Hi,




Been doing polyester and glass products for a while now but new to carbon and infusion, having a few issues which you guys hopefully can help me with.

Following pictures have been taken in different light and angles to shoe the problem, which I can only describe as voids!

Some details:

Mould is epoxy construction gelcoat+putty, infusion stack is 2 layers carbon 200g +2 glass mat 100g + 1 carbon 200g + peel ply +woven mesh + stretch bagging material. Have tried with a layer of clear gelcoat and without, with gelcoat are the voids you can see on the pictures without and leaves gaps between strands of carbon without resin. Vacuum is good, no leaks and all product procedures are followed.

Here are the pictures 




What is going on here in your option?




Thanks




Chris.

That looks like the fabric is bridging across the corner. It's just a case of being more careful when laying into the mould

I would say exactly the same as ajb100

Matthieu Libeert
Founder MAT2 Composites X Sports
website: www.mat2composites.com

Ok, thanks for the answers, still does not explain why this happening all over the surface of the parts I make, not as big as what you have seen on the pictures but all over the surface. Your answers have made me think that I forgot to mention I use Profinish carbon mat which has binder backing to stop misalignment of fibres, could that be the cause as fibres cannot be shaped or 'pressed' down properly by the vacuum, as they are held in place by binder?




Thanks for your thoughts.




Chris.

Yes I've had issues with that before. To be honest, I don't really like the set-weave fabrics these days. Not for making complete parts anyway, I do like them for cutting strips for decorative surface patterns, but when laying up the whole part itself I much prefer to use standard fabrics. It only takes a bit of practice to learn to handle the fabrics in a way that doesn't distort the weave, and they are much more forgiving when it comes to bridging, which destroys a part much more than a slightly pulled weave.

I use pro finish extensively and rarely have voids now... I have had them similar to the pics above but it has always been when I havnt got the cloth laid in the mould perfectly which is quite easy to do.