Originally Posted by
flyer
Carbon fiber isn't that hard to work with but you do have to know what you are doing to see any advantage over a similar layup using S-glass or E-glass.
Start by making a foam buck to experiment with the shape. Probably use some inserted aluminum or CF tubes inside the foam to keep it straight. Once the shape is close, wrap it in fiberglass, then use body filler to tweak the shape and get the lines right. Spray it with epoxy primer and wet sand it glass smooth for mold release. Now use that male buck to pull female molds. They should have some structure to keep everything straight when the buck is removed but that structure should be removable so you can unbolt and flex the mold to release a part. Now you have to figure out a way to align your carbon fiber inside the mold during the lay up, fill the core with expanding foam and make it strong enough without adding excess weight.
Or you could cut corners, make crappy molds and use it to just mold a foam core with some built in supports, sand it smooth, wrap that with fiberglass, do some body work and then paint.
The virtue of the crappy method is that you don't risk voids and areas that don't wet out. It's cheaper and faster too.
The downside is that you are not going to get a gelcoat type finish, it will probably weight a few ounces more and it might not be quite as stiff.
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