I'm not sure if this is the correct place for this post as it covers several areas but here it goes. . . So a bit of background. . .

Hi David,

Thanks for the post and sorry for the delay in getting back to you. You're like-minded with many other customers both on this forum and that we deal with just through the business; we'd be very pleased to work with you and help you to grow your business (and ours too) by helping wherever we can.

It's tricky to know exactly what to tell you to spend your money on in terms of a start-up and, in many cases, not specialising in the beginning would mean that you would need more equipment and more types of material which pushes the startup costs up. For example, the best materials and equipment for making small details parts (like wing mirror covers) are different from the best materials and equipment for making larger parts (like bonnets). In this example, I would be thinking of pre-preg for the small parts and resin infusion for the larger parts. You can resin infuse small parts and you can pre-preg large ones but the most time and cost effective way to do each of those is those respective techniques.

Also, the standard you want to work to will have an impact. If you want to make completely professional parts you need to expect some hiccups during the learning curve (which will need to paid for!), and some decent equipment. We go pretty over the top in our videos in terms of using the best of everything but even working on a slightly stripped back version of making our carbon fibre bonnet you would be looking at more like £1800 by the time you'd bought the mould materials, all the equipment and the materials for the bonnet.

It might be worth deciding what your first parts will be and focussing on getting the equipment and materials you need for that first product. In this case, £1000 startup is probably perectly realistic. OK, you won't be a fully fledged composites company but if you specialise in a certain type of part then you could get up and running with that to get yourself going and then, as you say, put money back in to grow the business.

3. Would it be worth my while to take a course on CF as I have no experience with it or should I wing it as I have been doing all along!

This is totally up to you. I think everyone on this forum would agree (from doing things the hard way) that money spent on a course would pay for itself in terms of money not spent on wasted material and you move down the learning curve yourself. We sell materials and (now) courses so I can be impartial on it and say it really depends on what you prefer. Our resin infusion course for example is a 1 day course and at the end of it I can say with 100% confidence that you could resin infuse parts to a professional standard without any issues. Learning on a course would certianly be a quicker way to perfect a process such as this but it's by no means the only way.

I hope this helps and look forward to working with you.

All the best, Matt

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales

I agree with matt on start up costs.  even doing it as a home hobby its quite expensive if you want to do the full range of parts for your own car.

Id say a course is up to you but you may well save the cost of the course in mistakes from learning.  Even with fibreglass and general laminating experience, there are a few things with infusion that can be difficult to get right without either practice or the right guidance to put you right.

Id suggest watching the videos in the training area first as they show the correct techniques and shows how the good technique will yeild good results almost every time.

From a business perspective, especially as you are a small starter in a field you havent got loads of experience in, having done a course on resin infusion might help you build credibility with your potential customers.  Not sure if the EC courses will have a certificate, but if they do stick it on the wall in your office where you bring customers etc and maybe mention in your "about me" section on your website how youve branched out and had training etc.  EC is a respected company in the field now so having done a course with them should hold some credibility.

The composites industry is a bit strange as theres no formal "accreditation" with most of the skills, you cant go and sign up at technical colleges to do carbon composites courses.  Where you do courses including composites it is generally a wider course such as manufacturing engineering, or materials engineering, or process engineering based courses with a composites module.  So in effect if you want specific training you need to do courses from a respectable company.

i have been a collision repair tech for 25 years and i have been doing my homework and research too. i have lots of links to share for all things composite.
i wont share here but can e mail if you like. there is much to learn and yes in some ways similar to fiberglass but this is a step up in cost and precision and final product.
 come to the states and lets open a shop LOL
i dont want to post links from other suppliers here that would be just wrong, but is it ok to post links to things about composites and how to use and work with them? i mean just general things, not all situations will work we all need to find what will work with our skill levels and our production needs as well.
  Between my work, and my hobby of model building, and my auto knowledge i have a lot to bring to the table.  i also have some ideas of my own to utilize, but again, dont want to encroach on this awesome place. i could share in private messages if anyone wants to share what i have found on the 'net.
have a great night everyone!

Elvis has left the building !!

CarbonFiberCreations

Hi Brasco,

The forum that we provide is split into 2 sections; the Easy Composites Technical Support Forum (where we are now) and then the general Talk Composites forum. In the Talk Composites Forum we leave that to our members to freely discuss what they like including links to articles you've found around the 'net. I've not yet editted or removed a single post in the Talk Composites Forum and I hope I won't ever need to; it is supposed to be a free and open forum and if people want to link to other supplier's products and it's appropriate (not just blatent advertising/commercial posts) then I'm fine with that.

This part fo the forum, the Easy Composites Technical Support Forum, is reserved for the discussion of Easy Composites products and processes, simply because we provide this forum as part of our technical support service and encourage customers to chanel their support questions through here. Customers can expect someone from the Easy Composites staff to read and respond (whereever possible) to enquiries posted here. Other members are welcome to post too (and very often do) but it's expected by us (and probably the people asking the questions) that responses will relate to our products.

All the best with your projects and glad to have you onboard .

Kind regards, Matt

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales