Just in the process of making my own carbon fibre board. Can anyone point me towards any 'how to' sites for Carbon fibre specifically? or got any tips?

Only just started so JIG almost finished which is a sandwhich job made as a male/female compression mold. Jig made from pine struts with ply covering - got a compound curve happening (both concave & rocker)
Got balsa to use as blank which is about to get squashed for a while but plan to give Divynacell a go as well as soon as I source some.
As for covering haven't decided which cloth to use yet. Want to give carbon a go but told may be ambitious for first attempt.
Probably end up with a very strange object indeed but enjoyed the process so far.

I recently completed a similar board

For the core i used about 4-5 layers divinycell vacuum sandwiched with layers of fibreglass.

After shaping, i vacuum bagged 1 x layer of Carbon fibre and 1 x layer of fibreglass around the whole thing. This was done in two stages (bottom then top).

Vacuum bagging is the way to go for strength, durability and light weight.

Board turned out pretty good, really light and strong.
Cost about $300-400 with fins pads straps etc. Goes well

Was really good fun to make

I photgraphed the whole process (it was meant to be a uni assignment) so if you want to see any photos or want some more info send me an email ([email protected])

I have just finished a baord made table used klegecell 20mm had to buy a full sheet 1.2m/2.4m $220 shared with a mate.3x6oz fiberglass sheet on bottom vacumed bagged bottom.left on table cut out fin area 30mmx 60mm filled with resin mixed with Qcell to keep the weight down .used s/steel 1/4 Tee nuts resined in 6 tee nuts for foot strapes and handle 4 layers of 6 oz on top vacumed baged top.pulled off table cleaned up mixes up resin and Qcell go over hole board to fill in micro holes sand with wet and dry 180 grade the 400 grade spray .
ps epoxy resin longer to work
good luck kevin

kevin

Here Here andyc!! Finish the board before you ride it.

Both of my wood boards were built and given a couple of coats of varnish "just to test them". The plan being to make sure they rode ok, then give em a coat of some nice shiny colour / fancy design.

Both still natural wood, with touchup varnish over a couple of scratches...

Still, who cares how it looks, as long as it rides ok?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Hoots
Andy what sort of balsa did you use and how did you form and laminate the rail?
Jamie.

---

I just bought hobbie shop balsa. 10mm wide so I'd have to build them up like bricks. I began using heaps of 2mm sheets, but then found three 3.5mm sheets was pretty much the same and much easier. If you get to choose your wood then look for the grainiest, darkest stuff possible, it's much stiffer per kg.

I just laminated them into a rectangle and sanded down the rails to a wake style rail. That took a bit of annoying work. Maybe some handy router work would be eaiser.

andyc, I should have also asked:

4) how thick did you make the board

5) how thick did you glass it - ie how many sheets

Cheers

Correction - my balsa is 6.5mm thick (so two layers = 13mm)I should add that I'm not running the second layer right to the rail - I'm going to stop short about 30mm or so just so the main area's of the board experiencing stress are a little thicker. Other reasons are because I'm using plastic fin housing which are 10mm thick and will give me the option to plug fins in for those choppy days. The last reason is the rail itself - I want keep it sharp or at least fairly square like on the Jaime Pro board.

sorry for the slow replies, not my style.

1) how much to make balsa board - ie. price of balsa and glass

It's been a while, but I think the wood cost $40-60? Steve used to stress I should just use dyvinicel foam (like most boards do), but I'm sure balsa is stiffer and stronger for the same weight. However dyvinicel (surely that's not the right spelling) is closed cell foam, so it shouldn't absorb water if cracked, and comes in wide sheets so no brick work required. Shane used to use baloney wood because it was even better strength then balsa, but it all depends if you have access to these things!

2) how did it go

They all worked good. They're all a bit dated in design now, but they all rocked. The last one had glass peeling up (which should have soaked it and ruined it) but it didn't absorb much at all. They're common fault was my inserts sucked (too fidly to put in, often stripped threads or pulled out entirely :( )

3) did you copy another board or go for your own design?

I copied an outline from an old 141 picklefork. Just draw it on a piece of cardboard. The rocker line I just used the constant curve of the wood and raised the tips a certain amount (3.5cm was a nice tail/nose rocker i think? check other boards)

4) how thick did you make the board

after glass and balsa they were about 1.2 - 1.8cm. Remember that the thicker it is, the better the glass/carbon will work at keeping it stiff. Putting glass down the middle won't help because the middle of the structure is under the least amount of tension when flexing the board back and forth.

5) how thick did you glass it - ie how many sheets

Started with 3 on top on bottom. Last board had just 1 on top and 1 on bottom. The balsa was strong enough. The only question was whether it was too flexy or not. But flexy is trendy these days.

Other notes!
Once i screwed thru the board too far with threaded scews. They pushed some wood and glass up into a pimple on the bottom (not broken glass though). I was devastated but the next day (probably after leaving the board in the car) the wood's "memory" and the expoxy's flexibillity had let the bottom return to be pefectly smooth, STOKED!

The first board had an evil twist in it as it came off the mold. People suggested putting it in a jig and dropping it to the bottom of my pool to soak the wood, amongst other crazy car running over related ideas. Eventually I just put the board back in the jig and lightly heated it with a hair drier (actually it was a paint stripper, but same thing). Not too hot to wreck it! but after it cooled it was perfect. Expoxy resin has a certain temp where it will just go liquid and then when it cools it will dry again! cool! I very much doubt that applies to polyester resin.

Also between layers of wood I firstly used just resin, but that was so runny it would soak into the wood and they wouldn't stick well. Then I used a layer of glass between each, but that added weight and the wood didn't stick that well either. THEN I got some expoxy glue powder. It's like q-cell, a very light white powder you add to the epoxy mix. It turns the runny, clear expoxy into a thick paste. Light spread that over the layer of wood, drop the next on top, and they won't let go, EVER! So much easier to work with and so much more effective.

And my final comment: even tho writing replies to you is a nice trip down memory lane, I don't think I will make my own board again. Too much sanding, too much sticky resin and itchy glass in my hands/hair/clothes, plus I was never really 100% satisfied with my final product, because of my lack of skills.

If I was handier with power tools, wood working and the such, then I'd do it for sure. But by working at my normal job I can spend less time to earn enough money to buy a better board. Like a new Addiction board for $850 odd. But it's nice to say I tried!