First CF project, how to make mould from this part.


Author
Message
taikuri
taikuri
Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 13, Visits: 167
Hello 

This was my first carbon fiber part ever made. I made plug from my mountainbike downtube, to make a CF basguard around bottom bracket. Plug came out nicely and i made first part from it, which was Ok, but of course the upperside (visible side ) of that bashguard was not nice smooth finish unlike the other side. 

How would one make a mould out of that plug, which would be 1,5mm bigger all around ? So i could make this bashguard 1,5mm thick and with nice finish on a visible side?
Now i had to sand it a bit, and tried to put one more layer of epoxy for nice shiny top coat, but it failed, epoxy did not stick evenly, dry spots came when it dried. Is this because of some contamination ? http://www.talkcomposites.com/Uploads/Images/e44b1ea8-beb5-4304-b89b-3a1d.jpg
http://www.talkcomposites.com/Uploads/Images/15293570-3d78-4b77-9e78-d462.jpg
Here is the end product now, i sanded the uneven epoxy away and put satin clear coat. 
But im not happy with it, would like to make proper mold for this bashguard.

Any tips are welcome

thanks
scottracing
scottracing
Supreme Being (2.6K reputation)Supreme Being (2.6K reputation)Supreme Being (2.6K reputation)Supreme Being (2.6K reputation)Supreme Being (2.6K reputation)Supreme Being (2.6K reputation)Supreme Being (2.6K reputation)Supreme Being (2.6K reputation)Supreme Being (2.6K reputation)
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 460, Visits: 5.2K
Buy some modelling wax. It comes in different thicknesses, you lay that on the plug making sure its smooth then lay up the other half of the tool onto it. 
Easy 2 piece mould once you remove the wax you have the cavity for laying your part.
Dravis
Dravis
Supreme Being (3.2K reputation)Supreme Being (3.2K reputation)Supreme Being (3.2K reputation)Supreme Being (3.2K reputation)Supreme Being (3.2K reputation)Supreme Being (3.2K reputation)Supreme Being (3.2K reputation)Supreme Being (3.2K reputation)Supreme Being (3.2K reputation)
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 592, Visits: 1.9K
or, now that you have made the CF part nice and smooth on the outside, just wax it very carefully place it on the plug and make a new "female" mould on top of it..

Then you have a mould of both sides of the piece, and you can use the plug for compressing the wet layup in the new mould .  (I'm assuming you did this as a wet-lay without vacuum?)

If you have a vac kit/setup then just do a wet-lay and vac-bag in the new female mould..

"Sapere Aude"... Dare to KNOW!

The written word is the only truly efficient vehicle for transmitting a complex concept from mind to mind...

103% of all people do not understand statistics...

Do not adjust our mind, theres a fault in reality :-)
taikuri
taikuri
Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)Forum Guru (71 reputation)
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 13, Visits: 167
Well its not so nice and smooth from outside, could be so much better, so i dont think it as an option to make female mould from it. 
I used wet layup and vacuum to make it.
Will do so tryouts monday again.
VVS
VVS
Supreme Being (1.1K reputation)Supreme Being (1.1K reputation)Supreme Being (1.1K reputation)Supreme Being (1.1K reputation)Supreme Being (1.1K reputation)Supreme Being (1.1K reputation)Supreme Being (1.1K reputation)Supreme Being (1.1K reputation)Supreme Being (1.1K reputation)
Group: Moderators
Posts: 226, Visits: 334
Easiest way to do it while keeping things simple is to put a layer of peel ply on before vacuuming it, be sure to lay it with no creases then clear coat the textured peel ply afterwards.




forgot to say you also want a layer of perforated film and then a layer of cloth to soak up the excess resin.
Edited 9 Years Ago by VVS
GO

Merge Selected

Merge into selected topic...



Merge into merge target...



Merge into a specific topic ID...




Similar Topics

Reading This Topic

Explore
Messages
Mentions
Search