Carbon Fiber Veneer

General Discussion
1

So I stumbled upon an old thread about a person who had a roll of carbon fiber, which got me thinking,

 

I am shaping my first board and starting to think about the final appearence.

Is is possible to glass over one sheet of carbon fiber cloth/veneer just to get the look of carbon fiber?

I’ve done a little research and Ive learned a little about vacuum bagging. It seems to me that this may only be necessary if you want to get some strucural strenght out of the CF. Again i just want the look of the CF under my glass.

 

Let me know what you think,

 

 

2

Hi Ridge

from what i learned here:

YES it is possible to glass over 1 sheet of CF, it is even necessary bc you have to sand it flat later

cf dust is super bad [as any dust] so try not having to sand it at all

Use 2 layers of GlassFibre over the CF, sanding the 1st layer of GF down into the 2nd

dont put it under your feet though, but on the nose, as if painting a reversed vee with it

You may only use this advice if you post pics though!

Wouter

 

3

Carbon fiber is ridiculously expensive.  If you don’t need it for the structural advantages I wouldn’t use it.  Maybe just black pigment?

4

[img_assist|nid=1063460|title=Carbon Fiber|desc=SwopSurfboards |link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75]

 

 

 

 

I’m hoping for a look similar to this (maybe not the entire board) Unfortunately I dont think black pigment will do it.

And I’m glad to hear it works wouter, but let me clarify the steps

  1. Shape board
  2. rough bottom of carbon fiber
  3. resin CF?????? Glue CF???
  4. Continue glassing as if the CF wasnt even there
 
5

I’ve never used it, but check out something like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CARBON-FIBER-WRAP-FABRIC-CLOTH-36-INCH-X-55-INCH-RED-/130623226650?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item1e69c0431a

It is NOT carbon fiber, just a cloth woven to look like it. Should work just like a fabric inlay and is relatively inexpensive compared to real carbon fiber. Again, I haven’t used it, but I noticed it a while back.

Let us know how you do.

6

As John Mellor said, you laminate carbon cloth the same as regular FG cloth – wouldn’t go more than 6 oz for hand lam on a surfboard.  IMO doesn’t wrap easily (rails).  Seemed to soak up a little more resin – a little harder to tell when you’ve got complete saturation…

Some like the asthetics of twill weave better than plain weave.

Serious consideration – carbon fiber gets really hot when left out in direct sunlight (on beach or top of car).

For max structural benefit, use carbon cloth on the bottom rather than top, tension vs. compression.

7

hey ridge

as i said, i never did glass a board with cf, but what i would do is

  1. fill foam with resin first, like a hotcoat on foam only [just making sure no air gets trapped underneath the very tightly woven carbon]
  2. let it harden
  3. glass board with carbon fibre, but not around the rails! it is hard to do, just use it on the flats for starters 
  4. glass over with glassfibre 
  5. hotcoat
  6. sand 
  7. gloss coat
  8. start with 600 grit when really flat, otherwise flatten with 400 first
Like it
Others should be able to give more precise advice
wouter
8

Unless you're talking about the heavy gnarly stuff, carbon fiber fabric is used pretty much the same as fiberglass.  I have some 6 oz standard weave that is a bit stiffer than regular fiberglass cloth but I've used it in the exact same manner... roll it out, trim the overhang, squeegee on epoxy, wet the laps and tuck the laps. 

Finding the tape edge when trimming can be tricky but no harder than on an opaque fiberglass lamination.  There are tricks to doing it on either type of lamination like building up 2 or 3 layers of tape and cutting along the step, etc.

Ridge - send me a PM and I'll mail you some if you live in the US.

 

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9

A  couple of thoughts…

[img_assist|nid=1060199|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480]                                                                       I put a carbon band under my back foot, over the fin plugs.  Makes a big difference on denting, and the plugs pushing up through the deck, fracturing the glass.  6 inches wide, from rail to rail.  since it is only 5 inches wide, it won’t do anything to board stiffness, or stress point/ board snapping. 

Shape a low spot, just a 1/16th inch exactly where you will place the carbon.  That will save you all the hot coat filler to make it smooth.  Carbon should go under one layer of glass only, otherwise you loose some of the crispness of the look.  If you are tinting the deck, do the first layer tinted. then the carbon, then the second layer clear.  A little more work but only if appearance matters.

I like it under a layer of glass, because you aren’t going to cut lap carbon.  Pre cut it.  If you are doing epoxy, a “sanded cut lap” works.  But you really don’t want to sand into it, or you loose some of the crispness of the weave.

10

Rail to rail and cut at the apex.  Once you got both sides lammed;  grind the seam(lightly) and free lap a layer of four ounce on top and bottom.  Hot coat and sand.    Don't do any serious sanding on the Carbon Fiber.  Not good for you.