gldndrgn14

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eHoward &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I made another this weekend and took a couple shots with the vac bag:


Just toss the part in your vacuum bag.


Hook up the vacuum.


Pull some vacuum.


What your bag should look like if you do it right.

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ok for these pics, is that a male or femail mold? and is the carbon on the opposite side of the vacuum source of the mold or the same side of the vacuum source of the mold with a release ply in between?
oh and any of you guys ever mess with prepreg with vacuum bagging? if so, what type of ovens have you used?

eHoward

I don't feel like arguing with you, but I do plan to prove you wrong about vacuum bagging costs.

I do agree materials are not cheap. I also agree that in instances where weight is not an issue or they don't desire custom work, people should buy ready to go parts when companies are already making them. I've referred quite a few people to companies like VIS.

btw, that isn't an RTM part so there are no resin buckets.

eHoward

It is a female mold. You can see it in the background of this shot:

Here's the order. The mold is on the table. The carbon is up directly against the mold on top. Then the layer of release ply on the carbon. Then a breather layer. And we put everything into the vacuum bag.

Yes, I have used pre-preg. It isn't the holy grail some people think it is. There are numerous advantages to using it though.

*looks over shoulder* I uh, used my kitchen oven with a tight vacuum bag. Having said that, I would rent autoclave time and do it right if doing something for a NASA or a Boeing though.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gldndrgn14 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok for these pics, is that a male or femail mold? and is the carbon on the opposite side of the vacuum source of the mold or the same side of the vacuum source of the mold with a release ply in between?
oh and any of you guys ever mess with prepreg with vacuum bagging? if so, what type of ovens have you used? </TD></TR></TABLE>

JDMworld

where are you located???

gldndrgn14

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eHoward &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Here's the order. The mold is on the table. The carbon is up directly against the mold on top. Then the layer of release ply on the carbon. Then a breather layer. And we put everything into the vacuum bag.

Yes, I have used pre-preg. It isn't the holy grail some people think it is. There are numerous advantages to using it though.

*looks over shoulder* I uh, used my kitchen oven with a tight vacuum bag. Having said that, I would rent autoclave time and do it right if doing something for a NASA or a Boeing though.

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haha well i am sure as hell not going to get the chance to make anything for nasa or boeing.

jbs

iTrader: (1)

This is great! Seems to be better than the folia tech product which is basically crap.

0Synapse Motorsport

Very nice work, have you ever used vaccum infusion, thats what I use for all my race car parts. Its a great process.

HondaCrazy

Can someone please inform me on making the mold on a hood. Basically from what I understand is that you have to take the stock hood, put some sort of release agent on the hood *please inform me on what this is* put some sort of molding material on the hood, *please inform me on what this is*, let the mold cure, release it from the hood and you have like a skin mold. Then you lay down more release agent, then the carbon fiber in the hood mold, lay down your resin, let cure, pull out and then clear coat? Does this sound right. Is there a detailed howto of the hood process out there of step by step what to do with what. This would be greatly appreciated. For the guy thats selling the started kits please let me know how much for the vacume kit. 300.00 sounds good to me. Get one together and I will send you some cash. Thanks for all of your time in advance.

CarbonCreations

When I made my female, my cousin and I waxed the hell out of a freshly primered hood.... 3 times. This thing was smooth as glass and had almost perfect reflection. Then he took it in to his work, and used a chop-gun to shoot fiberglass over the waxed hood. We attached plywood to the hood to create a 1-2" lip all the way around. The reason for this is so you can get rolled edges so when you trim the piece, the "hard" edge will be less noticeable, if at all. See picture.



As far as pumps go, you want a HVLP (high volume, low pressure) pump that can pull 6+ cfm, although this is part size dependant.

I went with Robinair. Good warranty, great product. Here's an example; I went with the 8cfm model.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...&rd=1 (not endorsing said auction)

Then you'll need a pressure pot aka resin trap.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...=WDVW (again not endorsing)

I hope this helps a bit more.

CarbonCreations

Some links to further help ya guys out:

Fibers:

http://directory.google.com/To...ution/

http://www.carb.com/

http://www.hexcelschwebel.com/...arbon

Pumps:
http://allenpump.com/vacuum.shtml

http://www.robinair.com/new/pr...d=VAP

(i may have went with the 6 cfm... can't remember, haven't been molding in over 6 months now )

http://vac-cube.com/ (im pretty sure that these are for air compressor =&gt; vaccuum)

http://www.gastmfg.com/vacuum.html (air comp =&gt; vac)

Resins:
http://materials.globalspec.co...tem=2

aa87

How hard would it be to recover an S13 glove box? I thought about it, but never really thought about it.

dot this Promo

Subscribed.....

stackz

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Nameless RB26 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


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my god, you did this inside your house?? so um, just how much brain damage did you suffer from the fumes building up in there? lol, bet it was one hell of a high...

Nameless RB26

No, there were actually 3 fans in the room and a heater. No brain damage so far..

eHoward

Probably wouldn't be too hard. Post a picture and I'll let you know.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by aa87 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How hard would it be to recover an S13 glove box? I thought about it, but never really thought about it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

eHoward

No. When I get some extra time, I will do some experiments with it. I could see it cutting costs a lot in a production environment.

Although when I was in college, a lot of the research projects used it. I always wondered why they spent so much time using a $100k+ fiber placement machine with intricate windings only to randomly distort the pattern because of the nature of vac assisted RTM.

Whatever works for you

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Synapse Motorsports &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Very nice work, have you ever used vaccum infusion, thats what I use for all my race car parts. Its a great process. </TD></TR></TABLE>

eHoward

Sounds like you know what to do.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HondaCrazy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Can someone please inform me on making the mold on a hood. Basically from what I understand is that you have to take the stock hood, put some sort of release agent on the hood *please inform me on what this is* put some sort of molding material on the hood, *please inform me on what this is*, let the mold cure, release it from the hood and you have like a skin mold. Then you lay down more release agent, then the carbon fiber in the hood mold, lay down your resin, let cure, pull out and then clear coat? Does this sound right. Is there a detailed howto of the hood process out there of step by step what to do with what. This would be greatly appreciated. For the guy thats selling the started kits please let me know how much for the vacume kit. 300.00 sounds good to me. Get one together and I will send you some cash. Thanks for all of your time in advance. </TD></TR></TABLE>

eHoward

There's lots of ways to manufacture a mold. There's no right or wrong way. As you make parts, you'll see ways to improve future molds. It's a learning process.

You also don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on a resin trap. I do not currently use one.

fbp-em1

def should make a starter kit, i bet alot of "DIY" people will jump on it including me.

LD_EGSICK

good stuff (PM sent)

KHengineering

I would love to get some specs on your resin kit. Also do you have any recomendations for parts that can survive in a higher heat enviroment. 300 degree's F max for a short period of time. 225 would work but it would be really close to it's temp limit and I'd like to add in a factor of safety to it. Also does anyone know the melting point on lexan? I've been told somewhere between 290-340 but I would like to do some molds using dual elements like a carbonfiber upper manifold for a turbo car with lexan view windows. I'm worried about the engine and intake charged air heating it up beyond it's structural design.

H22A EG6

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eHoward &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Vacuum bagging can eliminate the majority of bubbles if you do it right. On a pure cosmetic part, it may not be the solution though.

I apply the resin with a brush. I personally don't use a squeegie or roller, but I know of others that swear by them.

Vacuum bagging will not be included with the kit. It will be a low cost kit. Approximately $100 with everything one would need to do a small part. I could see doing a vacuum add-on kit in the future at around the $300 price point. Right now, I'd like to get the low cost kit to market. We'd be happy to sell you some vacuum supplies in the meantime though. I could put together a quote for you if you're interested.

About the part. I wouldn't say it lacks luster. I will say it is not as shiny as a resin rich part. It will look fantastic once clear-coated. One of the drawbacks of a lower resin content from vacuum bagging is that the parts will not be as shiny out of the mold. It will look fantastic once clear-coated. One of the pros of vacuum bagging is that the parts will be light weight.

Good luck with your projects.</TD></TR></TABLE>
vaccume bagging is the ****
we use the infusion technique for our engineering club at skoo when we make canoes it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO muah better!

yellowmonkeyboy

nice

EJ8 GSR-T

Anyone know of any DIY fiberglass trunks?

CarbonCreations

My cousin builds boats for a living. He says without a doubt use a resin trap so you don't get resin in your pump on accident, which will f!ck it up. Plus with a resin trap, you don't have to be so attentitive to how far up the resin has been sucked before you clamp it off... so you could run multiple plugs at once and not have to closely watch all of them.