02GF74
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| posted on 7/8/07 at 09:34 AM |
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diy carbon fibre covered dashboard
will this work and look nice? (for comsetic pruiposes).
1. take a large sheet of metal
2. spray in release agent
3. lay on gel
4. lay on carbon fibre sheet
5. lay on resin
6. lay on aluminum dash (flate sheet)
7. put some blocks of wood and heavy stuff to press the thing flat
8. leave to cure
9. peel off the base sheet et voila or not?
how would you do the curved bottom of the dash board?
[Edited on 7/8/07 by 02GF74]
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twybrow
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| posted on 7/8/07 at 09:37 AM |
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In theory yes. It will work. Just make sure you have sealed and released the sheets well. I prefer to use glass as it gives a fantastic finish.
Remeber that if you still have to SVA the car, it may be easier to either do the c/f dash post SVA, or design a suitable radiused edge along the
bottom to ensure SVA compatibility.
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thunderace
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| posted on 7/8/07 at 10:05 AM |
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sorry it wont work air bubbles pinning ect will be your prob i make loads of carbon stuff with the right stuff and we still bin around 30%.
 
Rescued attachment DSCF0444.JPG
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twybrow
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| posted on 7/8/07 at 10:35 AM |
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That will depend upon how well he can hand laminate. You should be able to avoid trapping huge bubbles between the sheets. Plus, you can always spray
with a laquer coat afterwards to help fill any surface voids. It certainly wont be a high qulaity, high fibre volume fraction composite, but it should
suffice for a dash.
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02GF74
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| posted on 7/8/07 at 12:47 PM |
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cheers for responses so far.
I am complete novice ... ... and didn;t even think pof the air buble problem.,
there is only 1 lyaer of CF sheet that is stuck on to aluminium panel; sounds like I need to either rethink or practise on some scrap.
On the rethink part, does any one sell self adhesive (ideally flexible) CF sheet that is made from real CF?
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jkarran
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| posted on 7/8/07 at 01:31 PM |
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I made my carbon/kevlar dash by laying up on a painted-polished-waxed buck made from MDF. There's a few problems with the technique but
generally it works quite well.
Problem: Thick gelcoat looks rubbish and yellows.
Solution: Practice or use clear epoxy.
Problem: Bubbles.
Solution: Practice.
Problem: Poor release.
Solution: More surface preperation than you might imagine!
Problem: Poor adhesion of polyester resin to kevlar eventually leaves stressed areas with silvery voids.
Solution: Don't stress your panel and/or use clear epoxy.
Laying up on glass gives great results for flat sheets. Thin alloy makes great curved panels and releases really easilly if polished and waxed.
Plastercine fills holes and voids in the mould but leaves a finish requireing work.
It's not hard to get good results... just buy enough cloth to cock one or two up 
EDIT: The self adhesive carbon fiber sandwiched between glue and a clear coat looks great but it peels if fitted over curves eventually. I used some
as wear protecters wher my seats touch the chassis and floor.
CFS solution (or something similar, try google) do mail order cloth, resin and tools. It's not cheap though especially if you opt for the better
epoxy resin.
jk
[Edited on 7/8/07 by jkarran]
[Edited on 7/8/07 by jkarran]
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twybrow
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| posted on 7/8/07 at 03:41 PM |
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Unless it is something you plan to repeat in the future, and the dash is a nasty shape to make (ie not flat) then you may be better just buying a
cured sheet of carbon/epoxy and ttrimming to shape. To get all of the laminating kit, and materials (in small quantities) is expensive. Factor in a
few cock ups and you probably reach the cost of buying a part.
As a novice, steer well clear of Kevlar. It might look pretty, but it can be a real pain to work with (and it shouldn't really be used with
polyesters).
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scotty g
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| posted on 7/8/07 at 07:00 PM |
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I have found i get a better finish by not using gel at all.
Just brush on a layer of resin, let it cure, then apply another layer and lay the carbon sheet down on the wet resin, then a bit more resin to be sure
its all wet out. as said earlier, gel looks crap.
cheers.
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CaptainJosh
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| posted on 7/8/07 at 07:13 PM |
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[Edited on 7/8/07 by CaptainJosh]
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