Carbon Fiber Layup with Mould 3D Printer

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Carbon Fiber Layup with Mould 3D Printer

Carbon Fiber Layup with Mould 3D Printer

Author	Message
vieteejais	vieteejais posted 5 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 1, Visits: 140	+x Lester Populaire - 5/19/2018 8:06:17 AM I just have some pictures of printed positive moulds on hand and thought i would share them. printed in PLA on a Prusa printer. second layer of spray filler sanded to 800 grid with tooling gel coat finished mould (made with vacuum infusion) and the first part first part close up. Finish straight out of the mould. Another project with the bar and the lower mould have printed to get an accurate split line exactly in the center of the bar. this is how the first mould have is made, then the lower part is removed and a composite mould is made instead. And a close up of the finish. getting a really smooth finish and decent dimensional accuracy is really easy even with a relatively big layer height. I hope this helps. Cheers, Reto Hello! This looks very promising. I know it is old post but did not wanted to make new. Lester, can you comment on the finishing layers after 3D printed mold with filler is sanded? I suggest there is at least some kind of epoxy layer and release agent to use it either for hand layup straight in 3d printed mold of making female mold by applying gel coat? Thanks!
	Reply Like 4
Lester Populaire	L Lester Populaire posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
L Group: Forum Members Posts: 311, Visits: 13K	+x KOSTAS - 9/13/2018 4:23:53 PM one question : By printing my mold in PLA is it possible the exothermic reaction of curing resin to reach 60C or above that could soften my mold and ruin my cast? How can i suppress the rising of curing resin temperature in order to avoid such a possibility ? Yes, entirely possible but depends on the resin system and layer thickness. I make most of my molds with vacuum infusion and with those slow resins it is typically not an issue even for a very sturdy mould. Otherwise you can always laminate in two goes or when hand laminating just wait a little in-between resin batches
	Reply Like 5
KOSTAS	KOSTAS posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 30, Visits: 244	one question : By printing my mold in PLA is it possible the exothermic reaction of curing resin to reach 60C or above that could soften my mold and ruin my cast? How can i suppress the rising of curing resin temperature in order to avoid such a possibility ?
	Reply Like 4
Lester Populaire	L Lester Populaire posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
L Group: Forum Members Posts: 311, Visits: 13K	+x KOSTAS - 9/12/2018 6:02:02 PM +x Lester Populaire - 5/30/2018 9:24:47 PM +x scottracing - 5/30/2018 11:14:56 AM what layer height did you use on the PLA print? And did you sand it prior to the first coat of primer? The finished part looks brilliant, is that a flax/hemp material you made the part from? I usually print with a Layer height of 0.15 to 0.2mm and give it a light sand to get rid of small bumps where a new layer started and any things like that. Then usually two coats of heavy filler and one coat of finishing filler with wet sanding is enough to get a good finish. The part is made from Bcomp's ampliTex 5040 fabric. 0.15 layer height !!!! How many hours did it take you to print this bar mold ? Many. But it's not like I was watching it...
	Reply Like 4
KOSTAS	KOSTAS posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 30, Visits: 244	+x Lester Populaire - 5/30/2018 9:24:47 PM +x scottracing - 5/30/2018 11:14:56 AM what layer height did you use on the PLA print? And did you sand it prior to the first coat of primer? The finished part looks brilliant, is that a flax/hemp material you made the part from? I usually print with a Layer height of 0.15 to 0.2mm and give it a light sand to get rid of small bumps where a new layer started and any things like that. Then usually two coats of heavy filler and one coat of finishing filler with wet sanding is enough to get a good finish. The part is made from Bcomp's ampliTex 5040 fabric. 0.15 layer height !!!! How many hours did it take you to print this bar mold ?
	Reply Like 9
scottracing	scottracing posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 460, Visits: 5.2K	looks really good,we have been trialling some of the bcomp material at work and finding its not as good as it says on the tin,but i think for non structural applications like bodywork it should be good,i especially like the power ribs such a great and simple idea
	Reply Like 8
Warren (Staff)	Warren (Staff) posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Administrators Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 8.5K	Nice to see some natural fibres being used. How does it compare stiffness wise? Most natural fibres seem very poor compared to more advanced composite fibres - albeit usually the environmental credentials or different looks are usually more of a priority. Warren Penalver Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant
	Reply Like 8
Lester Populaire	L Lester Populaire posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
L Group: Forum Members Posts: 311, Visits: 13K	+x scottracing - 5/30/2018 11:14:56 AM what layer height did you use on the PLA print? And did you sand it prior to the first coat of primer? The finished part looks brilliant, is that a flax/hemp material you made the part from? I usually print with a Layer height of 0.15 to 0.2mm and give it a light sand to get rid of small bumps where a new layer started and any things like that. Then usually two coats of heavy filler and one coat of finishing filler with wet sanding is enough to get a good finish. The part is made from Bcomp's ampliTex 5040 fabric.
	Reply Like 8
scottracing	scottracing posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 460, Visits: 5.2K	what layer height did you use on the PLA print? And did you sand it prior to the first coat of primer? The finished part looks brilliant, is that a flax/hemp material you made the part from?
	Reply Like 9
Dezer	Dezer posted 7 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 74, Visits: 1.8K	+x SleepingAwake - 5/19/2018 8:06:17 AM I just have some pictures of printed positive moulds on hand and thought i would share them. printed in PLA on a Prusa printer. second layer of spray filler sanded to 800 grid with tooling gel coat finished mould (made with vacuum infusion) and the first part first part close up. Finish straight out of the mould. Another project with the bar and the lower mould have printed to get an accurate split line exactly in the center of the bar. this is how the first mould have is made, then the lower part is removed and a composite mould is made instead. And a close up of the finish. getting a really smooth finish and decent dimensional accuracy is really easy even with a relatively big layer height. I hope this helps. Cheers, Reto This will help me a lot, for sure! Many thanks friend!
	Reply Like 8