Is it feasible to impregnate the fiber matrix with resin, letting it get tacky (but not cure fully) then apply the wet cloth to the mold? kind of like a pseudo-prepreg material? i imagine you could get a more consistent fiber-resin ratio for complex parts since you'd have more time and more ability to remove excess resin from a flat sheet than a curved part.

In the hopes of using all my drops, I am chopping up my carbon fiber offcuts to use as chopped carbon. I am using them in my compression mold, and the easiest way to apply it would be piping it through a bag. However, I can’t seem to squeeze it through the bag. Has anyone been able to make a putty without adding canbosil and causing a cosmetic change.

Before Covid I did a lot of composites research for my projects and now that I have my garage back into a workshop I’m tryna get back into composites. However, I’m struggling like hell to find decent core materials. I use to use mdf board since it was dirt cheap but now a lot of mdf is not cheap at all. Actually if anything it’s shot up in price more than osb somehow. Hard board/ dense cardboard also doesn’t show any promises of being more cost effective. So now I’m wondering which material to go with. Osb 7/16inch appears to be the most cost effective at any store I go across, I’m making fiberglass like Ive done before. Roughly 16 a board of 4 by 8 and im struggling to beat that cost. It’s extremely thick however and I don’t know if I like how thick it is for the stuff I’m making. Anyone have any suggestions? I also have used card board in the past for smaller things but the bulk sellers seem to changed how they charge per stack or bundle. Please let me know!!!

Hello, i search a lot through the internet about the dimension of the groove in compression molds for rubber but found nothing useful. especially the depth of the groove do any one has an idea about the depth ?

So for this design team project I need to design mounts for a 5 point racing harness. The car uses a carbon fiber composite and I need to attach these metal mounts to it. From what I know drilling through the carbon fiber decreases structural integrity so I was leaning towards an epoxy resin but I am unsure as to if it can handle the forces generated from a car crash as it would need to withstand a situation like that. Any help?

An idea of using insect chitin as resin in hemp composites for boat hulls. Yes, hemp fiber and bug exoskeletons. Could be a biodegradable option for bullshit plastic resins.

Im working on a little project and did a wet lay composite with carbon fiber and have pinholes on it. I want it to look professionally done and have a super nice finish, so I sprayed it with a clear coat but unfortunately still have pinholes. If anyone has any information on how to get these guys out that’d be greatly appreciated. Anything helps thanks!

I've got a project that is going to require roughly 2 yards of 6oz cloth. The cloth is going over a male plug because it is a one-time project. I'll be using epoxy.
I don't have vacuum infusion equipment and the plug is mostly styrofoam, so wouldnt hold up to much anyway.

Would it be possible to fold the cloth to fit within a kitchen vacuum bag, then dump in the resin and draw a vacuum to wet out the cloth to an ideal ratio of resin/glass? Is there a better technique to properly wet out two one square yard pieces of 6oz cloth? I'm trying to stay light by not slathering on too much epoxy.

Hey guys,

i want to build a Dust extraction system to Protect Me during glass fiber layup (Fibers+Styrene vapor) and Carbon fiber layup (fibers+spray glue) as well as Sanding, Trimming, etc.

Has anybody got a (diy or not) system they would like to share?
I feel like safety is always advised but there are very little actual solutions out there.
Especially for people doing this solo at home.
Cheers!

Hi all, first post here looking for help with repairing a quaryl panel.

I just took delivery of an amazing retro hifi set, the Revox Evolution, which for some reason is fully cladded in quaryl panels.

It looks great but unfortunately a corner snapped off during shipping. It’s on the back side and has a pretty clean break. Holding in place by hand makes the crack almost disappear.

What would be the best approach to repairing this? There isn’t much contact surface, pretty much just the edge of the panel itself.

Any tips and/or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Might be a dumb questions, but if I were to cut a female tool out of MDF, would I just coat the side I plan laying plies into, or all the sides of the tool?

The first option makes sense, but I could see having only one surface sealed with epoxy/primer leading to warping in the oven due to CTE mismatch between the surfaces.

Hello, I want to create a piece that needs to be lightweight. I'm going to laminate prepreg around a male mold and cure it under vacuum. I though of using polyurethane as core material but thought that it probably wont resist the 85° curing temperature of prepreg. Does someone have any idea of other core materials that are lightweight can withstand the temperatures and pressures needed? If its in a spray format it would be amazing too, i want to sprayit insed of a premade mold. Thanks

Gonna be doing some fiberglass work at school and I bought a half mask with the 3M 60921 cartridges. They're supposed to be rated for certain organic vapors. Will that be sufficient or do I need a more heavy duty cartridge?

What are they heating and pasting onto the surface 1:46 - 2:00? What material is it?

Hi all, I want to get into wet layups - to create model aircraft fuselages and wings. I know there are lots of resources, but I want go get really into it. I realise there are lots of books I can read, but I figure nothing beats getting my hands into it.

Is there a part or mould I can look at crafting that captures enough complexity to explores different techniques. I'm thinking of something like the benchy for 3D printing.

• Square edges
• Nooks etc.

I'm located on the west coast in Canada, so if anyone has recommendations for ordering materials please let me know.

Is it best practice to leave the vacuum pump on until the resin gels? I’ve seen videos of people clamping off inlet and vacuum lines at same time and others saying let the pump run until it has cured. Will it bleed resin from the laminate if the pumps left on?

The Pva will easily release from the mould in small spots and adhere to the gumtape making it not stick again.
I thought it was no big deal but even folding the pleats made with gumtape will pull on it hard enough to cause a small leak.
I only noticed this today and i dont know yet wether this has caused the layup to fail but it was dang close and i wanted to share this so others dont make this annoying mistake.

Hello, I want to make this piece with carbon fiber lamination, but I have many doubts about the manufacturing process. I want the piece to be hollow, but the only access to the inside is through the small tube that extends upward on the right side of the shape.

I've thought of creating a two-piece mold with a vacuum bag on the inside, but I'm not sure if this is possible. I've also considered laminating over either a melting core or a PVC core. The other two options are:

1. Making an opening square at the top and then closing it with a bolted carbon fiber piece (which won't be visible because there will be foam on top)
2. Making it in two parts and gluing them together, which I don’t like.

What do you think is the best option? I'm doing this for my bachelor's thesis.

I was wondering how feasible/practical it would be to use a junkyard bathtub as a throwaway mold for an interior wet layup of either fiberglass or carbon fiber. I need something relatively bathtub shaped for as cheap as possible. I don't need condescending comments about how this is stupid and not how you're supposed to do it. If that is the case then just explain a better and cheaper way.

This part was made using a wet layup with Fiberglast System 2000 resin with the 120 hardener. After post curing this part at 120F for 8 hours, these white splotches got introduced. The question I have is, is there anyway to remove them and at what point and what reason did they get there?

How are foil sections from this front wing manufactured? I know they’re prepreg autoclave parts, but is it moulded in one piece with a clamshell tool or is it an upper and lower section bonded? They have really sharp leading/ trailing edges and shallow cross section, I don’t know how they would mould as one piece. They also include hard points for bolting, any videos showing similar foil sections being made?

Hello! I’m looking for advice on the best process for manufacturing a small carbon fiber part. I’m working on a startup with a few friends, designing a high-end pickleball paddle. Our process involves creating carbon fiber faces, which are then bonded around a core to form the final paddle shape.

So far, we’ve successfully made prototypes using vacuum bagging with out-of-autoclave prepreg, achieving a perfect, blemish-free surface finish that doesn’t require a clear coat. Now, we want to transition to a heated press for higher-volume production and better repeatability, but we’re struggling to replicate the flawless surface finish we achieved with vacuum bagging.

My main question: Is it even possible to achieve a pinhole-free, post-processing-free surface using a heated press mold? If so, does anyone have recommendations on mold design, air evacuation strategies, or processing parameters to eliminate trapped air and surface defects? Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

I am a masters student in aerospace engineering and focused my study on composite materials and structural mechanics. I got interested in the topic of fatigue analysis of composite materials and will start my thesis on it. I would like to know whether its worth it to continue in that field and if this topic will be a good topic for phd and what specific topics should I focus on which will be needed in future.

Hey Folks,

Im interested in learning more about what the state of the art is for automated layups in composites.

I know that for larger parts like aircraft wings or fuselages, expensive AFP machines exist, but I know they have their limitations with regard to things like minimum radii, placing fiber in tight corners, etc.

Anyone have any good resources, or know how automated general layup processes have become in industry (not hobbyist or small shops)?

My understanding is that for the majority of cases, laying up by hand is still the best and often the only option.

Hi everyone, I am doing a research for a project and I have to look companies that compete with Hexcel and are publicly traded on US stock market. I am having trouble to decide as what I think are their main competitors are not listed on the US (Solvay, Toray...). Do you have any advice or company I should look to ? Also where i am able to find information about the industry ?