How do you lay carbon fiber?

one time when I was in a rush i made a mold by putting the batteries and ESC on the board and vacuum bagging them and then using that as the mold.

it wasn’t super pretty but I needed some thing fast and its still rocking today.

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I like it! Simple and looks like it’s protecting them well! How many layers of CF did you use?

That looks quite cool lowguido! I don’t get why you think it’s not pretty. If I saw it from a side view the only thing that would make me know it’s electric is the motor. Everything is hidden nicely. Very sleek!

yeah Lox part of my aim was to be kinda stealth.

on one of my builds I painted the bracket black so it doesnt stand out as much. I think the next one I do im gonna try and hide the batteries inside the deck somehow…

@sl33py I used 2 layers of carbon.

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Thanks LG!

So i kept watching the video and wondering why you were skating on the left side… then checked that you are in Canberra/Australia. Makes a lot more sense! Odd how even w/ a skateboard what seems the “right” side. hehehe

@lowGuido Are you Aussie? I am from Mlebourne. Maybe we could meet up one time.

Yeah I guess it all comes down to what you are used to. I notice people even walk on the left side of the sidewalk down here. when I was in the US I kept walking on the left and wondering why I was bumping into everyone.

@lox897 if you are ever in Canberra hit me up. Im always keen for a skate.

oh also want to point out that that video was made 9 months ago It was my first proper video of my prototype board that board had a $40 ESC with brakes disabled so I was a bit conservative. I have built more and improved components since then and I’m a lot more reckless now :stuck_out_tongue:

Alright. I don’t know when I will be at Canberra but if I ever am I will tell you.

Good to see some more aussie eboard makers…

Well what do you know. Talking about carbon boxes and I go skateboards today and I split 2 of the bolt holes that hold my box on. Made some on-the-go repairs and kept going but I went home and started some repairs on the carbon fibre this afternoon.

so this is the split (I added the washer after. it didnt help)

I made some quick modifications with whatever I could find

this random bracket surprisingly lasted the rest of the skate.

went home to start on the repairs, (you may notice my box has easily enough room for another pair of 8000mAh lipo’s although with the current 22km range I have never needed more.)

I got some small carbon fibre off cuts that were laying around and epoxy’d them on top and bottom of the split hole.

i’ll sand them down flush and re drill once the epoxy has set.

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Nice work and that CF looks beautiful.

Have you though about adding a simple neoprene gasket or similar soft foam? To help with vibrations and also seal up some of the dust as a bonus. Just around the edge i think it might help!

I’m almost embarrassed to ask… but this is an aesthetics post right? Has anyone tried out carbon fiber vinyl? Obviously it provides none of the structural benefits of real CF, but it seems like the look and appearance of CF can be replicated this way. Car detailers do it a lot. It appears to be a simple solution if one only wants something to “look” like CF. I was surprised by how closely you can get it to hug corners with just a heat gun.

i could be grossly mistaken… but it looks as if @lowGuido’s pintail deck was vinyled and only the boxes are CF.

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True story. My deck is just standard 9 ply covered with carbon look vinyl. It is only the box that is real carbon.

I have toyed with the idea of making a full carbon deck. But havent gone there just yet.

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@lowGuido any tips on good vinyl to use? I wasn’t sure if it would mount to wood. Did you have to sand the paint off of your board first? I found a deck with the perfect shape and stiffness, but U-G-L-Y graphics. I was thinking I would spray paint it or use vinyl like this to cover it up.

The best carbon vinyl is 3m all the way. You will have no problem applying it directly to the wood. So long as you thoroughly prep the area first. 3m also has an adhesive promoter that brushes on before applying the vinyl. I like to use it specially in any nooks and crannies that you want the vinyl to stick to.

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I sanded one board before applying the vinyl and the other board i didn’t. The board that I didnt sand has started to lift around the edges. so I guess sand and clean the board first.

I have used 3m vinyl as well as many other different no name brand ones. its hit and miss. I did get one no name brand that was as good as the 3m and a fraction of the cost, but I also got another that was rubbish.

the stuff that was good as 3m was this stuff: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BRAND-NEW-3D-Carbon-Fibre-Car-Vinyl-Wrap-Sticker1270mm-X-3000mm-FreeSqueegee-OZ-/161278333507?hash=item258cf01243 thats whats on my decks.

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Thanks @King1017 and @lowGuido. When you say that you sanded your board first, do you mean that you sanded it down to bare wood and then applied the adhesive promoter, or do you mean that you scuffed the painted surface for better adhesion? I’m going to give this a try on my new deck! Great solution to ugly graphics!