My first carbon part, infused

General Composites Discussions Showcase
#1

Hi guys im new here but have been lurking for months reading about all the woes and successful projects and its thanks to you that i finally had a go myself. I wanted to build a very ambitious dashboard in carbon but soon realised id better start with a more easy shape without all the compound curves so thats one for further down the line. Anyway infusion seemed the only way to go so armed wth all the right gear i had a go, i decided to build a cargo cover and built a plug copy in mdf of the original and then the mould, i suppose that was the easy bit and they turned out fantastic even surprised myself. So after two failed but getting better attempts i finally cracked it, what a fantastic feeling seeing the part emerge from the mould absolutely perfect so i thought id show some pics.

Anyway thanks guys without all your help this might have taken many more failures before i had a good part

#2

the infusion

#3

infusion start

#4

pic of the cargo cover

#5

And another with lid

#6

One more close up, success is great, no stopping me now already got some more plugs in the pipeline

#7

sorry wrong pic above getting too exited

#8

not suprised you are pleased, looks awesome! What resin system/gel coat did you use?

Richard

#9

Richard

The lay up is 1x carbon 2 x woven 1 x carbon, Duratec in the mould first.
I used West epoxy because i already had some not the best viscosity but i found that by heating the mould and the resin i could infuse this part in 5mins. Trial and error to place feed and vac lines and i also made my own infusion jackets to prevent print through using 6 layers of the red flow media with the tees under the 6th layer all wrapped in peel ply. The pics dont do the part justice it looks so much better in the flesh.

Still so much to learn but i just love doing this stuff

Thanks Baz

#10

that is awesome work man,well done! few questions from a fellow uk’er…
where did you get your infusion supplies from,flow media mostly…
where did you get the duratec from.
have you clearcoated it ahfter or is that just the duratec?
well done again :slight_smile:

#11

Gtfour

The infusion supplies came from Airtech UK the only problem with buying from them is the quantity you have to buy but to be honest i think they are pretty reasonable and will do part rolls.

The Duratec came from Polyfibre a recommendation by you i believe

The cargo cover was wet sanded then clear coated (UV protection) then wet sanded with 1500 & 2000 wet & dry before a final buff with G10 compound and a couple of coats of my fav Meguires polish.

Baz

#12

thanks for the info :slight_smile:

#13

wow congrats very nice work!

Nice car aswell 8)

#14

Mikey, did you get those supplies ref. books I sent you yet?

#15

Very nice job. I am impressed.
Kudos to you :smiley:

#16

not yet i dont think. will double check.

#17

good job>>>> :smiley:
i also made my own infusion jackets to prevent print through using 6 layers of the red flow media with the tees under the 6th layer all wrapped in peel ply.>

was wondering if the tee was on top to that 6 layers? so that the media acts like a cusion so the tee doesn’t make an impression on the cf from the vac.? not under? that would mean that the tee is closer to the cF

:smiley:

#18

also you really need that many layers of flow media?
thank

#19

Fox

I only put the tee under the 6th layer (5 from bottom) to give it support, seems to work perfectly and its cheaper than the enfusion jackets. Another cheap solution to a resin trap (pic below) I made my own using 4inch soil pipe end caps and a few plumbing fittings, when i tested it for soundness it held a perfect vacuum with absolutely no pressure drop.
You can remove the top section to check how much resin is in there, when there is to much dump it cut another section fit base cap job done and so cheap.

Baz

#20

In the other forum a few years ago, I spoke of doing this exact same thing. I use peel ply at the vacuum side of the tool so that it is near impossible to get resin into the resin trap.

The only difference was that I used a 4 inch PVC pipe with the cap fittings that are used on the 4 inch pipe. I drilled and tapped them for fittings, and then I found that it was unecessary to do all that. i just made a plain wood cap and sealed the edge with butyl rubber.
I now use a paint pressure pot with a cup under the resin inlet (incase the resin flows through and into the pot. This keeps it clean and resin free from buildup.