hi, does anyone in the uk know where i can get prepreg carbon fibre at a decent price? Many thanks
Gareth
No offense, but if you’re looking for prepreg at a “decent” price, you should know where to get it.
If you haven’t purchased before, you may be shocked by the price.
no offence taken, i just need prepreg carbon fibre. decent price or not. I cant see anyone over here doing it.
Gareth, there are quite a few people in the UK doing carbon prepreg however be assured there is no such thing as cheap prepreg. Prices at the moment for 200gsm 2 x 2 twill are up at the £30 a m/sq mark for the trade + you would have to pay VAT on top of that if you are not a registered business. All you need is a couple of thousand pounds to buy a roll 
as no-one (apart from carbonology who at the last look charge about £60 a m/sq) will generally break one down into a couple of metres.
Also you need the tooling that can withstand the curing temp + a lot of pressure for good results. Some companies cure just by vacuum bagging which you can get away with but on larger stuff its difficult to get a top grade finish like infusion without an autoclave.
Here are to name a few suppliers:
Primco
Carr reinforcements
Amber composites
Are you currently using it and do you have the necessary equipment and facilities?
If you’re just starting out, i’d suggest wet layup with bagging.
But if you’re in dire need, we have about 40 rolls of prepreg of all sorts. Uni carbon, plain weave carbon, prepreg glass, etc…
dougie329 i have worked with carbonology and seen their methods. Nothing special, the reason why im going prepreg is for faster production of flat panels (door cards, box covers etc). I will most probably purchase a large roll as i will be selling the stuff online if all goes well and from what i remember carbonology did not buy a very big roll, they found a supplier that sold them smaller amounts, i believe.
On big flat panels especially door card size etc you wont get a perfect finish under vacuum even with the most resin rich fresh prepreg and at that price its not something you want to be scrapping off. It either needs a heated vacuum platen press (expensive) or an autoclave (very very expensive). Generally nothing is quite as simple as it seems in composites. Stick a flat piece of prepreg in the oven under vacuum and it will likely come out warped, there is so much to consider. Ramping the temperature up and down properly, material orientation, compatability of resin sytems on different prepregs etc etc…
It is a bigger than average learning curve to be producing A1 quality goods and you are probably best off starting with wet layup like TET says if you are starting out.
ok thanks, im not planning on actually using the prepreg for myself just being a supplier of it. I dont understand how carbonology could just use an oven for the prepreg under vacuum at 80oC. Looked nice when finished and removed the next day. I do just use carbon materials and resin myself
why dont you invest an a prepreg impregnator setup from http://www.prosetepoxy.com/process_equipment.html
Id buy the prepreg from you if you were cheaper than my supplier hehe
Purchasing an autoclave setup and tools is expensive enough at the minute, also building a larger unit that is well insulated is hard on the pocket also. If you want pm me a price at which you get the prepreg (i take it you use this for the flat panels etc). I just got prices for it also.
No we dont use a lot of prepreg for flat panels, though if someone wants a run of high performance flat stock we do.
Its mostly used for compression moulded components in aluminium tooling.