Carbon Fibre coating.

[Logos]

Hey all,

I'm doing a project for uni, and long story short I'm making a subframe.

What I need to know is, what is the best way of coating it in Carbon Fibre.



That's just a quick picture of what it sort of looks like, roughly the same sort of surfaces. I'm unintrested in getting strength out of it as it's a prototype for an exhibition, so what I want is a good cosmetic surface to it.

So far what I've come up with is :

Cut the fibre into a rough and shape to the frame, and put tabs and cuts into areas in where it folds, so it can be laid on top of it, and it should best fold into shape and form to the model.

What someone else suggested was make a channel or trench running underneath so that the ends of the material can meet inside.

Another thing is, should I fillet or chamfer the edges so that the fibres wrap around it better?

Sorry if this is vauge and confusing, but feel free to ask me questions so I can better explain it/elaborate.

[Ryder]

Dont you normally form carbon fiber using vaccum and plastic or something? The point being you'll probably need specialist equipment if you want to make it look any good. Perhaps your best bet would just be to talk to a local manufacturer of CF.

Then again, if the CF is purely for looks, maybe you could get away with using that fake stick on carbon fiber you can buy on Ebay. Stuff along the lines of this
Carbon Fiber fibre sticker Decal Roll Film 51"x10.5" - eBay Accessories, Interior, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 27-Oct-09 01:20:37 AEDST)

Or this

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Carbon-Fibre-...item3a4ec7639a

[Veefore]

Use the fake carbon adhesive film. You won't get a good finish using real CF and resin. All you will do is spend too much money for a very poor looking finish.

Carbon cloth isn't smooth and will require too much resin to make it so. It is also quite difficult to get it to wrap smoothly over so many right angled bends. On the inside bends it likely won't sit flush but will "bridge".

[browncow]

WtheyS.
Just sticker it.
Get yourself a good exacto blade/scalpel craft blade though...

[Logos]

Awesome, much better idea and much more viable then what I was going to do.

Where locally can I get some?

[=Stevo=]

you could just get it powdercoated black?

[Kaido]

Logos ruff how big is the subframe? it is possible to make a home made vaccum bag, and just so carbon fiber sheeting and resin however the process is time consuming and requires a bit of effort to make it look nice.

here are some photos of what the end results can look like





the boys who did the above use the homemade vaccum bag, they are in perth. however as everyone else has mention just get some the stickers as it will be the easiest and cheapest way to do it

[Logos]

It's roughly about 70-80cm long, 30-40cm across, and up to 120cm deep.

The problem I have though is the shape is quite complex and has lots of different planes.

I think the sticker idea is probably going to work.

The vacuum idea did cross my mind, but I think just because of the oddly extruded sections it won't work.