Look: for 1) epoxy resin and if you want protect it from UV (so that does not getting yellow afterwards) get also 2) coating epoxy with UV protection
I just want to say from all the great and cool things I’ve learned in this forum so far this Ghetto Vacuuming just blows my mind. I am new here and I’m just learning how to build my own board and here I was thinking I would need crazy expensive material to do some of those amazing looking carbon laminates. If you could make a proper guide with video or images and where to get these materials I would be in your debt. I know the epoxy material I can get local and should be easy to find. My question is which type of carbon cloth do I need and where to get such a thing.
@ninja looking forward to a detailed build !
I’m all about the ghetto-solutions that look great in the end.
@ninja Yes please a tutorial would be amazing! After looking at so many amazing builds using vacuum pumps from the likes of @whitepony, @mastercho, @unik and many many others I was almost resigned to the fact that I would never be able to do that without buying some really expensive gear. If you made a tutorial for this I’m sure many members would hugely benefit from it 
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Anyone know where we can get the material in the US? Ive done this kind of molding before for insulation work and i have been wanting to try it for myself just need the material lol
Is 1 Kg resin enough for this project?
Use this for laminating http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/resin-gel-silicone-adhesive/epoxy-resin/EL2-epoxy-laminating-resin.html , that you showed is for infusion.
And use this for coating http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/resin-gel-silicone-adhesive/epoxy-resin/GlassCast-Clear-Epoxy-Surface-Coating-Resin.html
You don’t need to buy hardener, because it is already added in tke kit 
Buy these! You really don’t need just 1kg of one kind of resin. One for laminating, other for coating. Both kits are 500g each. 1kg in total. For enclosure for laminating I’ve used about 120g resin+ coating( it depends how many layers it will be till its smooth. normally it should be 2 layers so 40-50g of coating resin would be for my enclosure, if I added 2 layers)
So with that 500g I can make 4 my enclosures with 4layers CF each. Use same weight resin as weight of your cloth.
Just make sure you choose slow hardener, because there is option of fast one. Fast will be to fast to work with, and I heard that slow harnerer also makes better results !!!
Alright. Could I use the same laminating resin to make a carbon-only longboard? Then I’d buy a larger size. Thanks for your help.
You can make anything you like with it!
except if you want to cast something with it and then you’ll need a resin that can be used thick
I’ve had great luck w/ good prices and quality material from eBay (surprisingly). The seller i found that’s been at a good price with reasonable shipping was Elite Motoring. I have got their fabrics (CF/GF/etc., breather fabric, and membranes - vacuum film, release membrane, perforated, etc.), but haven’t bought their “kit” since i have most of those already.
I like west systems (spendy), and have some total boat i’m going to try soon (much cheaper).
HTH - GL!
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Good lookin out i definitely look into this seller thanks a lot bro
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did you use any wax on the wood when laminating this?
Yes,
I used mold wax
you can use any buffing or polishing wax. Maybe paint it with pva release film too, but probably not necessary.
Tried my hand at ghetto bagging - the cheapo vacuum bags for clothing did not work too well. So I used a roarockit bag. It isn’t big enough to fit my vanguard in as well so for my first attempt I laid the carbon out over my mold on a MDF sheet. I used 1 sheet fibreglass and 2 sheets plain weave 200gsm carbon fibre the epoxy I used is 105 206 west systems (slow hardener). I used a meile vacuum cleaner to suck out the air and plugged the valve with some tacky tap. There still seemed to be a very slight leak so I had to keep revisiting this, using the vacuum and plugging the valve again. For science I clamped a piece of angle on one side.
I bought everything from ebay. The peel ply layer - exciting to remove to see the carbon underneath… not perfect but not discouraging. I don;t think I used enough epoxy. Can see where the peel ply has removed epoxy - the small dots - and large areas which look dry to me. Also the plain weave did not conform to the mold all that well…
The angle straight edge was on the right hand side and definitely helped.
The mold will fit 2 banks of cells - just - I may make the next mold bigger.
Not perfect by any means but functional. I won’t use this one - big learning curve - I thought I had plenty of epoxy on the sheets but thats not the case - the breather ply hardly had any in it at all. Was too worried about the wifes expensive vacuum cleaner!
Am waiting for some twill and will give it another try. Definitely need to vacuum with the mold on the board as the clearances are much too great from being set on a flat surface.
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jebe, just stumbled across this thread. Your enclosure is looking good already.
If you are worried about the vacuum cleaner, use a cheap wine bottle vacuum pump. Think the pressure you are able to achieve is even higher and it fits your valve perfectly fine. Apply the vacuum, then check again 15 min later, and again, …
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What does this jar rig look like?
Kinda like a mason jar with an in and out tapped on top