Covering cylindrical objects

General Composites Discussions Composites Talk
#1

If I’m going to do the interior parts of my car, I’m going to want to do the e-brake handle, shift knob, and door pulls. How do you go about wrapping these?

I mean, I figure I’ll have to use a razor to cut the leather off, and then clean the surface.
My questions are:

  1. Do you overlap the carbon fabric at all or cut it to where the ends just meet?
  2. Will it stay wrapped around a cylindrical object or do you just wrap the whole thing in saran wrap and tape it? Does it need oxygen to cure?

Thanks for any insight on your experiences with this.
Ian

#2

Not sure how everyone does it but I just overlap instead of cutting off where the 2 edges meet. You can try the plastic wrap method. That should work ok as long as the sarran wrap doesn’t stick to it permanently.

#3

I had the same question, kool. I want to wrap a steering wheel and was wondering how i can doo that? I only want to wrap sections and the other parts will be leather

#4

How much do you overlap? about 5mm? a centimeter?
I would think you’d want as little as possible overlap so as not to create a ridge, but you don’t want it peeling back, either.

#5

As much as you think is neccessary. The fabric is not thick enough to cause that high of a ridge. You will get some peel back, creating a sharp edge sticking upward. Just sand/trim that down before applying additional layers of epoxy.

#6

just wondering how I should wrap a steering wheel?

#7

That’s fairly complex. Without a vacuum bagging system, I wouldn’t know how else to do it. You should start off with something simple before doing a difficult piece. Unless you have several steering wheels laying around at your disposal.

#8

Ian, look around for carbon tubing, it’s fabric woven in tube form. It will change diameter a bit, like a chinese finger trap. I’ve used it before but I usually buy larger quantities than you’ll need, so look for it by the foot, shouldn’t be hard to find…

#9

Try www.aerosleeves.com

Evan

#10

Also try:
http://www.acp-composites.com/acp-bcs.htm
They have smaller diameters than Aerosleeves, which may help for your project…

#11

Hello Ian

Our carbon Aerosleeves work extremely well for covering cylindrical objects with carbon fiber. There are no seams to deal with, and the sleeve simply needs to be slid over your object, covered with epoxy and let cure.

If you are looking for the shiny finish, I would suggest using mylar and pressure during curing. Mylar is most often used as the stuff you put onto windows to keep them from breaking. Tap Plastics sells a 100’ roll of 2 mil mylar for $35. The mylar is much less prone to wrinkling than saran wrap ever would be. Once you wrap the epoxy covered sleeve in mylar, either vacuum bag it, or wrap it in some sort of “heat tape” to apply pressure during curing. This will insure the mylar is sufficently compressed and will not leave any “dry spots” on the laminate. This will increase the weight, but for decorative carbon fiber it is not an issue.

Evan - We’ve considered carrying the smaller sleeves but don’t see much point in them. Our 2" carbon fiber sleeve can be constricted down to at least .5". That means you can use 2" for a range of different sizes, from .5" to close to 2.5".

Nick Anderson
http://www.aerosleeves.com

P.S. - We’ve lowered prices on 2" fiberglass, 4" fiberglass and 2.5" Carbon Fiber.
http://www.aerosleeves.com/order/

#12

Thanks for the info Nick. I might need some sleave soon for a bike frame I’m going to build.

Evan