Syrillian

Thanks for popping in and taking a gander guys.

And, "Thank You" to justin146 for piping up with his experience - much appreciated.

Burn: I used an acrylic drill-bit to drill holes; these bits have a very sharp point which helps on the onset of the drilling. Needless to say that bit will never be used on acrylic again.
To cut the pieces to size I am using a 2-flute carbide router bit. The Diamond coated bits that justin146 mentioned cost 45-60 US bucks, the carbide one cost about 12 US bucks.
I realise that there is a cost/life expectancy ratio wherein the diamond bit is the better buy, but I am not ready yet to plonk down that kind of moola on a bit.
As for type, I used a 5.8 oz fabric that is (I think) referred to as double weave.

justin146 - perhaps you could give Burn and the rest of us some guidance? Choosing the type is important when considering the types of stresses that will be applied to the piece. That in conjuction with the cost finds one not wanting to purchase the "wrong stuff". So, maybe a couple of pointers?

I won't be doing anymore CF work until this weekend or next week, I will post some more pics and try to do some moreshots of the procedure itself.

__________________
WIP: Scarab
Custom Cases:
Silentium, Halcyon, Indigo, Gemini, Prometheus, Anvil
Case Mods:
Liquid Chameleon, VF1000 LAN box

Semper Fidelis

justin146

so, how did the panels turn out?

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[Project] NICE RACK: a rack mount mod

Syrillian

...ah, I forgot to add them to this thread, I included them in my worklog for Silentium

Here is the thin panel that I formed.











The piece is really rather thin, and has some flexibility to it. It would be a good piece for a cosmetic application, or to support an object that is no more than a kilogram (or thereabouts).

I may slice this up and use it to mount the pumps, but I am still not sure what I will end up doing with it.

I still have enough material not only for the motherboard tray and the angles, but to make some random panels and angles for future use.

As a side-note: There is a shelf life for the epoxy. In this instance that time span is 3 months, which is why I am pushing to just make panels without any apparent reason as it is not a consumable that you can “use some other day”.

The next set of panels will be more "bunting"-less angles, angles w/"bunting", and a motherboard tray for Silentium.

I will also be trying out some ideas I have had with acrylic.

__________________
WIP: Scarab
Custom Cases:
Silentium, Halcyon, Indigo, Gemini, Prometheus, Anvil
Case Mods:
Liquid Chameleon, VF1000 LAN box

Semper Fidelis

pauldovi

I do some carbon fiber work for my formula hybrid racing team. Our stuff is mostly structural. Some photos for your enjoyment:






The job was a little messy and done as quickly as well could. This year we are redoing everything and making the body out of carbon as well.

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Syrillian

Nice work, pauldovi. Thank you for sharing.

I would imagine that the panels in the pictures would cost a pretty-penny.

...and I would imagine that that little vehicle is quite the hoot to tear around in.


As for other members: I am not going to continue with CF for now... I simply do not have the approriate facilities to do any more work without jeopardizing what brain-cells that I have left.

If there are any Peeps here that would like to continue this thread with their work or experiments, I will gladly change the title of the thread to reflect your efforts.

__________________
WIP: Scarab
Custom Cases:
Silentium, Halcyon, Indigo, Gemini, Prometheus, Anvil
Case Mods:
Liquid Chameleon, VF1000 LAN box

Semper Fidelis

Burn

If I get the appropriate hardware, I'll start doing small-time CF work. Should be a fun endeavor since I would be able to provide appropriate venting apparatuses in the workshop to the outside to keep me from also losing brain cells

I need to put a vacuum bag rig together though All in good time!

__________________
My CNC Mill Project
We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.
--Randy Pausch
Current Best Benchmark

The Duke

Its local for me and they have everything fiberglass, Kevlar, carbon...
http://www.michiganfiberglass.com/

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Syrillian

As it is, Rado PM'd me after he saw this thread.

He informed me that the reason that I needed the respirator was due to the type of epoxy that I used. This is good news.

Once I have finished the current project I may return to CF and fiberglass... we shall see.

__________________
WIP: Scarab
Custom Cases:
Silentium, Halcyon, Indigo, Gemini, Prometheus, Anvil
Case Mods:
Liquid Chameleon, VF1000 LAN box

Semper Fidelis

pauldovi

Working with cured CF you want to wear the respirator too. The carbon fibers are very small and if they get in your lungs they do a lot of damage. Not to mention they are carcinogens.

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radodrill

When doing the layups the thing to be concerned about is the vapors from the resins. The vinly-ester resins (which Syrillian was using) use a liquid styrene as a thinning agent; the styrene vapors can be quite toxic and result in the need of a respirator with vapor cartridges. Epoxy resins on the other hand do not use such toxic chemicals so vapor protection is not really an issue.

On the other hand, when cutting the cured layup the thing to be concerned about is the dust (this is the case regardless of the material used for the composite); for most applications a simple dust mask is sufficient.

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Project RAD GT

SR-1/2 radobases for Crazy Carl's Antec 900 mod

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