Hello. I made my two molds for my project which is logged here:
http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=210576
The question I have right now is will the Carbon Fiber really contour itself to the mold once under Vac or do I have to do alot of precutting to the fabric so that is pulls down into the mold right???
Here is a pic of the mold with the fabric on top for visual cue.
here is a pic of the top cover mold showing inside all the angles.
You’ll have to make some relief cuts depending on how much material you have in corners. Do a dry test first to see where the areas are. Don’t cut out the piece completely unless its a lot of over lap…
Greg
Are you looking for a naked carbon fiber look or are you panting over it?
Thanks!!
Naked carbon fiber look! Does that matter somehow??
Making a nice big F117 RC eh? Nice!
1: Try one layer, and see. You will have slight distortions, BUT that mold doesn’t look like it’s overly crazy. You MIGHT have some problems. I would suggest drybagging one or 2 layers.
2: You can use a slight MIST of tack spray to keep the layers down. Start in the middle and work your way out.
3: the 2 rear “sections”(the areas where there is a tiny bit of blue tape) look deep. You might have to cut them along the sides, and add one or 2 pieces as needed. Try to cut along the corners (work your way slowly, again with a SLIGHT mist of spray), and then you can layer another piece where the cut opens up.
4: if you have to cut, remember, do not cut the same place for every single layer, or you will have a seam where there is no renforcement. Add small pieces that overlap those seams!
Yes it matters. For a naked look you’ll want to do it this way. Make a template for each section of the part. Cut the carbon fiber exactly to the shape of the template and piece it in for the first layer. For the subsequent layers you can use single sheets of carbon since the weave looks will not matter.
Ok. I think I will try the drybagging. I trying to line up an Upholestry person come in and look at my setup. I dont want to add extra pieces on the back, though, i understand where in structure support you are coming from. I’ll be fine with some distortions in the fabric.
You didn’t click on the link did you, cuz its not an RC!!
Thanks. I will not be doing this. I have thought about it though…I know there will be some distortion and that is the way it turns out. To me it makes this piece interesting in a way.
Creating templates and cutting the cf does not take as much effort as it seems :p. I often do it for parts we make here. Especially triangular parts. Believe it or not the body lines, and the shadows the gel coat creates in body lines will hide the seams.
You better post more pics for us to look at as you go :D. I’d pay to see that piece in cell. Itl look amazing! Just take your time and keep a steady hand. Become friends with the spray glue :).
Sweet jesus man. All this work for a COMPUTER CASE?!
I thought that was going to be a remote control plane!
Yes!
That would be too easy for me:cool: Although it could be…:idea:
If you want a perfect part you have to cut all parts with an overlay of about 10-20mm. Use a light amount of spray adhesive fo tix the fabrics so that you can make a perfect cut.
Well, if you don’t care about the surface weave in the corners, you might be able to get away with one single surface layer. To make it easy, you can do 2 sections for the second layer (how many layers do you want anyway? 1 you will see through, 2 will be better, 3 would be solid, but might start getting heavy). Since this does not seem to be a primary structure, try to cut and dart the deep areas, filling in with small pieces that match the angles in the part. This will keep the weave straight, and allow the seams to be on the corners, which will be less visible. Overlap on the second layer, which can be larger pieces.
Dear god, 10-20mm overlay. There must be some other cheap reinforcement in there, cause that would be expensive in carbon fiber.
I am looking for a thickness of around .040. I will be using three layers with metal shim layer in-between layer 2 and 3.
I ment 10-20mm overlap, not thickness:D