molding my own carbon fiber

hello. im thinking about doing a somewhat carbon theme for my honda. and alot of peices companies dont make in carbon

i was cruising around ebay and saw that i could buy carbon fabric by the roll. and cheap resin

so for my learning project. what are some pointers or things i need to know to get going on making carbon fiber molds?

thanks

You need a vaccum table for molds of carbon fiber products. The first layer is the layer that you see so if you don't have a perfect mold it will be seen in your first layer.

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

what about a wrap. like if i were to wrap a center console peice for looks not excatly a weight issue?

Its not really a weight issue, the vacuum is needed for proper curing of the resin.  if you don't use vacuum you tend to end up with a dull finish, improper curing, and a bubbly surface.  sorry.  You could wrap it dry, or use one of the quality vinyl overlays.  There are people making genuine carbon ones, but expect to pay big bucks, don't go for the  20 dollar a sheet stuff.     good luck.

i wrapped these by hand... vacuum bagger woulda been so much easier... this way is very time consuming and aggrivating.

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Nitrous is like a hot girl with an STD. You know you want to hit it, but you are scared of the consequences.

Nice job civicdetalier. Those curves must have killed you

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

hey thats looks pretty good. see and im not even talking about doing something that extreme. im thinking about just my center console where the shifter is.

was it really that much of a pain doing a wrap without a vaccum?

thanks. if you take your time and have patience, you can do it. doing the dash sucked. the speaker pods werent as bad. heres a pic of the armrest i did for my 240sx in blue carbon.

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Nitrous is like a hot girl with an STD. You know you want to hit it, but you are scared of the consequences.

Very Nice!!

thanks. i wrapped the dash, the speaker pods, side panels for the dash and the rear deck in carbon for my civic. then i wrapped the armrest and top of the steering column in blue carbon for my 240sx. i want to do the headliner and rear deck for the 240, but these carbon prices are ridiculous, so unless i stumble across a great deal, i probably wont be wrapping those pieces.

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Nitrous is like a hot girl with an STD. You know you want to hit it, but you are scared of the consequences.

yea so it wouldnt be that difficult to wrap like a center console peice like where the shifter is. that area. i can take it out and work on a table or something.

what all materials do i need to just do that little project.

you need clear epoxy resin, carbon fiber, good scissors to cut the carbon, brushes, and patience.

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Nitrous is like a hot girl with an STD. You know you want to hit it, but you are scared of the consequences.

ok. trust me i got all the patients in the world. there is nothing to do around here so all i do i work on my car and.......work on my car.

so as far as working with it. whats a quick version of a write up. so i lay the carbon mat down on the peice find a way to get it to stay. and spread some resin over it and paint it smooth then let it cure?

also... racingcomposites.net has some helpful stuff too, but they get very in depth with stuff and dont have alot of info on laying carbon by hand. apparently there is not a lot of us who do this by hand.

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Nitrous is like a hot girl with an STD. You know you want to hit it, but you are scared of the consequences.

civicdetailer wrote:

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Nitrous is like a hot girl with an STD. You know you want to hit it, but you are scared of the consequences.

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ROTF LMAO

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I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best -- that is inspiration.