So I found Werksberg’s thread with the list of books, suppliers, etc and many other helpful things. I have been browsing the forum and doing research online for a while.
I don’t have anything right now and want to get started making some carbon fiber parts. I need suggestions on what I should get and who I should get them from.
Any help / suggestions are greatly appreciated.
If there is a thread already here that covers this please point me in the right direction.
That’s a big question in that there are so many things and processes. Soller composites and Express Composites are both helpful and reasonable for supplies. Carbon fiber 5.7 ounce 2 by 2 twill weave is the “look” everybody wants. I use epoxy resins and do vacumn bagging and starting resin transfer method for processing.There are a lot of you tube videos that are very helpful. Plus this site is pretty darn good. I wisk I knew some books to tell you to get but I just don’t know any. Maybe someone else can chime in. Hope this helps.
Beer.
No, but it helps. Read up, and watch videos before you start, then you will know what direction you want to start in. The easiest is hand layup. It’s coating the farbic with resin, and laying it in a mold. Next you can put a vacuum bag around it, to consolidate the fabric and resin, and pull out extra resin. That takes more skill and materials. Next is VARTM, using vacuum to pull the resin across and into the fabric. Not much more materials compared to vacuum bagging, but more education is needed to understand it.
In short, you need a mold, resin, and fabric. Next you need vacuum bagging material, release film, and bleeder, some plastic tubes, and vacuum pump. Vartm needs flow media, tubes, spiral wrap.
Thanks guys. I will check that out the sites you suggested Ro Yale. I planning on starting with hand layup - mainly do to budget right now. I intend to get a vacuum pump after I have gotten my hands wet. I have already learned a lot but there is no learning like hands on.
wear gloves…hands wet with resin is never good 
Wet-layup is the most simple form of composites. You just need the fabric, resin, some mixing cups/buckets. Once you get going, you can work with vacuum bagging, or even get the pump, and be able to degas the resin for wet lay-up!
Check, check, check & check riff 42. One thing that I have had a little trouble nailing down is when and how to cure the resin. I am sure this varies with the resin and the application but if there was a 101 for curing; do I need to heat always or do some cure by just air drying? Is there a thread on here with this info already (I have searched a little but haven’t found anything specifically about this yet)?
Thanks for all the help. It is deeply appreciated.
The resin cures itself. You mix it and after X amount of hours it sets. All resins are different and you need to read the data sheet if you want use them correctly.
Research epoxy polyester and vinylester resins as they’re the most common for home composites.
Ok thanks. I have started looking more directly at suppliers so I’ll start reading some specs there. So what is the advantage of oven curing? Faster cure times I assume?
Oven cures are much faster and most resins it’ll improve your the resins performance. I only say most because I’ve never heard of a proper oven cure weakening a part but with composite materials you never know whats out there!
Understood.