How to Handcraft Carbon Fiber Auto Parts

Carbon fiber auto parts are nearly as strong as steel, but only one-fifth the weight, and these lighter vehicles accelerate faster and use less fuel. So, carbon fiber not only provides excellent vehicle styling, but also makes the vehicle perform better. And these customized spoilers, bumpers or other parts can also make the car more aerodynamic.

Carbon fiber raw material is a cloth, but it is tightly woven with fine threads of pure carbon, which turns the material into a hard car part. Now we start with wax paste. We first apply wax paste to the fiberglass mold. This is the mold for making the curved panel of the vehicle. The wax paste will seal the mold and also be a non-stick coating.

Then we use tape to protect the edges of the mold. Then spray polyvinyl alcohol into the fiberglass mold. Now we lay the carbon fiber material, spread the material first, and then spray it with a special spray adhesive for the material. The spray adhesive is used to fix the multiple layers of carbon fiber material.

Although the mold is coated with a non-stick coating, we want to keep this piece of cloth attached to the mold temporarily. Now, we stick the carbon fiber material into the mold. Then carefully press it tightly without any wrinkles, and repeat the process with 7 more pieces of cloth.

Then, a permeable material called a distribution medium is laid over the carbon fiber stack, and then a plastic mesh is laid over the distribution medium to guide the resin.

Then, double-sided tape is applied to the edges, and now a plastic bag is used to cover the mold to form a seal.

When the vacuum machine is turned on to suck out the air, the plastic bag will compress the stack in the mold, and we will use a catalyst to activate the epoxy resin. Then, one end of the hose is placed in the resin and the other end is connected to the vacuum bag. As the vacuum machine continues to suck out the air from the plastic bag, it will suck the resin into the bag as well.

The epoxy resin will then penetrate the 7 layers of carbon fiber material and form them into the shape of the car part. When the epoxy resin is cured, it can be removed from the mold. After we need to clean the part, we can see the combination of epoxy resin and multiple layers of carbon fiber cloth.

One of the characteristics of carbon fiber is that it can be molded into almost any shape.