Hey, I’m new here and completely new to carbon.

My aims/ambitions/targets etc - to be able to carbon skin pretty much anything but nothing on a grand scale. My main focus will be car interior panels.

I’ve bought the starter kit off easy composites and ordered the vacuum bagging kit aswel which based on a few videos it just looked useful for holding the carbon really tightly to the base cost once it’s first been laid.

Will I end up going to a bigger scale? Probably so - I get bored easily and this will merely be a hobby to begin with done from home and I’m having one of my big bedrooms in the house made into my carbon room. . Just need ideas on a work station? The whole house has just had new carpet but that room I’ll get a vinyl floor laid now instead as easier to clean of dust etc. It’s got an en suite which I’ll turn into somewhere I can do all the wet sanding.

Exiting times!!

Welcome to the forum!  working in the house can be difficult.  Epoxies have a very slight odour when in liquid form and while curing and it does depend how sensitive the nose is.  Despite working with resins everyday, I can still smell it in a room but rarely further than that.


Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

So I’ve had a bash today with just a plain square clock so it’s very easy just one piece to layer which I’ve done and all went perfect (obviously as it’s so easy) and the next piece I’ve done is a cup holder that sits in the van that was custom made. A LITTLE bit more intricate but nothing major. This has had its 3rd coat of resin so I’ll be doing the cut outs in the morning and sanding it down and trimming the overhang bits and then it’s final coat .

All I can say is this is INCREDIBLY enjoyable to learn all of this. I look forward to doing some very intricate dash panels and using the vacuum bagging kit that I’ve boufht off easy composites. Not to put resin in but to make sure the carbon sticks to the base coat perfect in all the little crevices and stays there until cured . Will update and the bedrooms getting changed into the carbon room. En suite knocked through to two cupboards that aren’t beside it and a long ‘urinal’ style looking sink for all the wet sanding work. Should be sweet . Also in order an extraction system so that any odour (I can’t even smell it tbh so far) and dust from dry sanding will go straight outside through a filter . Got the idea from what bodybuilding tanning companies use.

Update - loving working with carbon! Made some mistakes I’ve learnt from.

Some questions -

Who uses the XCR basecoat and do you rate it? I personally don’t - it takes hours to get to the tacky point just to be able to lay the carbon on which is time consuming in itself. And it doesn’t stick half as good in my opinion as the sticky spray glue (carpet tile type glue). Especially for intricate detailed areas. Anyone give their opinions?

Next important question is who polishes and who laqeurs ? I want to try using laquer I think it’ll save a lot of time on wet sanding up to such a fine grit and all the polishing too? If so which is the best laquer to use? How many coats is usually needed? And does the laquer need to be wet sanded and polished aswel?

Many many thanks for any input I can get. This is all a big learning curve for me.