Dear all,

I have some experience in hand laminating things and stuff with improvised molds and as next step I would like to do a glove box lid out of carbon fiber.
Until now I sprayd and sanded the part to get a nice surface - it is not perfect, nut I hate sanding and I will only give it a last polish.

My "big" questions are:
- regarding the part of the lock, is it realistic to close it with modeling clay without getting an undercut?
- what about the hinge. The original has a thin plastic as elastic hinge. I would prefer not to work with small metal hinges and I now in theory from rc-planes elastic hinges in FRP laminats using peal ply or aramid. If I do this, I need to extend the mould accordingly. What do you suggest?

Thanks a lot
Regards from Germany
Bernd

Hi Burnd,




should be quite easy to take a mould especially if your not worried about the original part.

you could hot glue a piece of plastic/board under the lock cutout then you only need a small amount of filling to get a nice surface.

If you slightly pack the door up you can then fillet a small taper leading down to a base board.

regarding your hinge id attach it afterwards, ive never used it but believe the flexible resin would do as you say.

Yes, the hinge can be made from Kevlar or Diolene fabric, and EF80 flexible resin from EC.

I have made several "protective" transport cases with this combination as a hinge.   One of them is now a few years old, and sees regular use, and it shows no sign of cracking or "fatigue"

In my case (pun intended ) the Case itself was done by infusion, and the hinge bonded on after making it with hand layup and vac bag,

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Hello,

Thanks for your replys.

Do you thing it is mandytory to use this flexible resin? If one use common resin one coud "break" the hinge area and the aramid would stay intact. The only question than would be, if the open aramit fibers have to be covered somehow against external influences.

Regards
Bernd

I have done lots of Kevlar hinges that are just 1 layer of a 160g Kevlar with 45 deg orientation, it bends over a 3mm distance. Just a good quality epoxy.

Also done full metal stainless steel piano hinge for a glove box, pic here  https://www.facebook.com/Fastacraft/photos/a.299464533528818.1073741827.299461093529162/604445443030724/?type=1&theatre

Yes, you could probably just leave a single layer of kevlar "sticking out" from the side of the infusion, then just break the resin, but the few I have seen done this way look a bit messy, to be honest.

I does not work with mixed CF/Kevlar fabrics, that really looks messy, but one case I made has a hinge made from Twaron/CF mix, that bends over about a 2 cm radius, using EF80, and it looks as good as new, even after several months of use.

"Sapere Aude"... Dare to KNOW!

The written word is the only truly efficient vehicle for transmitting a complex concept from mind to mind...

103% of all people do not understand statistics...

Do not adjust our mind, theres a fault in reality :-)