Carbon Fiber Guide I
Making high gloss flat sheets with common tools and materials

Start by laying out your tools, including a sheet of clean glass at least 4" larger than your largest piece of graphite mat.  Apply some form of mold release to the glass to aid in removal of the laminate later.  At this point mix your resin.  What resin you use depends on on the end application for the part you are making.  In this eaxmple of a flat sheet, that would most likely become a gauge trim piece or a blanking plate, almost any resin will work.  Resin systems can cost from 20 dollars a gallon up to 200 dollars a gallon, so choose one that suits your needs. No matter what resin you use consistency is very important.  The resin and the catalyst must be throughly mixed. 

Ensure the face of the mat is clean from any debris that would mar the finish.  Now, using a push pull motion stretch the fabric until it has a uniform appearance.  This is one of the most important steps.  Once you are happy with the pattern start applying resin.  Start in the middle in work your way out.  The goal here is to use as little resin as possible while wetting out all of the mat.  Excess resin will only make your parts needlessly heavy and weak.  Keep applying resin as needed while working out any air pockets that appear.  Any excess resin should be worked to the sides, and the pattern should be adjusted once more. 

The second layer goes on in the same way as the first.  For the second course use a little less force as not to disturb the underlying layer.  For cosmetic only pieces, two layers of mat is enough.  For trim pieces I usually use three layers, and for body panels 4-5 with a special veil layer that will be discussed in a later review. 


Flip the glass over and assure that the pattern is still intact, and there are no air pockets.  If there are small pockets of trapped air you can push them gently to the sides.  Once the air is removed, lay a large block of wood or another sheet of glass across the top.  This will promote a uniform thickness and aid n the removal of any smaller un-noticed air pockets.  Now allow the resin to partially cure.  Depending on the system you used and the conditions it is curing under, this can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 12 hours. 

Once the resin has cured to a state where it is only slightly tacky, pry up the top block of wood.  At this stage thinners laminates can be trimmed with a razor before they totally cure.  Thicker laminates should be treated much like metal and only cut with fine tooth blades once fully cured.  To remove the graphite from the glass, start at a edge with excess resin.  You can peel up the resin to get the mat started much like you would remove a sticker.  Any exterior trimming can usually be done at this point.  For interior trimming such as producing holes or patterns I suggest waiting at the least 12 hours.  When you watch the video, take note that the entire process takes only 5 minutes of labor.  Total cost on a 12x12 sheet is only a few dollars.  I have made sheets as large as 5sq/ft for use as tail gate trim pieces with these same steps.  Total cost was under 30 dollars.  If you do what most "carbon fiber" companies do and back the piece with fiberglass the same 5sq/ft piece cost less than 10 dollars.  

You can get almost any supply you need for this project from: Fiberglast

Here is a short movie that highlights the process.