Carbon Fibre Case

Hello everyone,

I am in the process of building a carbon fibre case. It consists of balsa wood laminated in carbon fibre. Here are some pics of some of the work I have done.

Enjoy :)

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0673.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0674.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0675.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0676.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0678.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0679.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0680.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0681.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0687.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0688.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0689.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0690.jpg

Sorry they are kind of out of order, and i suck with the camera. I will post better ones once by new backplate arrives after being cut. The old backplate was punched aluminum, the new one is water cut titanium :)

oooo :) sweet... this is gonna be awesome


subd :up:

oooohhhhhh carbon fibre, i love the look of it, when its polished.

im looking forward to this one :up:

lol dude I'm just learning to work with CF and other composites hahaha, looks like you beat me to it :P I'm waiting for my vacuum ATM.

Good luck with the vacuuming! Are you going to use a foam core? We wanted to keep the bottom piece wooden on the inside to absorb some vibration and it is so much easier to work with for mounting.

CF is such a pain :), but worth it.

Great idea! really looking forward to seeing it!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by drakore

Good luck with the vacuuming! Are you going to use a foam core? We wanted to keep the bottom piece wooden on the inside to absorb some vibration and it is so much easier to work with for mounting.

CF is such a pain :), but worth it.

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I plan to use 6 oz fiberglass mat as structure (don't see a reason to waste $50/yard CF on the inside), haven't figured out what to use for frame yet, thinking angled s-glass. Anyway my case is long from even getting started, gotta fix my motorbike first :shrug:

CF is not a pain if you've worked with kevlar ;)

Here is the CAD drawing of the new back piece. Pretty much the same as the old one, a few adjustments. The new one is titanium and will be water cut sometime this week along with the drive cages.

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...piecefinal.jpg

Wow a full carbon fibre case would be so nice. Light yet durable. That carbon fibre sheet must have cost alot though. That I could not stomach.

The sheet wasn't tooo bad, i think it cost me $170. Luckily my friend had some unidirectional stuff left over from his car wing, so i was allowed to use that for free :)

I have to admit that CF does look pretty good, so you could just use it for the exterior look?
But anyways, most composite materials are pretty easy to work with once you've done a couple of peaces...

Oh, and if you plan to have the wood as the structural element, and CF as the appearance you don't really need to use vacuum... just be thorough with the brush :) But if you want the CF to load the entire case (meaning lightness, rigidity... ) use more layers, and definatley go with vacuum.

But don't think its gonna be a quick build :D if you plan on doing it a bit every day it will take some time... but in any case, good luck with it, and if you don't have a lot of experience with CF, practice with fiberglass, its a bunch cheaper.

We were able to get the base fairly rigid with 2 layers of unidirectional and 1 layer of twill. Unfortunately, i still had to put an aluminum bar in because the the piece was not perfectly flat. The load on the side and top pieces won't be much, so laminating should be fine. The wood can't support any weight since we are using balsa, but it makes it so much easier to do instead of making a mold. Fortunately my friend has a fair amount of experience, so it has saved me a ton of time :)

Hahaha you are definitely right, we are about 2 months in now, probably another 2 to go. Right now I am just working on getting the titanium stuff cut and all the fasteners. I had to take Friday off work so i can put a full days work on this :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lightning98

I have to admit that CF does look pretty good, so you could just use it for the exterior look?
But anyways, most composite materials are pretty easy to work with once you've done a couple of peaces...

Oh, and if you plan to have the wood as the structural element, and CF as the appearance you don't really need to use vacuum... just be thorough with the brush :) But if you want the CF to load the entire case (meaning lightness, rigidity... ) use more layers, and definatley go with vacuum.

But don't think its gonna be a quick build :D if you plan on doing it a bit every day it will take some time... but in any case, good luck with it, and if you don't have a lot of experience with CF, practice with fiberglass, its a bunch cheaper.

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why not some MDF instead of the balsa? be a bit sturdier and react less to heat?

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Originally Posted by Jamesrt2004

why not some MDF instead of the balsa? be a bit sturdier and react less to heat?

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im guessing cos of the weight thing, balsa is light as feather and easier to work with..

interesting project for sure, i will be keeping my eye on this one :up:

It looks great, I'll definitely be coming back to this thread.

You are absolutely correct, the underlying theme of the project is strength to weight ratio. I know it is rather excessive, but this is xtremesystems after all :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Solarfall

im guessing cos of the weight thing, balsa is light as feather and easier to work with..

interesting project for sure, i will be keeping my eye on this one :up:

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I would be careful using balsa wood because the epoxy might warp it when you wet it out.

Hello everyone, i know this thread has gone dead for a while. I have been doing a lot of CAD work and planning out getting the stuff to be waterjet. There were a lot of hours spent measuring and getting everything perfect.

Here are some pics of the waterjet pieces, however there are a couple more to come.

Enjoy! :)

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0758.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0759.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0760.jpg

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0761.jpg

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http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0766.jpg

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http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0778.jpg

Tomorrow I will be posting images of us laying carbon fibre for the top piece.

about time someone tried cf

Nice project :D

Next time you take photos (im assuming your using a phone)

Find something big like a table and hold the camera about two ft away and focus onto it, keep the button held down and then hold whatever you want to photograph the same distance from the camera to get the focus right. That way you are less likely to get blurry pics :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Holst

Nice project :D

Next time you take photos (im assuming your using a phone)

Find something big like a table and hold the camera about two ft away and focus onto it, keep the button held down and then hold whatever you want to photograph the same distance from the camera to get the focus right. That way you are less likely to get blurry pics :)

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Thanks for the advice! I am using an old digital camera. I also suck at taking pictures :). I will try a different camera tonight.

Very cool, interested in seeing the finished result!

The words CARBON FIBRE get me all worked up xD, too much need for speed lololl. Well I like where this is going.

Ok as promised here are the pics of us layering half of the top piece. The first couple of pictures are unilateral carbon and the last bunch are of twill. We ended up doing 1 layer of unilateral and 2 layers of twill.

Enjoy :)

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0779.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0780.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0781.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0782.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0783.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0784.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0785.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0786.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0787.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0788.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0789.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_0790.jpg

How long does it take to dry? Looks cool.

My friend works at Scaled Composites in Mojave (The company who builds/built the "Space Ship 1" for Virgin galactic, and is building Space Ship 2.) He works with Carbon Fiber all day, and they have literally tons and tons of scraps left over every day, so I'm going to have him wrap some of my new case in Carbon Fibre. This isn't "aerospace" grade stuff, this is SPACE grade.

Never mind the case thats a lovely pool table.....only kidding suscribed

Quote:

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Originally Posted by trekie86

How long does it take to dry? Looks cool.

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It takes about 8 hours to dry I think. We always just leave it over night to be safe. Tonight is scheduled to do the other side, unfortunately we are out of unilateral. However 3 pieces of twill will be strong enough.

When I'm doing any type of glue/epoxy/adhesive stuff, I always let it try longer than its supposed to. The last thing I want is the chair, or whatever, that I glued together to just fall apart when I'm sitting in it or using it.

Yeah precisely. Although when you're starring at it, it is hard not to play with it

Here are some pics of us doing the other side of the top piece. This one is 3 pieces of twill. This is intended to be the show side, so the last layer was done to near perfection. Unfortunately it is not space grade :(

We had to level the balsa with a bunch of wood filler. Unfortunately we were a bit to hasty sanding this side 2 nights ago, oh well it was an easy fix.
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1526.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1527.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1528.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1529.jpg
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http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1531.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1532.jpg
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http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1536.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1537.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1538.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1539.jpg

This is my friend Mark who has been helping me with everything. He helped me do all the Solid Edge drawings for the titanium stuff. He has pretty much done all the carbon fibre layering. I usually just handle the cutting and measuring.
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1540.jpg

This is the final outcome:
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1541.jpg

love the fabrication work
interesting material to work with
:thumbs:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by drakore

Yeah precisely. Although when you're starring at it, it is hard not to play with it

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I know, I'm a futser. I love to play with anything I come across. My wife hates taking me to stores that have gadgets in it, I just want to try all of them. Worse yet, when its put together wrong or not working, I try to fix it...in the store.

Anyway, the CF looks very cool. I commend your dedication, this is going to be a long process. I can't wait until I have a workspace to fabricate things of my own.

I'm kind of unsure how to finish the titanium. I just got back the pieces from sand blasting, but they are very matte. I am going to try clear coating one of them and see how it turns out.

Anyone have any suggestions? I have never worked with titanium before.

To polish titanium get one of the waxy or liquid polishes for chrome or stainless steel from the automotive parts store. Get your polish and use a soft cloth and rub like crazy! And soon you'll have forearms like Popeye! Or better yet, use a buffing wheel on a sander. Or i guess you could use a dremel with a buffing attachment, but it's going to take a long time with that little dremel, if you have a lot of surface area to polish. I'm not sure from your pics how much titanium you are going to use in the final product.

it is a fair amount. I just clear coated the sandblasted piece and it came out really nice. So i'm thinking i may go that route.

Damn, all this carbon fibre :>~ [<- drooling]

What kind of resin did you use on it? I've just tried making a simple radbox of glassfibre but it looks $#!7 cause the resin is sort of clouded yellow-ish [+ I ran out of it halfway through -.-].

I can't remember, but we used it with a medium hardener. I'll grab you the info when I get home tonight.

Wow cant wait till its done, how many layers of fabric you using???

Good work n conratulations....:D

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Originally Posted by sinticfury

Wow cant wait till its done, how many layers of fabric you using???

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3 layers each side :)

Thanks for the support guys!!! I am going to be updating the thread this week with some more layer pics and (hopefully) final sand blasted titanium pieces :D

Nifty, I always wondered if people would play with carbon fiber for there setup.

hey drakore im curious what is that stuff that you are using to "glue" the carbon fiber on to the balsa wood when your making those layers of carbon fiber ? is it epoxy or resin or maybe something else ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Solarfall

hey drakore im curious what is that stuff that you are using to "glue" the carbon fiber on to the balsa wood when your making those layers of carbon fiber ? is it epoxy or resin or maybe something else ?

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Hi Solarfall,

I am using a 2 part epoxy system. It is a 2:1 ratio of resin to hardener. Both are medium grade, so it takes about 8-12 hours to dry and about 15-30 minutes to get tacky.

Fantastic job :up:

i love seeing the step by step work w/ the carbon

i am green w/ envy....you have access to space grade carbon :eek:

if you have some extra scraps...you can send them my way :D

looking forward to your next update :yepp:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PradaG

Fantastic job :up:

i love seeing the step by step work w/ the carbon

i am green w/ envy....you have access to space grade carbon :eek:

if you have some extra scraps...you can send them my way :D

looking forward to your next update :yepp:

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Hahaha thanks!

I am envious of your internet connectivity. I only get 12 Mbit download and like 900Kbit upload.

cant wait for more updates...looks nice

Hello everyone,

I finished clear coating the sand blasted titanium pieces. They turned out really nicely, enjoy! :)

These ones are before clear coating:

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1542.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1543.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1544.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1545.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1546.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1547.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1548.jpg

These ones are after clear coating:

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1557.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1558.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1561.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1562.jpg
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http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1573.jpg
http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/v...e/IMG_1574.jpg

Those titanium pieces looks incredible. With the carbon fibre and the titanium, this case is really going to be something. Curious, how much did you spend on titanium?

dang thats HOT

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Originally Posted by grasskicker509

dang thats HOT

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shameless increase post count post, nearly at 100 ehh?

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Originally Posted by soundood

shameless increase post count post, nearly at 100 ehh?

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must be how u got your thousand in a year, worthless posts

Quote:

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Originally Posted by trekie86

Those titanium pieces looks incredible. With the carbon fibre and the titanium, this case is really going to be something. Curious, how much did you spend on titanium?

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Thanks!

The titanium was about $120 CAD total. I got a 24"x12" sheet, but there were some screw ups so I had to do get another sheet which was 12"x12".

Unfortunately I missed a measurement on the back plate so i had to get a new one formed. Then the guy screwed up some of the pieces when he formed them. He claims 1/16" is industry standard for tolerances... Which it may be, but for my stuff that was just not precise enough.