Carbon Fiber

[nova68]

I have a Delta Force 33 and I want to lay Carbon Fiber in side the boat, is it better to put a coat of resin then lay the carbon fiber down and put another coat on top.Or is it better to spray 3M Super 77 on the carbon fiber then lay it inside and put a coat of resin on top of the carbon fiber? I am using 5oz Twill Carbon Fiber. I am using the West System # 105 Resin and # 205 Hardner.

[sailr]

I haven't done it but others that use the 3m contact cement say it works great. The next time, I am going to use that method.

[detox]

I would spray a light mist coat of the 3M spray adhesive onto fiber and hull before attaching to hull. Then apply thin warm finishing resin over carbon fiber cloth.

[wakeboardfusion]

http://rcboatsbypetere.blogspot.com/

there are two videos there called how to lay resin on the floor that pretty much sum it up.

[Chris Harris]

The problem with using an epoxy for this, on this hull, is that the hull is made from
either polyester or vinylester resin. It would be better to use one of those to insure
good adhesion. I would scuff the surface with some 80grit and then put a light coat of resin where your going to lay the carbon. Lay it on top of that, then finish wetting it out. The 3m spray glue will form a barrier between the hull and the carbon and very little resin will be able to make through to contact the hull. Therefore you will be relying on the spray glue for the bond between hull and carbon. This will not be near as strong as a resin to resin bond. This has been my experience.

Chris

[nova68]

West System

I am using the West System Resin the Resin is # 105 and the hardner is # 205. I was told that system would go over any thing.

[Jesse J]

I see Chris's point, I like the idea of the resin being in direct contact with the hull, not the spray glue - not that the resin wouldn't adhere to the spray glue, but that the spray glue may not have as solid of a bond as the resin to the hull.

I have never done it, but see the logic and will try Chris's method on my next project.

[tiqueman]

I am using the West System Resin the Resin is # 105 and the hardner is # 205. I was told that system would go over any thing.

All I use. Matter of fact, just layed a hull up about 5 hours ago. I put a coat of resin in the hull, then lay in the CF. Wear latex gloves and get in there and get it all set and how you want it. Then I take the brush and dab around on it pushing the CF into the previously layed resin. Keep your brush wet, but dont over do it. I try to get it to the point its almost ready to start to puddle. Some areas it does a little bit, just work it out as best you can w/ the brush.

Also, lil tip. Once you figure out how large a piece of CF you need, spray a line of hair spray where you will be cutting. Not too much as you dont want to stiffen it, but it will keep it from fraying when you cut and handle it.

[Jesse J]

spray a line of hair spray where you will be cutting.

what do you use hairspray for other than CF? I mean how does your hair do if you use hairspray for anything else?

Kool, I will be goin at it next week once my hull gets here. Where is best place to get said resin and CF?

[tiqueman]

LOL.. actually, I sneak it from the Mrs...

I order my CF from Fiberglast.com. They run sales and good deals all the time. Get on their mailing list.

West Systems resin from West Marine.

[Jeepers]

The problem with using an epoxy for this, on this hull, is that the hull is made from
either polyester or vinylester resin. It would be better to use one of those to insure
good adhesion. I would scuff the surface with some 80grit and then put a light coat of resin where your going to lay the carbon. Lay it on top of that, then finish wetting it out. The 3m spray glue will form a barrier between the hull and the carbon and very little resin will be able to make through to contact the hull. Therefore you will be relying on the spray glue for the bond between hull and carbon. This will not be near as strong as a resin to resin bond. This has been my experience.

Chris

I agree with Chris I have done a couple of hulls trying the 3m spray glue and then laminating over it it DOES NOT WORK after a while the 3m glue will fail and then CF, or FG will come off of the hull. yes West systems will go over anything, does not mean it will adhere to everything. my friend and I have tried the same thing on high power model rockets when laminating CF it failed to add strength to the tubes, causing in flight failures.

[bonewar]

Glassing in carbon fiber

My method,

Try and use the same resin as the hull.(poly,epoxy,vinlyester)
Sand the inside of the hull where you will be adding the carbon ,then clean with some acetone.
Cut the carbon , always a little bigger then what you need. Trimmed later. vinyl gloves on.
I like to use a small brush and a small paint roller , metal rib roller.
I apply a thin coat of resin onto the surface of the hull with the brush , then i roll it out with the paint roller to get a very even coat, lay down the carbon mat very carefully into its position .
When you are happy with the placement of the carbon , I then add resin to the carbon using my brush to start with. At this stage you have to be very careful not to upset the fibers (they will move around if you are to heavy handed).
I add enough resin so that the carbon is completely wet, Then i use the metal rib roller . Roll very gentle to get the air out of your lay up. To finish i use the paint roller to achieve a very thin even coat. The paint roller works well because it soaks up any extra resin. I also use the little mixing stick to push the carbon into the tight areas . After about 2 hours of drying i then clean up all the rough edges with a very sharp knife. Easy to do this before the resin is completely cured.
Let it cure for a couple of days.
I like to put another thin layer of resin down over my cured carbon to cover any spots that i missed the first time, also for a better look. For this i use resin and the small paint roller.

Bonewar

[sailr]

Can't argue with your skills, the layup is fantastic!

I tried the hair spray trick so the fiber wouldn't frey and unravel when cut and handled. Worked great until I tried applying resin. The resin will NOT penetrate the hair spray! I had to saturate the fiber with alcohol to get rid of the hairspray before I could apply the resin.

Some said 'not too much, you don't want to stiffen it'. I'm not sure how to do that. Any amount of hairspray seems to stiffen it in my case. Maybe I'm using too strong a hairspray. Dunno.

Ideas?

My method,

Try and use the same resin as the hull.(poly,epoxy,vinlyester)
Sand the inside of the hull where you will be adding the carbon ,then clean with some acetone.
Cut the carbon , always a little bigger then what you need. Trimmed later. vinyl gloves on.
I like to use a small brush and a small paint roller , metal rib roller.
I apply a thin coat of resin onto the surface of the hull with the brush , then i roll it out with the paint roller to get a very even coat, lay down the carbon mat very carefully into its position .
When you are happy with the placement of the carbon , I then add resin to the carbon using my brush to start with. At this stage you have to be very careful not to upset the fibers (they will move around if you are to heavy handed).
I add enough resin so that the carbon is completely wet, Then i use the metal rib roller . Roll very gentle to get the air out of your lay up. To finish i use the paint roller to achieve a very thin even coat. The paint roller works well because it soaks up any extra resin. I also use the little mixing stick to push the carbon into the tight areas . After about 2 hours of drying i then clean up all the rough edges with a very sharp knife. Easy to do this before the resin is completely cured.
Let it cure for a couple of days.
I like to put another thin layer of resin down over my cured carbon to cover any spots that i missed the first time, also for a better look. For this i use resin and the small paint roller.

Bonewar

[HYDROJERRY]

All sounds great and looks great but why do this, to make the boat stronger, look better,,how does epoxying down all your stuff work with it, does it help it stick better,,,,,huuummmm

[jcald2000]

Some basics here;
1. Poly will not stick to it's self with any strength. It will delam in time.
2. Sand the area to rough it up, I use 60 to 80 grit, the more surface area the stronger the bond it is mechanical not chemical.
3. Cut 1/3 of the brush off and use that to tap the cloth into the first coat of resin.
4. Blot excess resin off the cloth after a few minutes with paper towels, strength comes from the epoxy that soaks INTO the cloth. Excess just adds weight not strength. Look at the inside of a molded boat you can see the threads.
5. Use LOW TACK masking tape on the cloth before you cut and cut so you have about 1/4" left when you place it in the boat. Gently peel the tape towards the outside edge of the cloth and tap down into the resin. This will keep the edges from fraying until you have the cloth in place and will keep the unused cloth from fraying.