how to go about making mold for this idea I had

General Composites Discussions Engineering Talk
#1

I’ve got a question, I’d like to make this one disc type thing out of carbon fiber but I don’t know exactly how to tackle it.

excuse the mediocre drawing, but basically I want to make a carbon fiber disc with a carbon fiber “can” attached to it for a high school project i’m doing.

when I say can, think of a coffee mug but without the handle and how one side is open. take that “coffee cup” thing I just mentioned and attach the rim of that can to the disc and that’s what I want to make.

how do I go about doing something like this, I’ve had ideas of taking white pvc piping and using that to make the “coffee mug” part and then for the flat disc taking a piece of wood with a circle cut into it and that pvc “coffee mug” 's rim would be glued to the bottom of the circular portion of the piece of wood I’m thinking about for using the mold

I’m thinking of vacuum molding maybe, but I’m not sure if I’m ready for that yet. please composites cental community help me out!

I don’t know if any of this makes much sense, but thanks for the advice

#2

If it helps mentioning I have a bunch of twill weave carbon fiber to work with, but that’s all I know

#3

Are you needing this to be one part or a secondary bonded part ?

If one part , you’ll need the cup portion to have a slight draft to it’s design first to be able to easily de-mold later.If the design is capable of allowing for the needed draft, that is.

#4

Imagine a smaller version of that as a mold, and there ya go. Weld/bond a tube on a plate.
As for layup, You can go MANY routes, but the simplest is cut several discs with holes in the middle. Several strips to wrap around the tube. For the disc, you can cut an X in the middle. This way, when you place the disc onto the mold, the X part will form to the tube. Wrap a strip around that, and do the disc again. Alternate the layers until you get the thickness you want.
For infusing (???), Use a ROD, not a tube in the middle. you can try injecting on one side, and venting the other. You can inject around the disc, and vent on top of the rod.
You did not mention what this part will be used for. if you don’t care about one lick of strength, just use the disc/strip method by cutting a circle out in the middle.