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Carbon Fiber Fenders?


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i was wondering.... I've seen some sets of carbon fiber fenders on egay recently. Would this interest anyone? I think they look slick. My brother has been making engine covers out of some awesome colored carbon. i bet i could make a set for cheap. It's not easy though :confused:

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i was wondering.... I've seen some sets of carbon fiber fenders on egay recently. Would this interest anyone? I think they look slick. My brother has been making engine covers out of some awesome colored carbon. i bet i could make a set for cheap. It's not easy though :confused:

I have made a coiuple sets...............it's a waste of material in cost vs. benefit department. You are better off with a fiber class with a screen printed cotton graphic layer on top......................Pretty much the only reason anyone would do carbon fenders is for looks. :confused:

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I'd have to disagree bro.... This stuff is really strange. If I can do it right with the absorbant I could get away with a flexable (to a piont... but not unlike plastic break piont) set of really cool looking fenders. Besides what are fenders for besides looks?

 

My bro made a cross ovr tube for a ls1 vette and the first layer felt as light as a balloon and flexable like a rubbermaid can. hard to explain. kind of like contruction paper feeling yet bounced right back to shape.... strange

 

carbon-1.jpg

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I'd have to disagree bro.... This stuff is really strange. If I can do it right with the absorbant I could get away with a flexable (to a piont... but not unlike plastic break piont) set of really cool looking fenders. Besides what are fenders for besides looks?

 

My bro made a cross ovr tube for a ls1 vette and the first layer felt as light as a balloon and flexable like a rubbermaid can. hard to explain. kind of like contruction paper feeling yet bounced right back to shape.... strange

Does absorbant = breather cloth? The elacticity of any composite is a property of the matrix and not the fiber. If you want to be light and flexible a fine layer of 'glass with a vinylester resin, and a top sheet graphic is probably the best way to go. As always the VARTM process is probably the best process to use, but a simple vacuum bag setup will probably do the trick too if you are on a budget. :geek:

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Does absorbant = breather cloth?

 

maybe...?...? The stuff I mean is only there to take out the extra epoxy, so there is the perfect amount of resin:carbon ratio. This makes it strong and light. But also allows it to be a bit flexable.... well depending on how many layers of carbon. Think of a piece of glass.... think glass will flex easier than layers of think glass. I was thinking 3 layers would be perfect for a set of fairings. I don't know. I'd say it's worth a try. I'm always down for fun shit to do. Just lacking the time until these contractors are outta my work area. (contruction at work = 7 day work weeks to cover them incase something happens).

 

BTW the pic above of the cross-over tube is the blue stuff... can't tell until the sun hits it. Cool huh!?! I think so. :biggrin:

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BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

 

youtube... :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

 

It's my favortie 3 minute flick... I can post the whole thing if you like.

 

I found some carbon/colored kevlar material for 34.95 per yard (50" wide though) which makes it the perfect size for the rears. Might need a bit more for the fronts. i wanna make a full front though not just a race face. I need fenders on my trails. I've been really going through this and what I'll need to do it right. I've learned quite a bit watching my bro do 3-d shit. It's extremely hard to do without a "real" mold. Which would be made from aluminum, and an autoclave (vacuum oven) do make them super tough. From what I've been reading epoxy resin is super flexable. So this could work out pretty good. It was covered in the article of course.

 

we have huge airbags at work we use to keep the pallets of sauce from dumping over. These work AWESOME as a vacuum bag because they are thick vynil. even a small pump does a good job. A 200w heat lamp and a carbon mold to pull from....bada-bing. All for about $250 in materials and crap.

 

I can't wait to give it the green light.

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