Anyone any experience and guidance...

want to make a mould/carbon parts for the car and this is the best/cheapest way I can do it...

Would appreciate any help before I go laying out on expensive tooling etc...

Hi Rob,

From my experience the tooling costs can be quite cheap to very expensive, depending on how you intend to make the carbon parts? If you want to go down the F1 type route of pre impregnated layup, then the biggest costs involved are potentially in buying/finding an autoclave to give you the right temperatures and pressures to form the parts?

In my experience of moulding fibre glass.......unless you intend to run off a number of mouldings it isnt worth the expense just to do one.
Better off just buying one.

I dont know if this works out the same with carbon fibre.  Just a thought....

Personally, unless I intended making lots of the same item, I would buy it pre-made.

I don't know how easy it would be to get a perfect finish that carbon fibre deserves with home made moulds and dare I say inexperienced hands

Might cost more in the long run if it all goes wrong, Just my 2 pence.

this is what I've been thinking, but I kinda want to have a go...

one of those things...

The cars finished, I'm ready for an exciting season... and I want to get on with it.. in short I'm bored with the waiting

If its not a critical part of the car and its not too expensive - then have a go.

You may end up with a few customers on here

Don't under estimate just how difficult it is to make a perfect carbon part, whether in woven or unidirectional carbon. To do it properly and to achieve a shiny resin rich surface, you have to vacuum the part and then cure using an autoclave.

Quote from: RobC on 11, March, 2011, 02:20:11 PM
this is what I've been thinking, but I kinda want to have a go...

one of those things...

The cars finished, I'm ready for an exciting season... and I want to get on with it.. in short I'm bored with the waiting

If its for the experience also of making one then have a go....  If the result is fine then let it be known and you could possibly sell more on ebay.....

I did this years ago with go kart seats before the money people came into karting and ruined it for the working man.....

I made one for my class 4 kart, with 4 gears and high speeds I needed a seat to hold me in, ( A bucket seat) so I moulded wire netting that I sat in that came up the side of my legs.  Then layered it with glass fibre.   After a clean up and a coat of paint it looked fantastic.
After that I had orders coming for more custom made seats moulded to the owners own back side.    A perfect fit....
I recall I made twenty five to thirty of them.....

So maybe you could do the same if all turns out OK....  Good Luck.....

Quote from: 'The Gaffer' on 11, March, 2011, 02:57:57 PM
If its not a critical part of the car and its not too expensive - then have a go.

You may end up with a few customers on here

You have just took the words from my mouth while writing my other post.... ....

the bits I am thinking of making are parts that I know may well get damaged over and over this season... ie. my splitter

So the final finish is secondary to it actually working...

The people locally to talk to with experience and facilities are Dave at Track Developments for Carbon Fibre and Eddie at Dynamic Mouldings at Iron Acton for GRP.  Both are experienced with the materials and will be happy to give you guidance if you want to have a go yourself.  They may also be worth asking for a quote it could be cheaper then you think given that they have all the facilities.

Go for it Rob, I did my scoops last year, the main problem I had was separating the mould from the plug , and I know colin is making his carbon seats at the moment and has hit the same problem

I started it all using paper mache to take a mould from the car then worked up to GRP, they turned out great in the end   

Quote from: RobC on 11, March, 2011, 02:20:11 PM
The cars finished, I'm ready for an exciting season... and I want to get on with it.. in short I'm bored with the waiting

If you're that bored mate you can come and finish my car for me

JB

I made a mould for a motorbike fairing a couple of years ago as my brother raced a bike and got through 3 fairings in 1  year.
I bought a book which went through it step by step.
The mould took quite a long time to make as you have to let each stage dry.
As long as you have got a good pattern it is straight forward.
I have not used carbon so i can't answer for that.
Here is a link to a photo of one of my fairings on my bike.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn196/tonny006/DSC00097.jpg

Quote from: tony.g on 13, March, 2011, 08:44:10 AM
Here is a link to a photo of one of my fairings on my bike.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn196/tonny006/DSC00097.jpg

Impressive