Had a Play With Carbon....

[8vMatt 1]

Hey guys,

 

Thought I would share my exploits about learning to work with sheets of carbon. Not the stick on crap but full on resin and carbon cloth. Bought myself a pair of uber sharp scissors to work with the cloth. And bought a kit with the resins and cloth. A 1m x 1m square can wrap a few parts so I've started playing with the scuttle trims. Wrapped all 3 I had spare, not rubbed them all down to a finish yet but here's one thats done.

 

 

I'm not going to say I'm anywhere near a pro standard like Spoonfed dude , love your stuff and trying to resist buying. Might give in soon!

 

Its an interesting subject and there's loads for me to learn about it. Wrapping parts is only one small area.

[VR6 0]

Good stuff Matt, looking pretty good fella! Out of interest, ignoring the time involved, what would you say the 3x bits of trim have cost you?

[KADVR6 0]

that looks well good mate, as they say practice makes perfect

[8vMatt 1]

Good stuff Matt, looking pretty good fella! Out of interest, ignoring the time involved, what would you say the 3x bits of trim have cost you?

 

Er, I would say you could get 3 lots of full scuttle trims out a 1m x 1m cloth, prob could get a couple small bits out of the remaining. The kit cost £90 but if someone wanted to do this stuff properly then you could buy in bulk for a fraction of the price.

 

---------- Post added at 12:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:04 AM ----------

 

that looks well good mate, as they say practice makes perfect

 

Cheers bud, notice the few lines not dead straight, you would expect a pro to have all straight lines in the weave. But like you say, practice!

 

I've also wrapped a number plate plinth I bought cheap. Haha, needs loads of rubbing down as I loaded up the resin too much. Sod it, I'll photo the work in progress now.

 

---------- Post added at 12:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:07 AM ----------

 

Here's the other bits wrapped.

 

The centre scuttle trim. Excess cut back and ready to be polished. Polishing takes ages going through the grits of wet n dry, then cutting paste and final polish.

 

 

This is the other small scuttle section, just wrapped and with resin. The Dremel comes into its own when you trim off the excess. The resin is super hard once gone off.

 

 

Now the number plate plinth, I'm quite pleased with how it went over a larger area. Needs a damn good rub down.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll get these bits finished and have enough weave to do some more bits and bobs. Hmmm, what to do? I know its not everyones cup of tea but its fun to learn new skills and at least I'm not having to pay someone else for the bits to be done :thumbleft:

[Swompy 0]

Looks good mate

[fla 9]

^^^ what he said. I imagine its one of those things that once you start you'll be looking to cover anything in sight! I know i'd love to do the door sills, door handle surrounds and seat sides in mine...

[Critical_Mass 10]

Wow looking good matt! 8)

 

Hasan - id be the same, door sills is a must.

[aide 0]

looking good indeed, would like to give this a go one day.

[Dude VR6 0]

Do you bag and vac your parts when you lay them up ? I work with carbon every day, and know that if you wetlay parts without a vac system them you have to spend more time finishing them.

[lilfuzzer 1]

Nice work Matt was looking into tht before christmas but couldnt decide what to do.

 

well done you have inspired me again but need to finish the engine first

 

look forward to what you doing next :)

[8vMatt 1]

Cheers for all the positive feedback, TBH I didn't know what the reaction was going to be like. Sometimes you get people who slate things just because its not 100% perfect. I should know this is the best forum around and the users are great here.

 

DudeVR6- No bag and vac going on here. No idea about how to do that yet. This was a case of laying the weave over a wet resin part and smooth down. You're right about the extra time to finish it. I've got a couple of ideas on making life easier for the finishing side of things.

 

I should get these parts done now I've got a little more spare time now. I fancy a couple grab handle inserts done.

 

---------- Post added at 07:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:56 PM ----------

 

Nice work Matt was looking into tht before christmas but couldnt decide what to do.

 

well done you have inspired me again but need to finish the engine first

 

look forward to what you doing next :)

 

 

I'm not sure about inspiring anyone, I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants on this while I learn.

 

 

Anyone interested in trying it out, have a look at the stuff available at Carbonmods.co.uk

[Chris Langdon 0]

yeah i slate it lol, actually ive seen the this in the flesh and i was very impressed

[emu 0]

Looks very nice, where did you buy whole kit ??

[8vMatt 1]

Cheers Chris, give you the fiver later mate! haha.

 

Well I had a bit of a rushed effort at the number plate plinth, it has a load of imperfections but has played a part in learning to do this better next time.

 

 

 

 

---------- Post added at 09:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:55 PM ----------

 

Looks very nice, where did you buy whole kit ??

 

Here you go buddy-

 

http://www.carbonmods.co.uk/Products/Carbon-Fibre-Skinning-Starter-Kit---Large__CMCFSK1000.aspx

[Dude VR6 0]

Matt have alook on ebay for a vac pump and see if you can pick one up cheap These people are good for general supplys of tape/bagging/cloth etc, and its always worth seeing if anyone local to you does carbon work to see if you can pick there brains.

 

http://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk/

[8vMatt 1]

Thank you so much for the advice Dude, I've got a lot of research and learning to do! Cheers for the link.

 

I had a bit of a go at one of the other scuttle trims. Cut the excess off with the Dremel and sanded down. Through the grits and cutting paste. Finished with a bit of wax to help protect the shine.

 

 

[Wullie 1]

You Ba**a*rd. I've just retired and had a reasonable plan for filling my time. Now you pop up with this???? Lovely work mate, keep it up and you could have a business in the offing. Unfortunately I don't have the time, got a Corrado to fix

[8vMatt 1]

You Ba**a*rd. I've just retired and had a reasonable plan for filling my time. Now you pop up with this???? Lovely work mate, keep it up and you could have a business in the offing. Unfortunately I don't have the time, got a Corrado to fix

 

Haha quality post! Never too late to learn new tricks. I think I'm very far away from being good enough to do this commercially. Never say never hey. Would be better than me working on building sites chippying by the time I get to retirement!

[robrado974 1]

Hey bud i see you have been busy with your time off . Looking good mate ,i remember you saying about this when you bought it . Keep up the good work

[8vMatt 1]

Hey cheers Rob. I'm always learning, its good fun.

[Pete 0]

 

http://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk/

 

Anyone used these guys for carbon cloth? Is it real CF?

 

I have bought a spare rear spoiler in black and might have a go at it but need a long piece about 2m x 0.4m to wrap it and they seem good vfm...

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Looking good Matt. I can see a little cottage industry coming out of this :D

[fla 9]

get some pics with them on the car Matt ;)

[8vMatt 1]

get some pics with them on the car Matt ;)

 

Haha, will do mate. Think I'll use the scuttle trim and see what thats like but the number plate plinth isn't good enough. I'll just keep learning and playing with it.