Toyota MR2 Message Board - View Single Post - How complicated is it to use carbon fiber?

turboguy · 01-10-2009, 06:16 PM

Almost none of the carbon fiber anyone sees is done in an autoclave. That is only really beneficial for pre-preg fabrics. I've only used pre-preg at work and haven't even seen it for sale commercially. If you use a good two part epoxy resin with a medium to slow cure time (the faster it is, the more brittle, but the slower, the more cance of it slipping in the mold and developing tiny voids and microfractures.) Al you really need to make a grae A part is good resin (I use West Systems), A vacuum pump that will pull at least 29 in/hg continually, vacuum bagging supplies, and a good, non forced air, heat source. I use a big electric blanket from walmart for bigger projects and I have a small infared indirect heater for smaller projects.

01-10-2009, 06:16 PM	#3 (permalink)
turboguy Resident Composites Guy Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Appleton, WI Posts: 888 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts iTrader Rating: (2/100% )	Almost none of the carbon fiber anyone sees is done in an autoclave. That is only really beneficial for pre-preg fabrics. I've only used pre-preg at work and haven't even seen it for sale commercially. If you use a good two part epoxy resin with a medium to slow cure time (the faster it is, the more brittle, but the slower, the more cance of it slipping in the mold and developing tiny voids and microfractures.) Al you really need to make a grae A part is good resin (I use West Systems), A vacuum pump that will pull at least 29 in/hg continually, vacuum bagging supplies, and a good, non forced air, heat source. I use a big electric blanket from walmart for bigger projects and I have a small infared indirect heater for smaller projects.