Ok I know it has been done but I don't know how yet. When you look at some really nice carbon pieces often you see a nice joint between two pieces of carbon that has been placed in the mold. It is obviously not just cut with a pair of scissors and layed down.

Are the two pieces stitched together like  seam in clothing. So that once layed down the frayed edges don't show because they are inside the laminate?

Lets say you are going to place your carbon cloth in a bowl shaped mold. If you cut your carbon in triangular shapes and put them in your mold you would have a freyed look at the joints.

Any advice.

Thanks

Fred 

this is done by using either pre-preg or a product called pro finish carbon cloth... https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/200g-profinish-coated-22-twill-3k-carbon-fibre-cloth 

Well thank you very much. The prepreg did occurr to me but the other stuff you mentioned I didn't know existed.

Thats great news and I will have to try it. I suppose carbon tape over the seams would work as well.

Fred 

First choice would be prepreg of course, the pro finish i have not tried but heard good things. What you could try and what I will try infact, is to use a little spray glue (epoxy based) along the seam of where you are going to cut and then letting it tack, to get a sharp edge.

You could of course use some masking tape, it would have to stay in the laminate then.

good luck!

To add to that, I saw you mentioned the carbon tape, a strip of that with spray glue along the seam sounds promising too. You may need to take added thickness in account and work that into subsequent layers.

You are probably best off trying some pro-finish!

Tack spray before you cut! Good idea!

Thanks for that.

Fred

I have not tried this. (And have no connection to the company.) But I was wondering if this could be used to tape before cutting to hold edges together?
I would have thought it would be better than the masking tape option.

http://www.everbuild.co.uk/fibatape

Another trick that I have just stumbled upon is to stick one piece of reinforcement on to the back of another with a little spray tack prior to layup, making a 2 ply fabric that cuts dead sharp and is almost impossible to distort. You will lose a little drape with this method, but no more than you would with the Pro-Finish or the Alu-Fibre...

Kev.