Carbon fiber laminate

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#1

I am building a coffee table for myself and I am interested in using some carbon fiber for cosmetics. The carbon will be purely cosmetic. I have been reading quite a bit but am still not sure what to do. I do not have the tools to vacuum, so pretty much just hand layup and let cure. On to the project.

I am trying to have carbon fiber underneath a piece of tempered glass to give a nice look to it. The legs will be attached to .125 sheet of steel which the frame for the top and glass will essentially free float on so the top may be changed for a different look if wanted. What would be the best way to go about laying up materials… layer thickness, best weight material for the job, best resin etc… if memory serves me correctly a layer of fiberglass should be placed in between the steel and carbon to prevent corrosion from forming. Any ideas/tips best materials to use would be greatly appreciated.

#2

you could just wet laminate carbon to the sheet of glass. When in green stage use a knife to follow the edge of the glass and trim the excess off. Then youre done.

#3

A bit tricky, as you need to be a very experienced laminator to apply the carbon without pinholes.

I would probably apply the carbon to a stable base (the steel or anything else), use polyester resin, for UV properties, and sand and recoat afterwards. Basicly an overlay. Then put the glass on top, lying free on rubber bumpers.

#4

I guess an overlay would be the simplest way to do it. Any recommendations on which brand resin? Also what would be the easiest way to fill pinholes? Pretty much a skim coat of a self leveling resin? I plan on wet sanding and buffing after to get a nice finish. Possibly clearing over the top. Any precautions against resin type? Also do I need a layer of fiberglass between the two?

#5

I think you all have it backwards, you just lay up the carbon on your glass , when cured turn it around and you are done

#6

Thats what I was saying. Easiest way for this

#7

Agreed that this will be the easiest, although if you eventually find an air bubble after a full cure you’ll either have to ignore it or toss the glass as well when starting over.

Is this something you’re doing because you’d like to get some DIY chops? If not, you can buy flat sheets of 2x2 carbon that are already cured and will have a high gloss surface finish (as far as I know… I haven’t actually bought any myself but I would assume they would). You can then just trim and drill it to size and glue it to your tabletop and then set some glass over it.

If you would like to improve your DIY chops (which I highly recommend :)), I’d go with silmar 249. If you’re going to sand it to get a perfect finish, make sure you pick up some surfacing-wax additive.

#8

But if you laminate the glass you can look up from underneath to see if there is air bubbles or not. so this should not be a problem. It would be the fastest and simplest way for what he wants.

#9

I concur. Or wet out the CF onto a glass sheet and then lay down another glass sheet that has been treated with mold release and weight them down on a flat surface to cure. Placing in a envelope vac bag with bleeder around the perimeter might help.

If you don’t want to go the through the learning curve, as suggested earlier…buy a flat sheet of CF bigger than your glass and simply trim and your done.

Spend $ on the front side of things or on the backside, either way …your spending.

#10

I am wanting to learn about composites and I figure that learning on my own projects before some of my side work for customers is the way to go. I am an auto tech and also weld. So I have many side projects from duramax injectors to building tables to equipment repair. I feel adding a little composites experience would be good under the belt. Also I just plain like the look of composite material.
I do not want to destroy the glass as I snagged it on a smoking deal. It is a piece of .25" laminated glass

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#11

I want to thank all of you guys helping me out on learning. Start small and go from there. I really appreciate it.

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