Making your own Carbon Fiber Angle

[Darin Jordan]

Had a need for some carbon angle to make some servo mounting mounts for, so I decided to document how I did it so I could share it here.

Pretty basic... Get yourself a piece of aluminum angle from Home Depot or ??? that has a 90-degree inside edge. Get a matching piece of box aluminum to form the inside of the angle.

I used a peel ply on both sides of the layup because I wanted to be able to bond well to it. If you want/need it smooth and "shiny", then don't use the peel.

I ran some scotchbright over the surfaces to clean it up, then waxed all of the contact surfaces with some mold release wax. You can use McQuires #23 or bascially any type of decent wax as well.

I clamped the outter piece of angle to the bench, laid down one of the peel ply pieces, then one layer of carbon. I applied the epoxy to wet out the first piece, and then laid on the next piece. Using a minimal amount of epoxy, I laid in each layer, 8 in total, and then finished it with another piece of peel-ply.

I then put the box tubing on and clamped it in place.

After letting the piece sit for 5 hours or so to get the epoxy set, I took the piece and cured it in the oven at 125 degrees for about 5 hours.

End result was a nice solid piece of carbon angle that has bondable surfaces. Just have to set it back into the outter angle and use that as a guide to trim the edges.

Pretty simple, and relatively inexpensive to do. More layers, heavier layup.

Hope someone finds this useful.

[Darin Jordan]

One more pic...

[Mike Caruso]

Thank you for sharing your procedure and the time you spent with all of use on OSE. You have taking the fear out of trying to work with CF for me. I am ready to try making something small just like you have first.

[RaceMechaniX]

Now I have a good source for carbon angle:thumbup1:

[Chrisg81983]

Looks good Darin I did something similar for some time now it works real well and ended up saving me a lot of money.

[Richie the shipwright]

Good stuff Darin!! Compression moulding 101!!!

[islandboy]

Line the aluminum angle with clear packing tape before you lay the part up if you want a nice smooth finish. No waxing needed.

[JimClark]

can also use wax paper

[larryrose11]

I also made some CF angle stock. It was my first try at vacuum bagging, which I wanted to learn. I have done compression molding a bunch.

[Darin Jordan]

Line the aluminum angle with clear packing tape before you lay the part up if you want a nice smooth finish. No waxing needed.

Yeah, but if I wax it, then no packing tape is needed! :)

Either way... it works... ;)

[islandboy]

Yeah, but if I wax it, then no packing tape is needed! :)

Either way... it works... ;)

But then the surface of the finished piece is contaminated with wax making prepping for further adhesion much more important.

[detox]

Does it matter what type of epoxy to use? I once tried making plate using Z-Poxy finishing resin and carbon fiber purchased from Hobby King. Plate was very brittle and would snap into two pieces. I am sure i used wrong epoxy.

[Darin Jordan]

But then the surface of the finished piece is contaminated with wax making prepping for further adhesion much more important.

As you'll note from the pics... there was a peel-ply used between the molding surface and the part... so this isn't an issue. Mold release wax is a normal part of composite work. It's never been an issue. Proper prep of the parts is always the key to success. The tape has it's purposes. I've used it before. Wasn't necessary here.

[Darin Jordan]

Does it matter what type of epoxy to use? I once tried making plate using Z-Poxy finishing resin and carbon fiber purchased from Hobby King. Plate was very brittle and would snap into two pieces. I am sure i used wrong epoxy.

I'm sure it does. I can't remember the exact name of the epoxy I have at home, but it's a laminating epoxy that takes about 6-hours to cure/set, and I usually let it sit for 24-hours before doing anything with it. This part I actually baked in the oven at 125-degrees for about 6-hours as well, so it's "oven cured"... Part turned out very nicely and is exactly what I was trying to build.

First bits of this are going in a Vision Tunnel that Ken Haines asked me to build-up for him. I'll post some pics later.

[martin]

I make most of my things using West resin which is very strong indeed, i did try using Z Poxy finishing resin & it proved very brittle & not very strong at all so wouldnt use it again for that application.

[lonewolf]

Great write up Darrin thanks......I should mention that the dust from cutting and sang c/f or any of the clothes we uses are considered an irritant and some very dangerous I cant recomend enough to use proper ventilation and at least a dust mask when cutting or sanding.....The safty guy in me was forced to at least mention it... just like the dust from working props is also dangerous....But again thanks a bunch for the write up!!!!

[Hydrozz]

For 5 years I worked at a facility that fabricated using various resins and materials. We used acrylic resin when laminating with carbon fiber. This was under a vacuum using PVA bags. Cutting out with a reciprocating saw and finish grinding and buffing edges smooth. Yes use a respirator and coveralls if you have them. Sometimes grinding it would spark, thats how hard it would get. Never had a problem with anything breaking. Watch your layup,( how you lay the carbon fiber on) and to strengthen it up, between layers of carbon, use a strip of felt or simular ( this soaks up resin and compresses easily).