Do you guys know where I can find some carbon fiber tutorials? I've searched on google, but I'm terrible at it so I really couldn't find squat except this...

http://www.350z-tech.com/zwiki/Tutor...on_Fiber_Layup

which really doesn't help me with what I wanna try. I just want to make a flat piece, about 1.5-2mm thick. If I was to to do that... would I need to wrap the cf material in something? I'm really aiming at just creating a flat sheet straight out of cf, not wrapped or anything.

Let me know... thanks.

 

If you want a flat piece, use a flat surface

It's as simple as that

 

yea but wouldn't I need some thick cf sheets for that? or its just a matter of how much epoxy I apply? The cf cloth i'm looking at is .25mm thick.

 

What are you trying to make?

Thickness... depends... but if it's purely cosmetic then you could just do one layer of carbon fiber and then a layer or two of fiber glass.

Also if you are making replacement parts, you should really create a mold first.

 

Depending on how large of a piece you want, there are pre-made panels available in countless number of thicknesses, weaves, finishes, fibers, etc... If you just need a flat panel less than 3x3 ft., that's the way to go, especially if you have no experience. Controlling the conditions and getting the ratios right is a PITA. I remember laying up a racecar in grad school in the winter and the drafts from people coming/going caused the epoxy to gel up into lumps and that led to delamination and a catastrophic failure in competition.

 

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-...ingshroud1.jpg

I wanna try making this myself, if I succeed... I wanna move onto making other small parts. It's just an idea i got flowing around my head and wanna try to see if I can do it.

 

Any good sites for this? I'm also looking for similar information.

 

I found this... http://www.mashie.org/guides/cfbalsa02.html but really doesn't help me.

 

Try searching for diy/homebuilt ultralights or bikes or college projects. I've seen lots of good write-ups and tips. Suppliers sometimes have very good FAQs/hint/tip pages on their websites. Also, if you haven't already, try broadening your search to composites in general, rather that just carbon fiber. The same basic principles apply. Good luck.

 

I have a pice similiar to that, and it has FG underneath it with the CF layered on top.
On a peice that large, what would you plan on using to cut it so that ut maintains the perfectly straight lines?

 

Here is a forum for composite materials.
http://www.racingcomposites.net/

 

Here's another http://www.compositeforum.werksberg.com/

 

Here's a very straightforward site. It might get you started, I've had it bookmarked for quite awhile:

http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/carbo...orcycle-parts/

 

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/cm/carbonfiber.html <--used to get material here until prices went sky high. I bought a few rolls of CF on ebay, and alot of resins, expoxy.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...racticekit.php <--Get your practice kit here, and learn the right way to mix your epoxy and how to 'lay up' your composite work.

 

Last time I visited, it was a great site in terms of navigation/interface, selection and info. I used to buy a lot from them too, until they screwed up one of my biggest orders. Double-charged me, claimed they sent my order (w/o tracking), but I never received anything. I had to fill out all these forms for a refund that they ultimately didn't grant. It held up my project for 4 months before I just found the stuff I needed locally. If Wicks aircraft is still around, they're a pretty comparable store, but last I heard, their prices were going up and their service was going down too.