I've just done some moulding with spread tow cloth and I'm getting odd crease marks on the tows whcih look like it needs ironing.  Having checked back on the roll the marks are there in the dry cloth.  Any ideas on how I can get rid of them?  Really hard to photograph but here's my best go.

Any time I have used tow it is not very cosmetically pleasing at all. I only use it for strength under twill or cloth.

Also don't put a uni directional tow sheet in an infusion stack, it will stop the infusion dead as if it was a layer of release film.

Ask me how I know! 

Fred

Just wondering which spread tow you are using.. I use textreme by http://oxeon.se and the finish is immaculate. The only gotcha is to make sure that the side of the cloth that does not have the binding matrix is the one that faces out.

The tow I was using was all in one direction. The stuff on the site you provided looks interesting. I couldn't find any info on that site in how it can be applied.It does interest me in the weight saving aspect.

If you find out it can be infused or come in prepreg please let use know.

Thanks

Fred

I used EC spread tow cloth.  I do wet lay though (hence the odd pin hole). 

Fred: be careful with prepreg spread tow, its a bit of a pain to shape to the mould.  With dry cloth the tows move quite freely against each other and it shapes easily when I tried pre-preg stuff it was touogh to use and did not form well at all.

Thanks for that info. Do you know if it can be infused?

Thanks

Fred

To me that looks like a shaddow  marking of the backing that would originally have been on the UD sheet before manufacture.  Many UD type sheets have a fine supporting net of thread either within the UD or on the back of it. The ones ive seen look just like that criss cross pattern.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

Ah, that makes sense.  Can it be hidden at all?  The reason I ask is becuase I want to make a hard top roof from it and I'd like it to look nice.  This is an undertray so isn't really that important!

Not sure it could be hidden from visibility at close range. I wouldnt recomment ironing the carbon!!!

You would have to see on a test piece how the fibres react when wetted out.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

Thanks Warren.  I wasn't serious about ironing it, its just the appearance that looks like creases.  I'll see how my undertray looks when I've got it all lacquered.