Twill Weaves help

I’m looking for 12K 12oz thru 20oz twill weave carbon fiber with a nice tight weave that doesn’t come apart easy when the cloth is dry.

I ordered some 6K 9oz from SolarComposites that i was totally unhappy with… it fell apart just trying to cut it with scissors. I don’t mean the ends but even just trying to lay up with the stuff was a nightmare of weave separation.

Does anyone make a 9K twill weave ( not 9 ounce)?

I have also question about twill weave. I saw at some pictures that some twill fabrics have tight weave and some not. For example my twill, even if it is compressed by infusion it still have big gaps between tows. Mostly in one direction. It looks like tows in warp direction are different than those in weft direction.

Are you taping it off before cutting? I use 11oz 6k twill from Solar Composites and have no issues with it at all.

I don’t know about a 9k twill, but I have 20oz 12k twill that is very tight (but a lot harder to conform).

http://www.solarcomposites.com/composites/compositecarbon.html#12K

asusc what does it mean ,taping it off,?

I tape off the fiber with production masking tape in the shape of the part that I’m making before I cut. Makes it much easier to handle and I have no problems with weave distortion.

Here is a picture of some fiber I’ll be laying later today that has been taped off:

Thanks for explanation, I thought that you mean tapping. I couldn’t figure out what you mean with it. So if you have more complex part when do you cut the tape off? You must cut it before draping right?

yeah, taping helps to cut, but once you have to shear the fabric, the tape binds and causes it to winkle, not shear. Try painters tape and VERY carefully acetone the tape to pull it off.

or just handle REAL careful :slight_smile:

Some people use spray adhesive where they cut…keeps the tows together, but allows them to shear on contours.

Baking paper :slight_smile: I wet it on baking paper, then cut it. not very precise, but I can cut it and place it as precise as I can :slight_smile:

ASUSC… you a student at ASU? I did not tape it first… I can cut 3K twill just fine without weave distortion. The 6K 9oz you just touch this stuff and it wants to crazy distort.

yeah… 20oz 12K i like using that stuff. Did it come from Solar Composites?

I think I know what you are talking about. It’s more of when you just lay the stuff into the mold and a group of tows easily (very easily) get wavy and distorted. The tow itself comes a bit unravled and folds over on itself. It’s like you can’t even begin to get it to lay up perfectly. The stuff I had felt way softer than other carbon fabrics as well. I never found an easy way to get it to layup like the tighter woven fabrics.

I read that a lot of you use 200gsm 3K twill (7oz). I would like to ask how many tows does this fabric have on one inch? About 12,5 in warp and same for weft (or 5 per 1cm)? I use 160gsm (about 5,6oz) 3k twill and it has got 10 tows per inch (4 per 1cm). I like the look of the fabric, but there are quite big gaps between tows so I would like to shift to havier 3K fabric (7oz-200gsm)

What type of fabric do you usualy use as cosmetic layer on car parts?

Thanks,

Mike

I use an 11oz 6k 2x2 twill for most of my parts, and everything I make are cosmetic auto parts.

There is no gaps or weave distortion of any kind if I take my time and do everything correctly.


Thanks, looks really nice. It is overlay rigth? How many tows are there on one inch? About 12,5?

No, it is a 6k. the 20oz fiber would be 12k.

I know its 6K :wink: Im asking how many paralel fibers do you have on one inch. For you fabric you should count 10 or 12,5 fibers.

Are you talking about the pics? If so, its 11x11.

Thanks a lot :wink: