First time carbon inlay

[fweasel]

I knocked out the carbon inlay on my Voracity this weekend. The battery trays, motor mount, and electronics tray were already installed, so there was a lot of template cutting and probably not the ideal project for my first time. I learned a lot, like to do it somewhere warmer than my 55* garage so the resin isn't so thick and that you can never have enough masking tape on the outside of the hull. What a mess.

I started with this how-to on the KBB forum. I used a 2x2 twill cloth and resin that I bought from eBay. I cutout templates from paper, taped it to the carbon cloth, and cut them out with a sharp set of scissors. The inlays wrap up the side the the hull, over the seam, and up onto the bottom side of the deck.The tape did a pretty good job of keeping the fibers from fraying at the ends. I sanded the hull with 100 grit sandpaper, vacuumed it out, then wiped it down again. Maneuvering the carbon pieces into the hull after I coated the fiberglass with resin was a lot of work, I would imagine exponentially more than if I was using a single, large piece on an empty hull. Now I just need it to dry and then reinstall all of the electronics and hardware.

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[fweasel]

And the finished product (still wet).

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[golfito]

Good job.
It is not so simple to do these jobs. My first inlay was not good, but that way you learn to work.
Greetings.

[Tamelesstgr]

I can imagine how that was difficult with the trays in place, I had a hard enough time with a bare hull. Looks like it came out good!

[Prodrvr]

I knocked out the carbon inlay on my Voracity this weekend. The battery trays, motor mount, and electronics tray were already installed, so there was a lot of template cutting and probably not the ideal project for my first time. I learned a lot, like to do it somewhere warmer than my 55* garage so the resin isn't so thick and that you can never have enough masking tape on the outside of the hull. What a mess.

I started with this how-to on the KBB forum. I used a 2x2 twill cloth and resin that I bought from eBay. I cutout templates from paper, taped it to the carbon cloth, and cut them out with a sharp set of scissors. The inlays wrap up the side the the hull, over the seam, and up onto the bottom side of the deck.The tape did a pretty good job of keeping the fibers from fraying at the ends. I sanded the hull with 100 grit sandpaper, vacuumed it out, then wiped it down again. Maneuvering the carbon pieces into the hull after I coated the fiberglass with resin was a lot of work, I would imagine exponentially more than if I was using a single, large piece on an empty hull. Now I just need it to dry and then reinstall all of the electronics and hardware.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]149465[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]149466[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]149467[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]149468[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]149469[/ATTACH]

Is it ok to leave the tape on the edges of the cf, or does it have to be removed before wetting it down?

[roofintrash]

It's just fine to leave the tape, and it keeps the fabric from unraveling while your wetting it in. I tried to remove the tape once and it just pulled the strands apart on the edges.

[fweasel]

It's just fine to leave the tape, and it keeps the fabric from unraveling while your wetting it in. I tried to remove the tape once and it just pulled the strands apart on the edges.

Exactly. You couldn't remove it if you tried.

I did another one on my Zelos 36. I tried to use as narrow tape lines as possible. I also used 3M Super77 spray adhesive to lay the cloth down instead of brushing on resin. It was much neater, and allowed me to maneuver the cloth into position better before pressing everything into place and wetting it all down.

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[Prodrvr]

Ok great, thanks guys!! No wonder my first and only attempt to use cf on a C1 Flowmaster cat was such a pain in the ass! Next time, I'll leave the tape on.