the weave.. So you will want to vaccum bag it.. Another thing is, you have to really REALLY pay attention to how you lay the cloth because c/f usually isnt painted, altho it could be.. If it is done sloppy, the finished peice is gonna look like total ****.. But if its done right, and time taken to make sure the cloth has all the weaves straight before you draw a vaccum on it, itll look sweet..

If you have never done fiberglass before, then stay away.. c/f is not a toy, and youll need to wear respirators because c/f contains a known carcinegin (or however you spell it) But if you are patient and have deep pockets go for it..

Your gonna need other things besides resin and cloth and a vaccum bagging setup before you can even consider doing anything in c/f.. id mess with some fiberglass first to see if you are even gonna stick with it and then move onto c/f

Jesse