I am thinking about building a long board made from only carbon fiber with no core. I have access to 2x2twill 3k carbon fiber. How many plies should I use to achieve a good amount of flex?
Thanks!
25,33566344322.
Or the long answer: This totally depends on the span (wheelbase), your weight, and production method, which dictates number of plies per inch thickness (derived from Vf).
I am not a longboarder, but from my experience with sailing boats, your longboard will not be a pleasant ride. Think like a car without suspension.
Why do you want to build it without a core?
I read this like it was going to a solid carbon fiber. Is that right? Or do you want to make the whole thing hollow?
Yeah you’d need about seven thousand plies. You should look into getting a few layers of 20oz carbon in there. You’d build up your strength and thickness much faster.
Didn’t some one make one in here
First question… No core, why?
I have been thinking no core because I have a lot of free material available and it seemed a little more interesting. I also have core though, soric hex core. I have been trying to research layups and I see some people use balsa as a core, what are the best options for a core? How would that compare with say 12 - 20 plies of carbon fiber? Can anyone recommend a good layup?
What do you want? a board which is solid, or a good board?
Carbon, as Herman said, wont be very comfortable, even if there is some flex. Adding some flax helps.
A core is there for creating stiffness. 2*1 mm carbon(or even e-glass) is strong enough. But a 2 mm board won’t be stiff enough. adding another 8-10 mm of fibre is a waste of time and materials, that space can be filled with something cheaper and easier. Foams, woods, etc.
A vacbagged 38 inch board, with 10-15 mm concave, 8 mm of carbon fibre would probably do. But you would only find out exact characteristics after building it. Maybe it can be a bit thinner. 2*1 mm skins with a 6-8 mm wood core(balsa, bamboo, red ceder) would be lighter.
One board without core could have a huge amount of bounce, not?, it could be very good for pumping, for vibration, you could put something between the truck and deck, something like a block of flax and cork , I would like to try a deck like this!
A deck built as thick as a Turner ‘Summerski’ but made of solid carbon will not have as much flex as the decks that Bob made, these were originally glass.
Look at top-end slalom composite decks made by Pavel or Gecko, thin but with a core, Gecko also produced a longboard.
slalom board, as pavel are made pvc and maple core, with more than 10 mm of total thickness, and are rigid board, for a carbon non cored flexible board we are talking about 4-6 mm total thickness?, I’m not sure, it depends on rider weigth and wheelbase.