I’m planning to laminate some auto trim parts with CF and epoxy with vacuum bagging.
I’ve seen retail parts and the epoxy coat always looks nice and think and clear.
How is is achieved?
Does the epoxy create the think layer or is it the clear coat this is added afterwards?
I’m assuming some degree of sanding and polishing is required after the lamination cures right?
What you saw is most likely from an extra coat of automotive clear after the part comes out of the mold or after it has been sanded down smooth if the mold is that of the male variety. You cannot polish epoxy resin itself.
Oh. Gotcha.
So, the epoxy is just the thin layer that bonds the CF to the laminated surface…ok.
So, where can get automotive clearcoat and what brands do you guys use?
Thanks.
You can get it at automotive paint supply stores. We “normally” use PPG as well as other random brands. It’s pretty much up to my paint guys to order them based on what we’re using it for. It’s not cheap btw.
Yeah, I’ve been looking around and you’re right…it’s not cheap at all. I think I’m going to have my local body shop do the clear coat work until I get the hang of the fabrication process.
Thanks for the advice. 
Outsourcing is always a good idea, especially when you’re starting out. Just find a small mom&pop paint shop and work something out with them since you’ll be a repeating customer.
Yeah, after researching and seeing the cost and equipment and space required; I’m going to have my local body shop do the clearcoat work initially. My buddy has a paint booth at his shop but we’d need to spend some considerable time cleaning and setting up before we could use it…and it’s going to be winter soon and that part of the garage is not heated. 
Yeah, I kind of lucked out with my neighbor being a paint guy. He does custom bike painting out of his garage. When he’s not available, there’s a small shop 10 miles from my house run by a guy named Javier who does really good work for decent prices.
The big money in paintwork comes from the surface prep, color sanding and buffing. Surface prep isn’t much of an issue and you should be able to do that yourself short of the adhesion promoter. Color sanding isn’t hard either. But buffing is generally where skill is really required. It’s incredibly easy to ruin a piece while buffing, and I’ve done it more than once.
Yeah, I’m pretty confident I will be able to properly prep the paint surface as far as sanding and smoothing out rough spots.
I just do not want to invest in any expesive painting equipment until I know I really want to continue down the path of fabrication.
How much was your bodyshop charging you to clearcoat small to meduim sized auto parts? I’m curious.
Thanks!
I can estimate that the price I’m paying is pretty much equal to beer money, which you probably won’t find at most paint places.
That’s awesome. It’s always nice to have connections. I’m hoping one of my buddies will help me out since I’ll be a repeat customer for sure.
Yeah, my father-in-law has had two of his classic cars painted there, so it helped a lot.
If you do decide to get paint gear, I highly reccomend not skimping on the price. A good HVLP paint gun like a SATA may cost $300-500, but the savings in time and work will be worht it if you’re doing enough pieces. I’d really like to own my own spray gear, but right now I just don’t have the place that I can dedicate to paint. Maybe if it ever works out that I can afford a dedicated shop.
Yeah, I agree with you statement about not skimping on equipement. I hope someday I’ll have the need to get a dedicated shop to work in. For now, I’m going to go through the pains of trial and error and hopefully overcome the learning curve at a reasonable pace.
Well…I ordered all my “stuff” today.
Hopefully everything will arrive by the end of the week. I cannot wait to get started!!!
Thank you everyone for all the advice and information. This is a great forum.
Keep us posted on how things go, and we’ll be here if you have questions.
Thanks so much. I’m sure I’ll have questions once everything arrives.
Thanks so much. I’m sure I’ll have questions once everything arrives.