ok ive looked all over and cant find anything that really explains how to lay carbon fiber, anyone seen a diy or something for this?

 

cf is really not a diy thing... It's a long process and involves either expensive machines or making your own machines.

But if you think that you are up to it.. go check honda tech under there fab section. I think i remember people posting how tos

 

well i have seen stuff that says its not all that hard, i can work with fiberglass etc, but yeah im just really trying to find out

 

Are you talking real CF...........

Simple process really........first you need a freezer to store the rolls of CF..........then it has to be cut and put in mold within 2 hours of removal from freezer...........once molded to shape it gets put under vacume and put in an autoclave for up to 12 hours under pressure and vacume and heat........at that point it is extremly strong and stiff and has lost about 95% of its starting weight........I may have left a few steps out.......but that is the basics...........for the stuff they sell to the public I would guess an adhesive to apply would be fine.........

 

whats the whole vacume thing about? have you done this

 

Resin can also be used to seal it into a mold kinda like a fiber glas matte except for with CF........it can get expensive to learn how to lay it cleanly though.........

 

Yes I have worked at Boeing her in Seattle and made thousands of parts with it.........

CF has a resin in it that under presure and vacume releases a gas adhesive and creates a bond to the next layer that is appied at 45 degrees to it..........when it goes into the autoclave it is stillunder vacume and as it is heated and the pressure builds it turns the resin into a gas and it is removed via the vacume........all the peices turn into one piece with a structural solidity.........the process is easy to do.......but the tools to do it are expensive......

 

so without this vacume its not possible?

 

BZiin1, I was just going to say, before I saw your last post, that I have visited the Boeing site in downtown Renton and seen all of the CF productions. It's a great process.

 

carbon fiber also has to be coated with a UV proof material or painted over.

if left bare, the sun's uv ray will break it down and will become brittle.

 

no wonder CF parts are expensive...

 

Carbon fiber in itself is brittle, but very strong. I believe that the UV and paint that is used to treat it only makes it even stronger.

 

Yes CF is very strong and when it dries out it gets very brittle......that is why it is stored in -40+ dry freezers....much like butcher freezers but with special filters to keep all moisture out.......

What I loved most about working with it was we took 35lbs of materials and once it was finished it weighed less than 5 lbs

It is used for aircraft for its weight reduction over aluminum and titanium...........Stronger than steel.........and has no static properties..........and cost to produce highly complex parts without material shrinkage or warping is quite easy.

I worked on a few parts and materials that are now in use on military planes and they can withstand impact from high caliber guns.........hated working with it though........it was very heavy materials and high staticly charged and we had to wear grounding chains to work on the material.........many days we had to go home early as we got shocked so hard it made you want to puke.......

I loved the Renton plant..........hated to go get parts though.........took all day to get a titanium screw.........

 

Our shop does custom CF and it takes a LONG time to become good a working woth it. Fiberglass a way more foregiving and easy to repair mistakes.

 

You know what really sucks to work with is Kevlar...........I had a nasty month building stuff with that.......it is nearly imposible to cut............trashed so many razors working with it.........and it is so sticky it gets on everything.......hope to never see that yellow torture cloth again.....LOL.

 

very educational thread, thanks for offering your experiences BZinn1.