+x

 

Chris Rogers - 5/28/2020 2:50:14 AM

If you're looking at trying prepregs you might find some of the stuff in my post useful:  https://explorecomposites.com/articles/lamination/basics-laminating-with-pre-pregs/

There's a link in there to another post about building ovens (cheap). 

A used electric oven should work fine if you can handle the fact that it doesn't mix the air so the temperatures can be very uneven.  Should be able to supplement with a few thermocouples to give some visibility on whats going on with the actual part temperature.  From a heating perspective it is way overkill - but nice and safe to operate compared to home-made stuff.

+x

 

Steve Broad - 5/27/2020 6:41:40 PM

+x

 

Castle Works Motorsports - 5/27/2020 1:41:33 PM

Hi,
I am new to  carbon fiber parts, but want to give it a try and start with some small parts.
I am comfortable creating 3D parts in CAD, I have CNC mills and able to create molds.

I would like to try some prepreg  parts but unsure about  what to use when it comes to an oven.  Can you simple use a conventional kitchen oven (assuming vacuum could be plumbed into it). What problems would I encounter?

If  a conventional oven cannot be used, what do most use starting out?  I would prefer not to invest in the cost of an oven specifically designed for curing CF parts until I know this is sometime I would like to do more of.

Thanks,
Kevin

I bought a conventional electric oven from ebay and have used it for many years for small parts. Plumbing in the vacuum is simply a matter of drilling a hole in the side :-)  The main disadvantage of a domestic oven is the rather course temperature control compared to a PID controller. However I have had great results by raising the temperature manually approx 3 degrees C a minute using a hand held temp gauge. In fact, for simple things like brackets I simply turn the temp up until the orange light, the one that tells me the oven is below the set temp, comes on, wait until it goes out and repeat until the oven reaches the required temperature.

You can make quite big things in a basic oven.

+x

 

Castle Works Motorsports - 5/27/2020 1:41:33 PM

Hi,
I am new to  carbon fiber parts, but want to give it a try and start with some small parts.
I am comfortable creating 3D parts in CAD, I have CNC mills and able to create molds.

I would like to try some prepreg  parts but unsure about  what to use when it comes to an oven.  Can you simple use a conventional kitchen oven (assuming vacuum could be plumbed into it). What problems would I encounter?

If  a conventional oven cannot be used, what do most use starting out?  I would prefer not to invest in the cost of an oven specifically designed for curing CF parts until I know this is sometime I would like to do more of.

Thanks,
Kevin