Hi there,

I'm new to making CF products and am after some tips on how to achieve a high gloss finish on the peel ply or B side of a small part made with resin infusion. Specifically I'm making custom road cycling shoes using a plaster casts of my feet. I successfully made my first sole on the weekend (laying up the carbon over the foot cast followed by peel ply and a full vacuum bag enveloping the entire foot cast), but have encountered the minor problem of requiring a smooth finish on the inside and outside of a part. I need a smooth finish on the inside so my foot is comfortable, and a neat finish on the outside so it looks good. As you can see from the first two images below, the peel ply leaves a pretty rough finish and I'm guessing from what I've read that thats just what peel ply does no matter what. What can do to make it look good like the third image below? I guess I could make a second carbon mould over the top and use that to sandwich the carbon, but that's too much effort, especially if I want to make shoes for local cyclists to get a bit of cash on the side of my day job. Would painting on some extra resin after moulding and then sanding and buffing it work? 
Further, I imagine I ended up with those big wrinkles on the outside finish because I wast careful about how I applied the peel ply. Tips on getting that smooth are also welcomed (just use adhesive? (cause I didnt!))

Thanks in advance!


 notice the gloss finish inside and outside the shoe

Trying to infuse the part to come out the mould as a single piece with double glossy sides could only possibly work with matched tooling and a core that can flow resin.  Even then it would be difficult to achieve. 

The easiest way would be to resin coat the peel ply finish.  A very quick sand back with 120 grit, avoiding cutting into the carbon itself, will smooth the finish out a bit.  Then you can use something like our XCR Epoxy Coating Resin to apply a single coat over.  Once cured, you can flat it and polish it.

Alternatively, sand it as above, clean and then clear coat it with a clear PU lacquer.  A couple of thick coats should get it nice and smooth with a gloss finish.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant