have you ever used carbon fiber?

[CopperCone]

I thought this was really interesting



It seems alot nicer and more fun to get into then fiber glass. Have you ever used the material? Why?

It seems like the material is generally cleaner then fiber glass which I kinda see making a buncha dust and shit when you cut it, I don't like dealing with it.

I also wonder if you can use it in conjunction with those stainless steel reinforcement meshes for automotive repair or maybe window screens to make a sorta maybe shitty but robust shield that is all conformal and stuff to augment a painted shield layer.

[digsys]

We use it to to make pretty much 80% of our Solar car. Depending on which axis you want the strength, will determine the grain orientation of the layers.
Also, if you don't want shards of sharp "steel", in a crash, you add 1-2 layers of Kevlar. You can also mix other materials to customize properties.
Our top layer is fully coated in solar cells, which is why there are NO carbon fiber structures, just Kevlar and other mixes.
It's actually pretty cheap and easy material to use, once someone shows you.
Edit: Pretty much ALL solar cars, and specialty cars these days are mostly carbon fiber.

[CopperCone]

hmm what happens to it during a crash without the kevlar?

[digsys]

hmm what happens to it during a crash without the kevlar?

Picture the knife ... 100's of them ... embedding your body :-)  Even though I say it is easy to use, you do need to run structural failure analysis.
ok If you run at least 2+ cross weaves (if NOT using kevlar), it's not so bad :-) Anyway, Kevlar sheets are just as easy to use as well.

[CopperCone]

man thats scary it sounds like it would be horrible in some kind of explosion, it sounds like steel spalling, kevlar is heavy right? so it bypasses the point

[digsys]

man thats scary it sounds like it would be horrible in some kind of explosion, it sounds like steel spalling ...

Naaa not really, most planes have huge % of carbon fiber / kevlar. We often get their offcuts :-) It's like any technology, know its foibles.

... kevlar is heavy right? so it bypasses the point

Absolutely not, can come in the same wrap sheets, and is a little lighter, PLUS you can exchange it for 1 layer of carbon fiber.

[rdl]

Kevlar is not PTFE. It's not even very similar other than being a polymer.

[awallin]

Anyway, Kevlar sheets are just as easy to use as well.

Note that unlike glassfibre and carbon, kevlar is essentially impossible to machine/sand/modify after the epoxy has set. By sanding, grinding, or sawing on kevlar you will just remove the epoxy and leave a the fuzzy kevlar fibres more or less stuck to the part...
In that sense working with kevlar is more difficult.

[digsys]

Note that unlike glassfibre and carbon, kevlar is essentially impossible to machine/sand/modify after the epoxy has set. By sanding, grinding, or sawing on kevlar you will just remove the epoxy and leave a the fuzzy kevlar fibres more or less stuck to the part...
In that sense working with kevlar is more difficult. 

SHHHH I was hoping for a humorous youtube video :-)

[rdl]

Note that unlike glassfibre and carbon, kevlar is essentially impossible to machine/sand/modify after the epoxy has set. By sanding, grinding, or sawing on kevlar you will just remove the epoxy and leave a the fuzzy kevlar fibres more or less stuck to the part...
In that sense working with kevlar is more difficult.

In the mid 90s I was working as a formulator of kitchen cabinet finishes. My boss dropped a bag of Kevlar fibers on my bench one morning and said "see if you can put this to some use" (apparently he'd had a visit from the DuPont rep a week or so earlier). I played around with it off and on for a month or so, thinking it might be useful as a filler pigment or something similar, but finally gave up because of the problems similar to what you describe. It just didn't sand well and seemed pretty useless as a filler pigment substitute, even in small proportions, because of its fibrous nature. I told my boss unless they could sell us Kevlar powder, I didn't see much hope for it.

[CopperCone]

I have fiber glass powder I add to epoxy to make a filler compound, you can probobly do the same with kevlar so long you don't want to sand it afterwords from the sound of things.

[andyzoo]

It cannot be made for chopping rib bones, right?

[ludzinc]

It seems alot nicer and more fun to get into then fiber glass. Have you ever used the material? Why?

*than

[CopperCone]

It seems alot nicer and more fun to get into then fiber glass. Have you ever used the material? Why?

*than

Yo mama

[CopperCone]

Holy shit guys its a real grammar nazi. I read 1 page of his recent posts and there are like 5 grammar corrections there. I thought they were extinct!

[Jan Finkel]

Some people have an inborn literacy and can't easily see grammatical errors in the text. Another thing is that constantly correcting other people is a mauveton