What is Best OOACF that is sold by CompositeOne for beginner?

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#1

I just got a business account set up with CompositeOne in Rock Hill, SC. They unfortunately told me they do not have a catalog and I have to do my own research on figguring out what is best to buy.

does anyone else deal with this company and can you recommend products for the beginner?

I’ve researched both Wet and OOA CF and I think I would prefer to use OOA CF materials. Seems easiser to work with and less messy! what sizes do the OOACF usually come in? 24", 48", or wider rolls?

recommendationas on breather cloth, vacujum bag materials, release films, and OOACF sold by CompositeOne are appreciated. I like buying locally as the prices are usually better and service is good.

thanks for helping out a newbie.

#2

You have to do your own research on most, if not all products. I just what to know what products are available. My rep sucks ass…

#3

http://www.airtechintl.com/products

Unfortunately you have to create another login, but I bet Airtech will have all the consumables you need and the info you need to choose. Once you find the products that will work you can check

https://www.b2bcomposites.com (log in with your composites one info)

for availability (filter using the location drop down menu on the product center page) or just email your rep (unless they suck ass haha).

I don’t use OOA pre-preg but I would guess that most come in 50" rolls like alot of woven cf in the US, but i’m sure there are other options (especially if it’s coming from outside the US)

Composites One only sells full rolls in my experience so that probably isn’t great for a beginner, but consumables are by far the cheapest part of the whole project, so if it won’t break the bank and you plan on doing this for a while it’s nice to have extra.

#4

My composites One in Houston sucks…I buy from other sources like Soller composites, Express Composites, CJ composites. There are more but those will get you on your feet by supplying most anything you need in small or large quantities.

#5

so what kind of price range are we looking at for a whole roll or per yard? are most rolls 100 yards long? if a yard is $40, am I looking at $4,000 per roll?
I got this off airtech website:

Product name	Yarn type	Weaving style	Weight	Thickness	Roll sizes
TMGC 6000	3K Carbon	Plain	5.7 oz/yd² 
(198 g/m²)	0.012 in 
(0.30 mm)	48 in  x 100 yd 
(122 cm x 91.4 m)
TMGC 6002T	3K Carbon	2x2 twill	5.7 oz/yd² 
(198 g/m²)	0.012 in 
(0.30 mm)	48 in  x 100 yd 
(122 cm x 91.4 m)
TMGC 6001	6K Carbon	2x2 twill	10.5 oz/yd² 
(340 g/m²)	0.025 in 
(0.64 mm)	48 in  x 100 yd 
(122 cm x 91.4 m)
TMGC 6003	12K Carbon	2x2 twill	19 oz/yd² 
(644 g/m²)	0.035 
(0.89 mm)	48 in  x 100 yd 
(122 cm x 91.4 m)
TMFC 7500	Fiberglass	Plain	9.6 oz/yd² 
(325 g/m²)	0.011 in 
(0.28 mm)	38 in  x 125 yd 
(97 cm x 114.3 m)
TMFC 7544	Fiberglass	2 end plain	18.2 oz/yd² 
(617 g/m²)	0.022 in 
(0.56 mm)	38 in  x 125 yd 
(97 cm x 114.3 m)
#6

Those products are dry carbon/fiberglass.

Maybe I’m confused as to what you are looking to do. OOA to me usually means Out Of Autoclave Prepreg where the carbon fabric has already been impregnated with resin and then is vacuum bagged and heated in an oven.

The products you listed are for wet layup, vacuum bagging or vacuum infusion. Wet layup and vacuum bagging definitely are “messy” as you said, and vacuum infusion is closer to autoclave’d prepreg on the clean-to-messy scale.

Soller composites ( http://www.sollercomposites.com/ ) is a great place to get materials and it looks like they can pre-preg any fabric w/ a min. order of 50 yds. If you just want dry fabric you can order by the yard or foot. They also have the consumables you would need (tape, bagging and release film, breather cloth - just make sure the temp range is high enough for your oven, if you are using one)

#7

hi,
we can supply ooa prepreg to u.
price range is for 200gsm 2x2 twill 3k ooa prepreg is $32-$38 for 1 square metre
certified dow-aksa carbon impregnated by huntsman epoxy.
regards

#8

thanks prepreg, but I’m in USA, I would think shipping would be expensive?

I got a call from my representative today, he said prepregs cost around $60 a yard for 6 oz material. Seems a little high to me, since you have to buy 50 yards at a time that is $3,000 minimum order, but I have not really shopped around yet.

Obviously there are tons of OOA PP CF, but what kind of price ranges are we talking about?
Can one buy OOA PP epoxy and coat dry fabric themselves and store in a freezer? Seems that would be most economical?

#9

thats ok, shipping to usa is not as expensive as u think.
simply u can not wet the carbon with ur epoxy and freeze it. :slight_smile:
it involves the right mixtures formulas, stageA , stageB, impregnation machine etc.
for example our prepreg machine costs about 1.5 million bucks :-)))

#10

Actually ~$60 a linear yd is about right for a 50 yd qty.

At the risk of just spamming the list like some other people, we sell a hot melt double sided 250 degree F cure prepreg in 5 yd qty for $69.75 yd.

Of course we have all the associated process materials as well.

The question I have for the OP is why do you feel the need for prepreg if you are just beginning?

Also what characteristics of the prepreg would define “best” for your application?

#11

I WANT to powder coat the finished product.
I have read that room temp curing wet epoxie resins will burn at 250 to 350 degrees and the PPOOACF wil not, obviously since it needs to be baked at that temp.

can one powerdercoat regular wet CF layups?

plus prepreg seems neater and faster.

#12

Wet layup epoxy resins will not burn at 250-350 degrees F. Some may lose strength, but they will not burn.

There are quite a few room temp epoxy resin systems that have a HDT of over 250 degree F. Prepreg is not always faster but it is usually neater. Wet layup curing can be accelerated by the addition of heat.

Prepreg also has its own drawbacks. Some of which are the tooling needs to be able to handle elevated temps, shipping, weave styles available in small qty and it usually needs to be kept frozen.

#13

Correct me if I’m wrong but don’t you need to have a charge difference to powdercoat? Like, a negative part and positive powder?

Not sure a cf part would evenly distribute the powder due to varying amounts electrical conductivity within the part (weave type, void content, vf), if you could even maintain a negative charge.

Why powder coating specifically?

#14

the problem with high gloss surfaces whether they be carbon fiber or a chrome paint job is they show every imperfection.

Powder coating is durble and not glossy and holds up well to repeatedly being transported is the reason why.

carbon fiber conducts electricity from what I have read.
besides you can powder coat wood, just is easiser if the charger difference is there.