Top 3 Things to Know About DIY Carbon Fiber Fabricating

You have seen the YouTube videos depicting DIY hobbyists creating their own carbon fiber parts at home. You have seen your favorite hobbyists create everything from drone rotor blades to car body parts. Maybe you’ve thought to yourself, “I can do that!”

It turns out that carbon fiber fabricating is not as easy as it looks. Nothing ever is. Creating the perfect part takes knowledge, practice, and skill. It also requires patience. You cannot rush through the fabricating process if you want to end up with a quality part on the other end.

According to Rock West Composites out of Salt Lake City, Utah, DIY fabricating is quite popular. They sell carbon fiber fabricating supplies to DIY hobbyists all the time. They say you really have to know what you’re doing. Hobbyists need to be especially cognizant of the three things described below.

1. The Tooling

Hobbyists often refer to their molds in YouTube videos. What they call a mold the composites industry refers to as a tool. Regardless of the word you prefer, a tool is essentially a form over which carbon fiber fabric and resin are placed. Your finished part takes the same shape as the tool. What does this tell you? That creating the perfect part means getting the tooling right.

There are times when DIY fabricating is possible using premade tools. These are tools you can buy online or from local fabricators. On the other hand, there are times when hobbyists have to build their own tools. This is where things get tricky. Building a good tool is as much art as it is science.

Tools can be made of wood, styrofoam, or just about any other material that will hold its shape. They also have to be treated prior to fabrication so that finished parts can easily be separated after curing.

2. Resin Impregnation

What makes a finished carbon fiber part so strong is the combination of carbon fiber fabric and epoxy resin. A hobbyist’s primary goal during the layup process is to ensure that every layer of fabric is consistently impregnated with resin across its entire surface. Inconsistent impregnation leads to poor quality parts.

For this reason, some hobbyists prefer to use prepregs – pieces of carbon fiber fabric that come impregnated from the factory. Others use a roller to distribute resin more evenly as a layup proceeds. Still others choose to vacuum bag their layups to remove air and evenly distribute resin.

Regardless of how impregnation is accomplished, it really needs to be consistent throughout the layup. The last thing you want are air bubbles that could leave behind internal cavities that could eventually result in catastrophic failure.

3. Curing is the Linchpin

Finally, it is important that hobbyists understand the importance of curing. Combining carbon fiber fabric and epoxy resin only results in a high-quality part when a layup is allowed to cure properly. Most hobbyists cure under ambient temperatures. They simply set their layups aside and allow them to cure over time.

Those who cannot afford to wait the extra time might cure their parts in some kind of oven. Temperatures up to 250°F can speed up the curing process considerably. However, it is important to understand how a given combination of fabric and resin will stand up to heat curing. This is something to think about before choosing the resin for a given project.

DIY carbon fiber fabrication is not only possible, it is also done all the time. With some education and practice, just about anyone can create their own carbon fiber parts of home.