Makin' my own carbon fiber yoke and instrument panel covers

Ordered some ABS plastic carbon fiber and in the process of cutting my own covers. This is a first for me so it might take a couple tries. I'll post some pics when I'm done.

 

It a carbon look ABS plastic, about 2.5 mm thick. I finished cutting and sanding the section yesterday. Now I need to find some type of adhesive to apply to the back of the section. I'll post some pics, hopefully by this weekend.

 

I'm making some of my own using Dragon Plate and a Bridgeport mill. Have drawn the ACAD files needed and converting to MasterCam in the morning.

The Dragon Plate is a beautiful, deep-finish 6K cross-weave carbon material.

I have never seen a substitute for real carbon fiber that looked good to my eye. I hope yours works out well, because certainly ABS is easier to cut and work with.

I suggest 3M VHB 200 series film for your bonding purposes. Completely weatherproof.

 

How do you cut the cf plate without jagged edges, with a razor? I also called Dragon Plate to ask about sanding uneven edges and then buffing to shine. They replied it would be difficult to hide the fiber strands which may fray at the cut edge. If I get some tips on cutting techniques I may do the same myself, thanks!

 

It'll be interesting to see the results. I have got the Genuine Carbon Fibre parts, and love them. Not sure how you'll get the tight bends over the yoke cover though.

 

Sand to your final dimensions, then touch up the edges with CA glue(plastic model glue). This will keep your edges from fraying.

 

Dragon Plate is decent stuff - i've used that myself for a few projects - they are hella expensive though, and only 1 thickness. I also got stuff from a place called Protech Composites - the finish was freak'n awsome with that deep 3-D look. They also told me they use a strong Epoxy resin that prevent sthe fraying problems I've had with other panels. Check them out (just search for "protech composites" or wait - the store is actually www.protechcomposite.com

They really don't don't custom sizes unless you have some quantity, but they have quite a variety of sizes and thicknesses to choose from, so there usually isn't much waste. The carbon sheets only really bend in one direction (unless you heat them up), so you can't really wrap complex curves. Still, this is the best stuff i've come across!

CM
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