dyed fiberglass/carbon hybrid

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#1

Dose anyone have experience using dyed fiberglass/carbon hybrid. I am trying to make .080" thick flat sheet using this material as a top layer. other layers are carbon twill. I am doing this as a wet layup sandwiched between 2 pieces of glass. My carbon side is coming out decent. with a few air bubbles. but thats to be expected. on my colored fiberglass side I am struggling. It appears the material won’t hold the resin very well. and I get a dry edge around the whole sheet. Any ideas?

I am using a medium hardner with apoxy resin. I am thinking its not setting fast enough. Some fast hardner may help.

#2

This is the exact reason I switched over to infusion. Too many variables with wet layup all with some sort of small bubbles present.

Double glass makes it hard with wet layup since the top glass sheet (caul plate) will not bend. I used to use glass for the visible side, mylar for the back. Lay it up, wet it out, lay the mylar down and squeegee out the air and extra resin. Would work decently and the mylar releases easily and leaves a smooth surface.

With infusion, you can use any fabric, any layup, any thickness and have perfect results consistently.

#3

I switched over to a faster hardener. It has helped a little. Still not perfect. I may give the mylar a shot. Sooner or later I will have to try some infusion projects. But from what I have read. A 2 sided glossy sheet with infusion is difficult.

#4

Once you understand the process it’s very simple but it will kill you with failures until you do. I can do double sided gloss sheets anywhere from 2 layers to 90 layers. You just need to understand the flow rate of each material which can be very different.