anyone have experience working with carbon fiber or fiberglass?

[Dave]

im considering designing some parts and it seems to me that the most cost efficient method of producing them would be diy. anyway i was wondering if anyone on here had done any of that before and could offer up any pointers or good (cheap) sources of material? thanks in advance

[OneSickPsycho]

Fiberglass will be wayyyyyy cheaper and easier to use. Unless you're making structural parts CF is a waste anyway.

[goof2]

A guy on another forum (boats) who really seems to know his shit recommends uscomposites.com as a supplier. I have never used them so I can't comment from personal experience. They have both fiberglass and carbon fiber cloth as well as the resin and tools you will need. Keep in mind carbon is around 5-10 times the cost of fiberglass. It is also a bitch to work with, especially if you want the weave to be visible on the finished part. To get uniform resin distribution and no bubbles the parts should really be vacuum bagged in the mold which can be a pain in the ass for a diy'er.

[nhgunnut]

I am no expert but when building Kit Cars in the past. I have used a two part foam that could be sprayed allowed to harden then shaped with a rasp and used as a plug to lay glass over. I think (though have no direct experience) that might be the way to go if if you are are trying to make small mold or plug. I am not sure how it would work for modifying an existing part

[derf]

What are you trying to build? A small 1 off piece where you can just make the part? Pr a complicated big thing where you need a buck, mold, and then the part? Does it need to be structural or just pretty?

I can pretty much help you with anything you need, although my firberglassing book smarts far outweigh my actual abilities, I can spout off useless info with the bast of them, and simple fiberglass work for me is no problem.

As for cheap materials, ebay, you can get a 50 x 1 yard roll of weave for $50. The resin that you can get from uscomposites or fiberglast are much higher quality and easier to work with, but more expensive thet what you can get at Home depot or walmart. If you need more advanced stuff, waxes and mold release agents then the only real place to get them is from a fibergalss specialty shop or from the internet, and whatever you do stay away from teh chopped strand mat, it is stronger and lighter, but its a bitch to work with and you will waste more and be more frustrated than if you just work with weave.

[derf]

Originally Posted by nhgunnut

I am no expert but when building Kit Cars in the past. I have used a two part foam that could be sprayed allowed to harden then shaped with a rasp and used as a plug to lay glass over. I think (though have no direct experience) that might be the way to go if if you are are trying to make small mold or plug. I am not sure how it would work for modifying an existing part

2 part expanding foam is some of the best stuff, for working with glass, you can do almost anything with it if you are creative in its application.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by derf

What are you trying to build? A small 1 off piece where you can just make the part? Pr a complicated big thing where you need a buck, mold, and then the part? Does it need to be structural or just pretty?

I can pretty much help you with anything you need, although my firberglassing book smarts far outweigh my actual abilities, I can spout off useless info with the bast of them, and simple fiberglass work for me is no problem.

As for cheap materials, ebay, you can get a 50 x 1 yard roll of weave for $50. The resin that you can get from uscomposites or fiberglast are much higher quality and easier to work with, but more expensive thet what you can get at Home depot or walmart. If you need more advanced stuff, waxes and mold release agents then the only real place to get them is from a fibergalss specialty shop or from the internet, and whatever you do stay away from teh chopped strand mat, it is stronger and lighter, but its a bitch to work with and you will waste more and be more frustrated than if you just work with weave.

basically an f3 style airbox that seals to the bottom of my gastank. i think we can get up to a gallon or more of volume. could be interesting. gonna pull the tank today and see how feasable things are and throw together some sketches. probably rig up a pitot tube/airspeed indicator as well so i can best place the ram scoop. im open to fiberglass as long as we can seal it well enough that there is zero chance of material breaking off and entering the motor

[derf]

For your CBR? Just off the top of my head I would say that it is very feasable, although I'm not sure about the ram air scoops. I also wouldnt worry about pieces of glass getting into your engine, as long as you lay the glass right and dont leave any parts hanging of you will be good.

My initial thought would be to make a large box over the base of the gas tank, then trim it down to sit 1/8" away from the tank, then use compressable weather stripping to seal it. The ram air tube (s) could then be added on later as needed, make the tube to fit the bike, past where the box would sit, then join the airbox together with the tubes.

Let me know when you are gonna try this, if I can I'll give you a hand


And for something like that, home depot stuff would be more than fine, cover the buck/mold with saran wrap and spray with crisco, lots of crisco, once you have the part complete, and enough layers so that it is strong, shove a wedge between the part and mold, inject some water and you are good.

If you really want it to have that CF look, then 1 layer of CF over the outside will do the trick, thats what most CF stuff is anyway, 7 layer fiberglass 1 layer CF for looks on the outside.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by derf

For your CBR? Just off the top of my head I would say that it is very feasable, although I'm not sure about the ram air scoops. I also wouldnt worry about pieces of glass getting into your engine, as long as you lay the glass right and dont leave any parts hanging of you will be good.

My initial thought would be to make a large box over the base of the gas tank, then trim it down to sit 1/8" away from the tank, then use compressable weather stripping to seal it. The ram air tube (s) could then be added on later as needed, make the tube to fit the bike, past where the box would sit, then join the airbox together with the tubes.

Let me know when you are gonna try this, if I can I'll give you a hand

yeah, i have a couple of ideas for scoop positions but like i said i wanna do some air flow testing. the scoop could be added later? there wouldnt be any strength issues? i found some water soluble foam last night that can be used as a disposable mandrel. shits expensive though

[derf]

Originally Posted by Dave

yeah, i have a couple of ideas for scoop positions but like i said i wanna do some air flow testing. the scoop could be added later? there wouldnt be any strength issues? i found some water soluble foam last night that can be used as a disposable mandrel. shits expensive though

Not really, as long as you attach it from both sides, inside and out. Hit it with some low grit sand paper, get some good deep scratches in there and it will hold stronger than you would think.

Also what could work well, is fleece instead of fiberglass, I did a couple of sub boxes with the stuff a few years ago, the wooden frames are pretty easy to work with, and the fleece is stronger than you would imagine. In fact this winter I am going to redesign the body for my soapbox car with fleece and resin. The body i have now is canvas and fiberglass resin and it has held up pretty well so far, its cracked a few places, but those are from fairly hard hits. And if money is a concern the fleece could be had for much less than fiberglass mat


Another thought is if your garage is heated, fiberglass resin needs a min temp of (I think) 70 degrees to dry. I have gotten past that with halogen lamps in the winter, but it is still a though