Hey Fam,

The PDF file that gives you the directions for the Uni-MOLD system requires 150g of (CSM) with the coupling coat, followed by 450g 0f (CSM) of the tooling resin?...............

I want to use cabon fiber so would insert the correct size weight of (FRP) in place of the (CSM)....?

to complete the Part...or

Is this the foundation or completed tooling for the mold to begin laying carbon fiber laminates parts......

Hi Twista,

Firstly, can I just ask why it is that you want to use carbon fibre to reinforce your mould rather than CSM? - You should find that using the Uni-Mould system and CSM results in a very stiff and very dimensionally stable mould that can even be used for low-medium temperature pre-preg work.

Just to clarify the terminology 'FRP' normally refers to 'Fibre Reinforced Plastic' and can mean any plastic (i.e. epoxy, polyester, vinylester) that has been reinforced with a fibre (i.e. glass, carbon, diolen, kevlar). I think what you're asking about is substituting Chopped Strand Mat (glass fibre) with woven carbon fibre cloth.

If this is what you mean then, yes, in theory you could swap weight for weight glass CSM for woven carbon cloth; it would be massively more expensive to do this and I can't really think of an example of an occasion where I would use this combination myself but technically it would work fine. The one thing to watch out for would be using a woven cloth for your coupling layer (the circa 125g layer) as a woven cloth will be considerably more difficult (if not impossible) to get to follow all the contours of your mould without any bridging or voiding, compared to a chopped strand mat which breaks down completely and should be easy to get down perfectly onto the mould's surface.

For the reinforcement it's 4 layers of 450g CSM all at the same time (not a single layer of 450g). This will result in about 5mm of mould thickness.

I hope this helps,

Matt

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales