Carbon fibre

[Mustang]

Does anyone know how to make proper carbon fibre and what materials i will need to make it?

[cuntukimushroom]

whats it for if its a hood try max power magasines they have lots of modin stuff

[Mustang]

whats it for if its a hood try max power magasines they have lots of modin stuff

Interior mainly, as soon as i get my car that i am going to turn into a rally car hopefully i am going to try and use that for the dash, and i was going to start learning how to make it now :)

[VtecMini]

Ooooooh... Them's big ambitions. I don't actually know anything about how carbon fibre is used in cars, but I do know how it's done with boats. I'd imagine it's all the same thing and it's not easy.

First you need to start with some sort of pattern for what you want to make, a former of sorts, then you need to make a mould out of that by laying fibreglass on it until it covers all the parts that you wish to have in your bit of carbon fibre. The mould has to be really thick otherwise it'll break when you try and remove your cf. Then there's all the skill in laying up the carbon fibre and ensuring the correct mixture ratios.

Then if you're wanting to be fancy you autoclave it to get rid of the excess resin.

That's all a bit vague, but you kind of get the idea.

Making moulds and stuff costs heavily, you really would need to make more than one item and sell them on at a profit, otherwise it'll cost you tons.

[UK CARS]

Have you got the Mclaren f1 top gear vid? that tells you how to make mclaren f1 c/b..that will be useful.....you need a kilm! :D

scroll down the page and look for mclaren f1 on top gear..:) (http://www.sleepy-fish.com/other_veh.htm)

[Mustang]

Ooooooh... Them's big ambitions. I don't actually know anything about how carbon fibre is used in cars, but I do know how it's done with boats. I'd imagine it's all the same thing and it's not easy.

First you need to start with some sort of pattern for what you want to make, a former of sorts, then you need to make a mould out of that by laying fibreglass on it until it covers all the parts that you wish to have in your bit of carbon fibre. The mould has to be really thick otherwise it'll break when you try and remove your cf. Then there's all the skill in laying up the carbon fibre and ensuring the correct mixture ratios.

Then if you're wanting to be fancy you autoclave it to get rid of the excess resin.

That's all a bit vague, but you kind of get the idea.

Making moulds and stuff costs heavily, you really would need to make more than one item and sell them on at a profit, otherwise it'll cost you tons.


hey i aint going to sell any of it i dont think, i am going to be making it for myself, dont supose you could get "ingedients" and mixture ratios for me could you >? and maybee a tut on how to make it properly that isnt as vague as yours

thanks for that


Have you got the Mclaren f1 top gear vid? that tells you how to make mclaren f1 c/b..that will be useful.....you need a kilm!

thanks again to Jimbo this time,

i know that you can make it without all that really expensive stuff because i know a guy that makes his own, the reason that am asking on here is because i am not going to see him for a week or two now :o

[meanroy]

Interior mainly, as soon as i get my car that i am going to turn into a rally car hopefully i am going to try and use that for the dash, and i was going to start learning how to make it now :)
I wanted to do some Carbon Fiber for the interior of my mustang and started a project to make an instrument cluster to learn how to do it. (and hopefully end up with a part.)

The thread is here (http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5008)

To give you a brief summary of what I've learned so far:
1. If you are working with flat planes, you can buy pre-formed Carbon material of various thickness and cut it to fit.
2. If you want formed pieces which match the contour of the existing sheet metal you will have to make a mold of some sort.
3. It is critical to apply pressure to squeeze out the excess resin when you laminate the Carbon Fiber cloth to obtain good strength and appearance. Commercially this is done with vacuum or pressure bags. I am going to use a two part mold to achieve the same result.

(I'm waiting for resin to harden up as I write this post, hope to have a trial part this week.)

~Roy.

[Mustang]

thanks alot that helps quite a bit

[meanroy]

... dont supose you could get "ingedients" and mixture ratios for me could you ..

Are you talking about making the Fiber itself?

Thats a whole 'nother ball game!

You can buy the cloth for about $15/sq yard.

I left out something in my earlier post. There are two ways to make fiber pieces.
1. Cloth and resin
2. Fusable Fiber material.

I'm doing cloth and resin. Fusable Fiber material takes high temperature and pressure. Beyond the scope of what I want (or can afford) in my garage.

[Coventrysucks]

Sounds like you want pre-preg.
Sheets of c/f and resin, ready to go.
Just add heat.
(Can be done in your oven if its big enough)

I'll have a rumage, see if I can find any links.
:)

[Mustang]

Sounds like you want pre-preg.
Sheets of c/f and resin, ready to go.
Just add heat.
(Can be done in your oven if its big enough)

I'll have a rumage, see if I can find any links.
:)


Ok thanks Coventry, i am just waiting for eter to come on i am sure that he will set everyone right about it ;)

[Coventrysucks]

Ok thanks Coventry, i am just waiting for eter to come on i am sure that he will set everyone right about it ;)

Unfortunately I can't don't have any links for carbon fibre, I thought I did but I must be getting senile in my old age...

These people seem to be selling it:
ReVerie (http://www.reverie.ltd.uk/shop/products.php?g1=9f1dbd)

[pcgms]

Hi Mustang,
Well these are some of the sites I have found for sources and how to's. If you need more let me know. I have a "catalog" of them saved.

http://composite.about.com/od/howto/
http://avtcomposites.com/
http://www.shopmaninc.com/carbonpage.html
http://www.fibreglast.com/category.php?categorycode=15&source=GOTO&keyword=carbon+fiber
http://www.carb.com/
http://www.jgreer.com/
http://www.graphitestore.com/stores.asp/cat_id/25

John
"I chase my dreams today, for tomorrow may never come."

[Mustang]

thanks alot, those will come in usefull when i actually get round to making the stuff :)

[AndyP]

I think you also need an autoclave (pressurised oven) to cure the cf although if it is non structural there may be ways of getting round it.

[KnifeEdge_2K1]

no point in using carbon fibre for a dash or trim, just use crappy plastic, it weighs less, or dont have any trim at all, that saves 100% weight

carbon fibre in the interior is just a gimmick for that "wow" factor and many would prolly consider it rice

carbon fibre and other space age composite materials are only useful in stress bearing applications, if you just want to make something lighter make it out of plastic