I would like to carbon skin a part and I have a question regarding the 'tack' time before applying the carbon.  The part I want to skin is quite large and has complex surfaces.  I don't want the resin base coat to be really tacky as once you lay the carbon it is very difficult to manipulate into position within damaging the weave pattern.   Therefore, could you lay the carbon earlier, so that the base coat is not so tacky and allows you to manipulate the carbon ? The process states 1-2 hours, but laying on after 10-30 minutes, would this cause any issues ?

you will probably push the carbon through the basecoat then which is black which will cause some visual problems of the carbonfiber... normally when its just a bit tacky its easier then trying to put it down in wet resin...at least thats my idea of it

Matthieu Libeert
Founder MAT2 Composites X Sports
website: www.mat2composites.com

If the part is dark, then you shouldn't have any colour issues putting the fabric down earlier.  It is possible some of the basecoat will begin to soak through but if you wait until it has begun to thicken slightly then this should not present a problem.

The main issue is the lack of tack would mean that some corners and edges the fabric may well lift or move slightly. In your case the priority is ability to re-position the fabric so this might not be such an issue when compared to the problems of the fabric being stuck permanently if you wait for the typical tacky phase.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

Hi Lenny,

As the other guys have suggested, putting carbon fabric onto very wet basecoat needs to be avoided because the black basecoat will push through the carbon and spoil the appearance. However, if your part is black already (or could be made black prior) then you can use the XCR Clear Epoxy Coating Resin instead of the XCR basecoat to stick your carbon down. By using the clear resin you won't have to worry about the black coming through the carbon and so, using this method, you could put the carbon down straight away onto the wet clear resin.

The process above required the part to already be black. One way to achieve this would be to use the basecoat on its own, allow it to fully cure (blacking out your part), then key the basecoat (to provide a good key) and then apply the clear XCR resin onto the cured and keyed basecoat. You can now put the dry carbon straight onto the wet clear resin and position it all you like (being careful of course). This process wouldn't work too well if you have concave corners on your shape - such corners really need the tackiness of the basecoat to stick the carbon into properly, with a liquid resin underneath the carbon is likely to slide out any concave corners.

I hope this helps and that you get on well with the XCR; it's an amazing new product and we'd be very pleased to hear your feedback and see your results. We'll be producing a new XCR skinning video in the coming weeks.

All the best, Matt

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

Just finished skinning a few motorbike parts with the new XCR resin -- Great stuff !!!

This is so much better and easier to use than the old "Coating Resin" ---

On these parts i did use some of the old "Coating Resin" as a base layer, after colouring it black with Epoxy dye ..  It works fine for that application --

I hope that I will not have problems with the XCR surface layers being "incompatible" with the old "Coating Resin"   I added the Carbon and the first layer of XCR when the "Coating resin was still "tacky"

The parts are now cured and seem fine . .. better looking than any of the ones I ever did with the old Coating Resin!!

Thanks EC! 

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I tried to download the instructions for the new XCR skinning process, but the address doesn't seem to work.

Dravis- glad you are finding the new XCR an improvement over the old coating resin. It would be interesting to see some photos of your finished parts so we can compare the difference.

Lenny - Which information are you struggling to find? I have checked the XCR datasheets and both are available to download.  If you are struggling still, then message me your email address and I will forward them to you.   In terms of the skinning process, it is as detailed on the webpage.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

Hi RedRocket,

The video is being filmed over the next few weeks and following a short period of post-production editing, will be released to the website as soon as possible once it is ready.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

Any update on the XCR skinning video .