Can you show me how to make my own carbon fiber in SoCal?

[JBunkley]

Does anyone in southern California have experience with the making of carbon fiber? I'm interested in making my own. After searching Amazon and having no luck finding a book on the subject I was wondering if anyone could show me how to make it.

Thanks
-JB

[Ove]

Hi, JB,
I'm not from southern California, but I'll tell you what I know anyway. I have just bought a 1x1meter carbonfibre mat and epoxy to make various parts from carbon. Previously I have made parts from fiberglass. This how I was told to do it:

You will of course need a mold, made from the part you are about to replace with carbon. Fiberglass works well here. Make sure the finish on the mold is very smooth and even, as all imperfections will show on the finished part. If you are making a straight panel with no curves, you can use a glass window as a mold.

Get a "two over, two under" mat, not a "one over, one under". The 2-2 mat looks better and is easier to shape, the 1-1 is much stiffer. Buy carbonfiber, epoxy and preferably the wax at the same place to make sure they go well together. People flying model airplanes often use carbon for wings and other parts, so a friend or your local hobby shop should know where to get it. I paid around $100 for 1 square meter, the neccessary epoxy and the wax. Not very cheap, not bad either. The mat alone was around $65.

After the mold has been sanded down and painted (no need to do this if you use glass), you polish the mold with silicone free car wax 2-3 times to get it as slippery as possible. Then do one last coat of wax and let it dry. Do not polish this last coat.
Then use clear spray paint on the wax, 2-3 coats. Let it dry.
Carefully apply epoxy on the clear paint. Let it dry.

Cut a piece of the carbonfibre mat, slightly larger than you will need to cover the mold. Apply epoxy once again, and then the carbon. Make sure the carbon is even, not folded, and add enough epoxy to wet the entire mat. Let it dry.
Repeat the last step with epoxy and carbon one or two times depending on how strong the part has to be.

When the epoxy has dried, you should be able to remove it from the mold, hopefully without breaking it

When the professionals work with carbon, they use vacuum to suck out epoxy from the fibers, making the parts lighter. This has something to do with strenghth also, there is an ideal carbon/epoxy ratio ("fiber weight") depending on the use.
The finish is directely propotional with the amount of work you put into making the part. Hope this helps, be patient and you will succeed

[82SC]

real carbon fiber is vacumned as mentioned above...but it is also put in an autoclave which essencially bakes it and pressurizes it to insane numbers...I have access to autoclaves and one of these days plan to try to make some pieces...let us know what you find out

MJ

[Ove]

82SC is right. An autoclave is needed to produce carbon parts the right way.
In the method I describe above you treat carbon fiber like the fiber in fiberglass. The finished part will look like carbonfiber and will be carbonfiber, but it will have the same weight as a fiberglass part. You do not fully take advantage of the material by using it this way.

However, few people actually have access to an autoclave, and for small parts like interior panels the weight may not be that important.

The point is, you can make your own parts without spending a fortune, and it will look just like the "real" thing

http://www.g-force-motorsport.co.uk/int_upgr/carbon_fibre/carbon.htm