hi folks, so my friend has just sent me a pile of carbon fibre to play with over winter.
I was thinking about making some small parts like heel plates, sprocket covers etc & possibly skinning some others like the tail or swingarm(?).
I was planning to mould off of my original parts rather than making full moulds since I won't be mass producing the parts, I'll be picking up the relative release agents & waxes when I get the epoxy resin
I've messed around with fibreglass before with decent results but I'm an absolute novice with CF, so has anyone got an advice with where I should start? what pitfalls I should watch out for? any parts that really shouldn't be skinned with CF?
I've watched some vids on youtube & been researching online but I wanted some thoughts/opinions from anyone on here with experience
Honestly, it's no different than fiberglass, Kevlar, basalt and most hybrids. All layers should be fully and evenly saturated in resin. Bubbles need to be squeezed out etc. If you plan on just doing laminate pieces, prepare to spend some good time sanding, polishing, and adding more resin before you get any good looking pieces. It's certainly not a quick process when you're not vacuum bagging. Try some small stuff first, then you'll get an idea what you can do to improve when you try larger stuff. A good example would be to cover the back of a broken cell phone or something, get some layers going and build up the resin/epoxy and start sanding polishing until you like the result. Waiting for the piece to cure is the pain in the ass part by the way...
__________________ Your random animal facts expert.
Last edited by 03cbr-rider; 11-10-2012 at 01:41 PM.
The Following User Says Thank You to 03cbr-rider For This Useful Post:
Pm rsp919 he used to mass produce CF parts for us his quality was excellent
I might just do that mate, thanks, but didn't I read he disappeared off the forum?
Quote:
Originally Posted by 03cbr-rider
Honestly, it's no different than fiberglass, Kevlar, basalt and most hybrids. All layers should be fully and evenly saturated in resin. Bubbles need to be squeezed out etc. If you plan on just doing laminate pieces, prepare to spend some good time sanding, polishing, and adding more resin before you get any good looking pieces. It's certainly not a quick process when you're not vacuum bagging. Try some small stuff first, then you'll get an idea what you can do to improve when you try larger stuff. A good example would be to cover the back of a broken cell phone or something, get some layers going and build up the resin/epoxy and start sanding polishing until you like the result. Waiting for the piece to cure is the pain in the ass part by the way...
I don't mind the sanding & polishing (well I say that now lol). I'll definetely take your suggestion with starting with something that doesn't matter when I f**k it up, cheers mate
Make sure you invest in a quality respirator. The chemicals can kill you. Also in ca i found alot alot of the epoxies and resins needed are sold at local marine stores like westmarine. I have worked with cf on car parts and its a ton of sanding and finishing work to make it look professional. Just like any thing practice will make great parts.
The Following User Says Thank You to ridesc For This Useful Post:
Waiting for the piece to cure is the pain in the ass part by the way...
amen! haha i've made some parts but i'm so impatient that its hard for me :/
go on youtube and look up some videos, there's some with good informative, just gotta find them, lotta them are just people blabbering on and on.
also if you search on google i found a lot of write-ups, not for bike parts, but random things like cf canoe paddles, but there were some really good guides
__________________
Adam - Slocum Racing
'95 lt1. 355 - 9.4:1 - LE2 heads - LE cam - t70 @ 8psi (until i get moar fuel)
'03 CBR600RR - Two Brothers Slip-On
The Following User Says Thank You to boostedlt1 For This Useful Post:
The only advice I can give you is to keep it simple, nothing is worst than a bike plastered with CF this and that. IMO
So don't go balls to the wall if you don't have to, you know the saying "less is sometimes more" or something like that, lol.
Make sure you invest in a quality respirator. The chemicals can kill you. Also in ca i found alot alot of the epoxies and resins needed are sold at local marine stores like westmarine. I have worked with cf on car parts and its a ton of sanding and finishing work to make it look professional. Just like any thing practice will make great parts.
I'm not sure we have any marine stores near me, but I can get the resins online easy enough. getting a decent finish is the thing, I can lay fibreglass but theres usually a gel coat & paint involved with that, I don't think the CF is going to be an easy job, but least I've got all winter to practice
Quote:
Originally Posted by boostedlt1
amen! haha i've made some parts but i'm so impatient that its hard for me :/
go on youtube and look up some videos, there's some with good informative, just gotta find them, lotta them are just people blabbering on and on.
also if you search on google i found a lot of write-ups, not for bike parts, but random things like cf canoe paddles, but there were some really good guides
I've been doing that, I try not to go into things without a bit of research because something always goes wrong, knowing my luck I'll glue my hands together or something. I'll keep reading/watching as much as I can before I even think about mixing up some resin
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mina
The only advice I can give you is to keep it simple, nothing is worst than a bike plastered with CF this and that. IMO
So don't go balls to the wall if you don't have to, you know the saying "less is sometimes more" or something like that, lol.
it will certainly be simple stuff. I'm not mad into CF or anything, my friend can just get it for nothing so I figured I'd mess around with it. I won't be covering the whole bike with it lol
