Making Carbon Fibre Items

[FPV TURBO]

Vac bag sucks the resin through the laminant better and aids in no air and distortion in the cloth.

[Craved]

Well as ur gona find out soon enough, when things are'nt as simple as flat panels and u have tight corners to get around the fibres dont always wanna play ball n stay where they should. So after u finish laminating ur part you then put on a release film, then some breather (which basically spreads the suction around ur part and absorbs excess resin too) and then bag it. So what u end up with is the better part of 1 Bar of pressure all over ur part. For a flat panel what id do is have another flat surface that is waxed to put on top (make a sandwich of the laminate) and then add some weight on it, this basically gives u a thinner better consolidated laminate. The vacuum bagging method is great but it also means buying the extra's that go with it. (Release Film, Breather, etc)

Clearly money well spent if u wanna make trick bits. All the best !!! Make sure u use gloves n have some acetone handy to wipe up the spills.

cheers for the run through..

have you got any ideas on what materials are the best to use as a mold creator of complex items...

basically i was watching monster garage. they had a foam type composite that the guy cut up using a saw .. was light but hard, then he covered it in fibreglass to make the item.

i want something that i can manipulate then take the mold off that in fibreglass so you can produce the item..

does that make sense?

[Master]

well in ur case if ur only makin some one off bits for a play around then you can use high density foam/ MDF/ wood but ur surface will have to be either painted n polished in the case of the MDF/wood or sealed in the case of the foam. The high density foam also disolves in acetone so be careful there.

This process will form whats known as a pattern and from this pattern u get ur mould and then off ur mould u get a part... to be really cheap n simple id go with the MDF, u also have patten forming clay... Look im sure there is alot more stuff out there that i dont know off, but to start with these are very do able options. Maksure ur mould is thick and rigid, use a lot of chopped strand matt to bulk it up....

[Craved]

yeah i think i saw that clay stuff at the fibreglass suppliers.. looks just like play dough...

do you need to seal that? or does the resin just not stick to it?

think i read somewhere last year that it will not stick to play dough .. might be the same for the clay.. cos it re-usable from what i read on the packet

[maximumrpm]

make a mold from plaster...if its a 1 off and then break the plaster

[Noy]

welcome to the world of carbon, i'm willing to answer any questons people may have. I'm actually a composite technician and work with it everyday. i work at custom carbon here in brissy good ol vacuum bagging least you guys are on the right path... beware stuff ups are a plenty in the world of carbon. Good luck

[Craved]

is it true that play dough / moulding clay doesn't stick to the resin? or do you have to seal it?

[maximumrpm]

why is the custom carbon website down??? its hasnt been up for a while.....can u send me pics of carbon parts for r33s? and can they be engineered??? cheers

[Noy]

yeah the website has been down for a while, the boss is getting it all redone

i been on his case about it, guess its done when its done.

what R33 stuff you want pics of? for R33 the moulds we have are

Modified blitz 400r full kit

GTSt bonnet series 1

GTR bonnet series 2

GTR front grill

GTR lower lip

Bootlid that sits flush with rear panels

pillar mount gauge holder

GTR wing just the blade

door sil panels

I'm pretty sure thats it i'll get onto the computer at work tomorrow and get some pics. and post them up whan i can.

Oh and craved you still have to wax mouding clay/ play dough or plasters or the resins will stick to them.

[JaFF]

is the gtst series 1 bonnet an oem item? or does it have vents etc?

How much if oem?

[mokompri]

yeah the website has been down for a while, the boss is getting it all redone

i been on his case about it, guess its done when its done.

what R33 stuff you want pics of? for R33 the moulds we have are

Modified blitz 400r full kit

GTSt bonnet series 1

GTR bonnet series 2

GTR front grill

GTR lower lip

Bootlid that sits flush with rear panels

pillar mount gauge holder

GTR wing just the blade

door sil panels

I'm pretty sure thats it i'll get onto the computer at work tomorrow and get some pics. and post them up whan i can.

Oh and craved you still have to wax mouding clay/ play dough or plasters or the resins will stick to them.

are your products carbon overlays or pure carbon ?

[Noy]

is the gtst series 1 bonnet an oem item? or does it have vents etc?

How much if oem?

its an OEM bonnet no vents and the price is $2000 + GST so $2200 all up

[Noy]

are your products carbon overlays or pure carbon ?

All products are 100% carbon

We have our own process of making these bonnets, only carbon is used NO cheap fibreglass inners.

[mokompri]

All products are 100% carbon

We have our own process of making these bonnets, only carbon is used NO cheap fibreglass inners.

very nice, your the only producer of auto parts in australia that i know of that have pure carbon products

[gtstcruiser67]

Does anyone fabricate carbon front gaurds for R33 gtst's?

There is a magazine called performance build up's which has released a few articles on working with carbon/kevlar. That may help answer a few questions people have.

[maximumrpm]

i found a company in japan that does them, but they were really expensive...around 2k each from memory

[Noy]

ok finally got pics for everyone

Boss is such a slacko anyway here goes

theres a few pics will post more when i find them.

Edited April 7, 2006 by MrVspec

[Noy]

Does anyone fabricate carbon front gaurds for R33 gtst's?

There is a magazine called performance build up's which has released a few articles on working with carbon/kevlar. That may help answer a few questions people have.

refer to pics above

[gtstcruiser67]

i found a company in japan that does them, but they were really expensive...around 2k each from memory

Yes, 2k is out of most peoples budget for gtst upgrades.Is the company called Bee-R?

I also heard somewhere about someone in SA that fabricates gaurds. Not sure if they are carbon or fibreglass. Have you heard of of anything along these lines?

Steve

[maximumrpm]

no its not bee-r...i was looking for s13 parts for my sister and saw they sold the guards...dont remember the company but will look again