Working with Carbon Fiber

[larrydag]

Here is a link from Makezine that details how to work with carbon fiber.

http://www.make-digital.com/make/vol...rity&cookies=1

This should be useful for making the aero mods. Light weight and very sturdy of course.

[RandomFact314]

I have been thinking about carbon fiber a little, We could totally take 100 pounds off our car with c/f but It's just really expensive... About $600 for a hood that will only take off 30 pounds or so

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

Let's hope that chicken feathers --> carbon fiber starts happening!

Chicken Feathers for Hydrogen Storage and Wind Power? | Hypermiling, Fuel Economy, and EcoModding News - EcoModder.com

[Bicycle Bob]

I can't open that link, but carbon fiber is like a $5,000 bicycle - you don't need it unless you are already a champion at handling the cheaper fibers. For most purposes, tough materials with hollow or cored sections are better.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi Bob,

The link I posted is a blog post right here on EcoModder -- maybe you can browse back for it?

The cool thing about converting chicken feathers into carbon fiber produces nano-tube fibers. The chicken feathers are naturally hollow -- and they are very cheap! The cost of making this quality carbon fiber from chicken feathers is just a small fraction of traditional methods.

[Bicycle Bob]

Thanks, Neil. I meant the make-digital link, which does not like my open cookie jar, for some reason.

[cfg83]

Bicycle Bob -

Try this :

Make - Volume 09

I just removed the "&u1=texterity&cookies=1" from the end. Youtube also adds that junk.

EDIT: It seems you need to purchase the article.
EDIT #2: I have the hardcopy, but I don't think I can legally post the article.
EDIT #3: Duhhhh, just use the embedded back/next page buttons like Bicycle Bob said.

CarloSW2

[RandomFact314]

Yeah I have seen the bicycles that were c/f and were really expensive, I have also seen c/f rims for your car, also very expensive...

[Bicycle Bob]

It opened fine for me, and I found the hidden "zoom" buttons too. I didn't read the whole thing, but that's about the amount of fuss it takes to get a high fiber content. The first page does not really make the point that the strength of a composite is considered to lie in the fiber direction; the resin is just there to maintain fiber alignment. Like mortar, it is never given a tensile load to handle by itself.
The last page fails to caution against the safety hazard of carbon fiber dust. It will stain your hands as well as your lungs, in car-part quantities.
I'd recommend that anyone should practise their technique using fiberglass, because you can see your mistakes better and learn to avoid them.
Using expensive fiber makes us more inclined to use advanced construction techniques, but they can also more than double the performance of cheap materials. Swiching to carbon mostly adds stiffness at the expense of toughness. The overall challenge is to arrange the fibers the way a tree would, using just enough in each area and keeping them very straight and even, and packed with the minimum amount of resin.
If you don't like the waste from pre-impregnated material with multiple layers of resin blotter, etc. try dry-bagging for car-size parts. The beginning of Velomobile project 2004 With just a makeshift vacuum pump, that can get you very close to the properties of the best autoclaved aerospace parts.

[alohaspirit]

Originally Posted by RandomFact314

I have been thinking about carbon fiber a little, We could totally take 100 pounds off our car with c/f but It's just really expensive... About $600 for a hood that will only take off 30 pounds or so

you can find used cf hoods for cheap sometimes (under $400)


(depending on your make/model of course)