Some old carbon fiber work

[awdrst]

These are really just some old pics that I found when I was going through my old computer a little while ago. I built this console for a mid year corvette. This one is not a overlay it's a 3 layer 2x2 twill carbon console.

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Here is a better shot of it installed.

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I would post more pics but I doubt that you want to see the mold and stuff like that. It's pretty boring stuff to see.



This one was one of my favorite projects. It's a carbon fiber breifcase. I made it around 2003 mostly cause I had access to a cnc machine and made a nice billet mold for it. It was vac bagged. I still have the blue kevlar/carbon fiber one that I take on all my business meetings. It's managed to take alot of heavy abuse over the years and considering I did it with no surface coat(gel coat). I was thinking of making some new ones in plain weave and making it with gel coat this time around.

Here is a 2x2 twill half that was done. I have no idea where it ended up.

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Here is the blue one that I still use today.

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I will see if I have anymore pics laying around. I did a set of sideskirts a few months ago for a saturn sky that were pretty different. I am not sure if I took pics of the final product though. I also have a few toilet bowl lids laying around from over the years that I overlayed. Also I am in the middle of making a mold for a guitar. I aways wanted a carbon guitar. I'm pretty sure it will end up being under 5lbs before all the hardware.

 

[Lofty]

Any insight on how to make this?
I would start making Carbon Fiber parts for people if i knew how.

 

[awdrst]

I have been doing this for about 5 years or so now and there are a ton of little tips and tricks that help out. I would say it's not hard but does take some trial and error if you are just going to figure it out on your own. First thing you would want to decide is if you want it for looks or for weight. If it's for looks you would do what is called a overlay. It's a very simple process where you lay carbon fiber on a already made part and apply resin onto the carbon. When it's all done you sand it flat and buff it to a shine. If you want to make somthing like a hood you would make a mold, which will give you a negative of the part, and you lay your carbon fiber into the mold and apply resin. After that depending on how light you want the part you can vacuum bag the part which will suck out the excess resin. There are a few basic steps inbetween but it's stuff like applying wax so the part doesn't stick and making the mold. If you do this right you can make a hood be very very light. I have done some race hoods that have weighed under 5lbs with core. If you want to try it let me know I have access to plenty of carbon fiber and gallons of resin and pretty much anything else you would ever need to make molds or parts.

 

[UGOT8UP]

Do you still have the molds for that brief case? Do you think I can cover my laptop?

 

[awdrst]

Yeah I still have the mold. It is just sitting down in my basement. I actually used to to carry my macbook back in the day. I can give you the dimensions of the inside and you can measure your laptop to see if it would fit.

 

[SuzukiRidr326]

hey man wannn make me a carbon fiber armrest for a 95 GSX??

 

[UGOT8UP]

I accuatly want my laptop covered

 

[snowborder714]

A sticker would be your best bet.

 

[UGOT8UP]

you don't think that would look cheesy

 

[snowborder714]

If done right, no.

I think this looks pimp.
Worlds First Carbon Fiber Macbook, I think.

 

[UGOT8UP]

I don't think I can wrap vinal around corners like that, your right that does look good, but if I done it with vinal the edges and corner would look like pure dookey

 

[crimsondragon]

We need to talk sir. I have a CF hood that needs repairing. I'm not sure how to do it. I was thinking of using fiberglass bondo filler. What do you think? The damage are spiderweb cracks. I don't know if it was from heat or stress or it flew up and smashed into a windshield.

 

[Project2G]

hey man wannn make me a carbon fiber armrest for a 95 GSX??

eBay Motors: 95 99 Eclipse 2G Real CARBON FIBER Console LID Armrest (item 170304589586 end time Feb-27-09 08:52:26 PST)

 

[awdrst]

We need to talk sir. I have a CF hood that needs repairing. I'm not sure how to do it. I was thinking of using fiberglass bondo filler. What do you think? The damage are spiderweb cracks. I don't know if it was from heat or stress or it flew up and smashed into a windshield.

If you are planning on painting the hood than body filler will be fine. If you want it to look clear again than really your best bet would be to get a new hood since I have never seen a spider web crack get fixed and look like new. Now if by some odd chance the crack didn't go down to the carbon than you can sand down and fill it in with clear gel coat, sand it down and cover the whole hood again in clear auto paint.

 

[crimsondragon]

I do plan on painting the hood to match the car. I sanded some of the clear coat down so the cracks can't be felt. Do I just spread a thin layer of body filler over it? My main concern is for it to not crack again during regular use and have it show up on the paint.

 

[awdrst]

I'm not a body guy. So take this advice for what it's worth since the only body work I do is on a plug for a mold and that only has to last once. I would say that the right way to do it is to the point you can not feel the crack anymore than lay the body filler on and use a block to make it flat again. I would start at 220 grit sandpaper and work up to 600 grit in 100 grit stages. Once it is flat spray some primer on and paint the hood.

 

[crimsondragon]

Nice that was what I was thinking but without the sandpaper stages. Thanks.

 

[Lofty]

So is there any chance that using those lame autozone cf stickers to cover say.. my center console, it will end out sorta okay?

 

[UGOT8UP]

So is there any chance that using those lame autozone cf stickers to cover say.. my center console, it will end out sorta okay?

I would have to say no, due to the abuse of your arm rubbing it all of the time and the temperature changes inside of the car.

 

[awdrst]

So is there any chance that using those lame autozone cf stickers to cover say.. my center console, it will end out sorta okay?

It's not that hard to do yourself. Send me a pm and i'll help you along with what it takes and about how much you would have to spend. Plus in the end its a pretty cool thing to say that you did yourself.

 

[Lofty]

Sounds good!

I could start making custom CF things for people, maybe start a side job for myself!

 

[UGOT8UP]

I went for plan B on my laptop covering, STICKER'S!

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[bpestilence]

Work looks really good. I have tried to make some CF parts but haven't come up with anything good enough to see the light of day, though.

Was that center console and the side skirts molded, or did you hand layup? I have been trying to make a CF Talon tail light center piece. At first I tried to make a mold but the mold release didn't work and I destroyed it (and the tail) when trying to get them back apart. Now I am thinking I will just hand layup over the tail and spend the hours sanding to get it looking good.

 

[awdrst]

The center console is from a mold we made. What type of mold release did you use? When I make molds I always wax and use pva. The pva messes up the finish on the mold alittle bit and you have to spend a few hours wet sanding the mold but it beats the part getting stuck to the plug. I had it happen once and after that I would rather spend the extra few hours. I have also done tons of overlays over the years and they are fun and really not to bad to do but I always liked making parts out of a mold it seemed like less work to me. If you need any tips feel free to ask.

 

[bpestilence]

I used the mold release wax that I got at the local surf shop. No PVA; that might have been the problem. Also, the fact that the part (the tail center) has no loft on it and was itself very brittle couldn't have helped.

I have all the materials to vacuum bag, and have made some small sucessful parts. I was thinking I could do a layup layer on the tail with peel-ply and a vacuum bag, and then after setting almost all the way up, painting on a further layer of epoxy over the rough surface that I could later sand down smooth. That sound like it would work?