[s-cars] Carbon Fiber Cloth/Tape

[Ian Duff]

Not that big a problem, as long as you don't mind the possibility of
sacrificing your wood trim.

To have the cf come out looking nice, you'll need to pull a female mold from
the existing wood trim pieces. Not difficult, but sometimes the plug (the
existing trim pieces) gets destroyed in the process. Not totally
predictable, and much can be done to minimize the chances, but still a very
real possibility. With the female mold from the old pieces, it's not all
that difficult to make new cf pieces in the shape of the original. Then you
just have to figure out how to mount the bling new pieces. 

To make new bling cf gauge pods, you make a male plug out of something like
a soft wood, sand and coat with something hard that you can get a nice shine
on, that will hold wax, like a good enamel (not polyurethane, won't hold the
wax), wax it like you stole it, make a female mold on it, pull the male plug
out, and make yourself a new bling cf gauge pod in your new mold.

Post pictures of this stuff on Audiworld, and you'll have a bunch of
wannabes bowing down to you.

The biggest tricks here are making sure the molds release from the plugs,
and the parts release from the molds, as well as making sure you have no dry
spots in the cf, as dry spots look gauche. Mold release is a function of two
thing, one is draft, where the dry part can come out without it being locked
in by virtue of its shape (think of a keystone, comes out easy one way,
doesn't come out the other way), the other is release agents, such as wax.
The easy way to avoid dry spots is soak the living piss out of the cf as you
laminate it, as we're not all that concerned about strength to weight in
cosmetic pieces such as these. If you really want to go overboard, you could
vacuum bag the cf as you go, which will help with the resin saturation, as
well as the bragging rights. BTW, use West epoxy, as its readily available,
and is known to work with CF. Polyester will not work.

Nothing remotely approaching either brain surgery or rocket science here.
HTH.

-Ian.
-----Original Message-----
From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
[mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Mark Pollan
Sent: Friday, May 05, 2006 14:59
To: s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [s-cars] Carbon Fiber Cloth/Tape

I really dunno Ian.  Just thinking of perhaps adding another item to my
1,000,001 item to-do list.  For example, can one with limited skills make
their wood trim into CF and have it look real nice?  Or perhaps make a CF
gauge pod to fit down by the ashtray in the center vent or...

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Duff [mailto:iduff at comcast.net]
Sent: Friday, May 05, 2006 1:30 PM
To: 'Mark Pollan'; s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: RE: [s-cars] Carbon Fiber Cloth/Tape

I have a fair amount of composite experience, having been a boatbuilder for
years. What do you need to do or know? 
-Ian Duff.
-----Original Message-----
From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
[mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Mark Pollan
Sent: Friday, May 05, 2006 10:43
To: s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: [s-cars] Carbon Fiber Cloth/Tape

Anybody out there actually play with carbon fiber either from a structural
perspective and/or a cosmetic (read trim) perspective?
www.jamestowndistributors.com <http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/>  has
carbon fiber cloth and tape as well as Kevlar tape.

 

Regards,

 

Mark

 

 

_______________________________________________
S-CAR-List mailing list
S-CAR-List at audifans.com
http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/s-car-list


--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.392 / Virus Database: 268.5.4/332 - Release Date: 5/4/2006


--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.392 / Virus Database: 268.5.4/332 - Release Date: 5/4/2006
 

-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.392 / Virus Database: 268.5.4/332 - Release Date: 5/4/2006
 

_______________________________________________
S-CAR-List mailing list
S-CAR-List at audifans.com
http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/s-car-list


-- 
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.392 / Virus Database: 268.5.4/332 - Release Date: 5/4/2006


-- 
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.392 / Virus Database: 268.5.4/332 - Release Date: 5/4/2006
 

-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.392 / Virus Database: 268.5.4/332 - Release Date: 5/4/2006