The addition of showing how to use simple household equipment as well as the 'professional' methods make it so much more accessible. I have just placed an order to start working on using cf to reinforce an aluminium structure!
Thank you Philip, that's good to hear. We are aware that most of our recent videos have been towards the more commercial end of methods and equipment and so we're making a conscious effort to 'check back in' on some of the most realistic, and still fantastically effective, basic techniques. The ones that got us into this business in the first place :)
Phillip Wilkinson. Sorry mate, you can’t use cf to strengthen aluminium. Cf can only bend about 1.8% before failing, far less than aluminium. You can use the Aluminum as shape the cf but you will need to make the cf layup strong enough to work without the aluminium. At this point the Aluminum can be ditched.
@@mickcoomer9714, the intention is to create a carbon fibre 'lug' to join two bonded aluminium tubes together. The idea is to get around trying to weld thinner aluminium. However I am very interested in your input before I start practicing!
Make sure you insulate the carbon fiber from the aluminum to prevent galvanic corrosion. A layer of fiberglass between the aluminum and carbon fiber is one method to achieve this.
Really appreciate the inclusion of the "el cheapo" options here, that made this video far more useful to me and Id of thought a lot of others. Good work
just started working with carbon fiber after being subbed to this channel for well over a year. your tutorials are among the best on this platform, so many thanks!
It doesn’t matter what the design or what object, I like watching all types of creativity. The application of methods of production and product applications, give new clues that I can apply to my craft. Everyone has words of wisdom or new products that were designed to remedy a problem, that I occasionally come to in my own craft. Carbon Kevlar Handbag with Sterling Silver fittings and strap. Sounds really nice to me using your model mould making process. Thank-you.
Thanks; we certainly put a lot of effort into both the content and the production. All credit to our new video guy Kyle who's edited all of these latest tutorials.
Easy Composites Ltd Yeah Kyle rocks but just as important is the clarity of the presentation and information, both of which you nail every time. Keep it up!
There have been a lot of improvements in materials and the processes since I worked with these materials. Love seeing how easy it is now for even the beginner to get started with composite parts.
@@LiftoffLumberjack Temperature sensitivity and stability of the materials. Longer shelf-life. Better tools. What was once an exotic material to work with has now become commonplace. And I just love that.
Give it a go Dennis I’m not very good at it But it’s like a challenge And I enjoy the excitement when you take it out of the mold (It’s usually got imperfections :( One day I’ll do a perfect carbon fibre job one day Came really close the other day
Congratulations for the quality and the content of the video tutorials produced by Easy Composites. They sit far beyond the shallow product promotion videos found in the internet and show your commitment to provide proper education about the use of composite materials. In the same line of your "car bonnet" tutorial, I kindly suggest the preparation of a video showing aspects related to the selection of the most appropriate materials for each different purpose. As an example, you could take a bike frame or part of a simple car chassis, showing where, why and how to use materials like uni and multidirectional carbon fiber, Kevlar, hybrid materials and how to estimate the necessary number of layers, etc. I wish you success and please keep doing this excellent job.
Thanks Ronaldo. Certainly we'd like to do some videos going into more detail on material selected and in fact we're working on a new video series right now which calls for comparing different types of coatings and different types of reinforcement (Kevlar, Innegra, Carbon, Diolen) for a particular application. These videos should be coming out in about a month and then we'll also try to include more on this in the future too.
Love the step by step, in depth details in your videos, im in the US and will still purchase your products because of these videos, ill be making my first order in the next week or so, thank you!
Ni Nicholos, thank you very much for your support. We'll continue to make these tutorials and help share the knowledge. Your support helps us to do that :)
Just ordered some bits from you guys. Been toying with the idea of making carbon / kevlar fairings for my Daytona 675, for about 5 years now. Finally going to give it go. Starting with the rear hugger... Thought it might be a good place to get a feeling for it, making something small, instead of a complete side fairing. Wish me luck. I'll post some pics on your customer gallery.
Well i made my first carbon fiber parts with the vacuum storage bag and got great results with it.I also posted this on the talkcomposites website. Great to see the combination of vacuum cleaner and the storage bag gives the proper vacuum level for the wet lay up.
Thanks for the comment and the talkcomposites post; I think I did see that post :) - Paul must have done more than 100 tests trying to find the perfect vac level and bagging combination for wet-lay vacuum bag; we were trying to crack it completely and get perfect results. We never quite got there but it's really very close!
I work with fiberglass and the processes are quite similar but carbon fiber seems to be much more precise and delicate. It's an interesting process. I'd love to learn more about the resins you use
Thanks, we'll try to do some more 'accessible' tips and tricks wherever we we can. We know most home and workshop composites is done with the minimum of special tools and equipment and we'll try to keep that in mind and help those who are starting out in composites too.
@@easycompositestv my dad was an expert in composites at British Aerospace, and famously advised McLaren when they built their first carbon tub for F1. Should have listened a bit more when I was younger but am leaning now!
The teaching is so good! Even without any projects to use this knowledge, we still enjoy watching it. Here are a few suggestions / tips to make it even better: Add the costs to the video (text is fine); show the parts being used in real applications; after it's done, test the parts that are subject to stress to show weight reduction and performance.
Thank you very much indeed for this video! The part with the vacuumcleaner and clothesbags is absolutely what I was looking for. Would have taken me a long long time to figure out one only needs 20%!! Thank you again!
Well, give it a go Ryan! We've tried to re-connect with some more accessible methods; hopefully you can see that you can still get good results from even a relatively low cost and straight forward process.
I've been looking forward to this video since you mentioned it! I've recently made a few parts for my motorbikes. I made some great fibreglass moulds but ended up with lots of voids as they weren't bagged. Ended up getting acceptable results by skinning the original parts and releasing them. I had been contemplating using a JML-type of duvet stuffing bag for a wee while now so looks like I've no excuse now...especially since I've got a square metre of your resin bound 2x2 cloth in my garage ;)
Good stuff Robert; yes, give it a go; although not 100% perfect this process is very reliable at getting you 95% of the way there and producing some very acceptable parts for most applications.
Remember me, asking about colored fabrics? Here you showed exactly what i needed. A blue kevlar /carbon fabric. Exactly what i wanted!!! Now i'm pretty sure i'll order it from you in future.
Thanks for your comment, I'm glad the video was what you needed! Our decorative Carbon Fibre reinforcements can be located on our website here; www.easycomposites.co.uk/decorative-carbon-fibre
Great having you back with videos, truly educational content! Thumbs up if you want guys to create videos like "Top mistakes to avoid in composites making" or "Top X best practices for comosites making" You have already mentioned lots of things in your videos, but could be nice to gather all these dos/dont's in separate videos, cheers!
Great ideas. We do have some slightly similar videos in mind but I really do like the idea of both a top tips and a classic mistakes video. They're going on the list!
This video is exactly what I was waiting for! Have been watching your tutorials for a while and love them. The one thing I'm really curious about is how to make something with a two part mold using this technique. I'm specifically curious about the overlapping of the two halves with wet technique, since all previous videos seem to explain this with prepreg. A video on this topic would be very much appreciated!
Yes, a matched tool with a wet layup process can certainly be done, in fact, years ago (as Carbon Mods) one of our very first products was made in this way. It's not 100% reliable in terms of surface finish but if you persevere you can get great results. Maybe a video on this in the future.
@@easycompositestv Thanks for the quick answer. I'm planning on making a carbon fiber scooter prototype, and will probably work with a wet layout, so I'm curious to know what the best way to proceed would be, and how the use of inserts would turn out. I've payed very close attention to the bicycle frame tutorial, but that is using prepreg. Looking forward to that video!
Easy Composites Ltd Thank you, it was great experience. Now our college team is looking to be the first student lead team to engineer a liquid propelled rocket to 100 Km🚀
I'm just waiting on some room to get started iv got a hand full of projects I want to have a go at and seem possible after watching most of the videos you put up 👌
Your videos are beginning to make me feel like I could use carbon fibre or fibreglass and a pvc foam core and obtain good results with your vacuum pump for my modest project.
I very much like "DIY" things and am considering starting my first composites project. I would like to get some trims for my car and I am currently weighing in costs and quality difference between just ordering readily available parts or using this as an opportunity to make my own. Thank you for your video and I very much appreciate showing how to use household items!
Our pleasure Chris. Generally speaking, for a one-off part, it’s almost always cheaper (and probably better) to but existing parts if someone is already making them. The is because a lot of the cost of making a part is in making the mould, and learning the skill in the first place. However, it’s quite often that you simply can’t get the part any other way, or want a modified version of it, or you want to learn the skills for yourself; in these cases, DIY is the way to go.
@@easycompositestv I don't know if you can go into any detail here, but when you have complex shapes to lay up around, is it ok to have very messy lay up so long as lots of fibres overlap, you get angles between fibres if using unidirectional fibre, and you apply some pressure to turn the mess I to one functional unit? I'm trying to avoid the bolt on areas of my cycling shoes, but carbon sheets aren't very easy to stencil holes into I've found... No worries if this is too specific. If you are interested in doing a case study on micro reinforcement, I can send you some pics.
Hi Jim, yes, you can do this and there wouldn't be much detriment structurally. Probably the closest thing you can see to this in our tutorials would be the laying up of UD carbon around some of the hard-points in our bike frame tutorial. I know the prepreg process is quite different but the principles are the same. Sometimes, you just need to do what you can in terms of reinforcement around complex shapes.
Yes, I'm really sorry that Australia is so difficult for us to reach, well, for dangerous goods at least. Maybe one day we'll have a better way to support customers over in Australia; we do have some great customers and friends of the company over there but the shipping side of things is pretty challenging.
@@easycompositestv well for what it's worth I share your videos with our UK friends all the time. Would love to spend our money with you guys as specially because of the amazing content you make. By far the best videos on Composite layups 👍
Nicely done. Just want to say your production quality of your video and audio could not be better. Excellent lighting and a killer looking set. keep them coming. Perhaps a video on an aluminum mold using an expanding silicone insert. This gives perfect surface parts.
This is awesome! I will definitely be trying the vacuum cleaner method. I can't quite justify the expense of a professional vacuum pump and regulator yet.
Haha, that's fine by us Harry; that's what we wanted to show with this video. That's also why we used both methods so you can see that - although pretty low-lost - the vacuum cleaner method actually delivers results which are a match for the pro version (in this type of situation).
If you're only making relatively small parts, like in this video, a kitchen food saver works great and is cheap. Been using one for this purpose for years.
With your wealth of knowledge and great products, I'm surprised you guys haven't jumped on the silicone jacket method of vacuum bagging for production environments.
We know the process well enough (we used to make parts in production volumes ourselves) but but, to be honest, it's quite rare you'll see reusable moulded silicone vacuum bags used in production. The are a number of reasons - probably a bit dull to go into - but the end result is that they're only the answer in quite specific situations and certainly none of the situations we've covered so far.
@@easycompositestv That's a fair and realistic answer. I'm looking at it for a complicated multi-step process that may eventually conclude with either a hydraulic press or sandcasting a mold for composites on a prototype level with aspirations of larger production. It might be the only way I'm able to copy some very tight geometry of components I have now that would cost an absolute fortune to have machined again in stainless or inconel.
No, sorry, we were playing around with this process nearly 10 years ago and I bet we weren't the first! However, the devil is in the detail and we did do a lot of work before arriving at the best vacuum bagging stack (should we use breather, perforated film, mesh, peel-ply, not of these... etc. etc.).
@@easycompositestv Thanks mate ....................... I most certainly will ; ) I won't need to use the shopvac trick as I have one of your vacuum pumps, I just need to get one of those regulators that you have in the video. TURK
Hi Rob, one problem you might run into making really large parts is the gel time on the resin. If the resin starts to cure before you get the bag down then it's too late really. In terms of the bagging method itself, you'd need to use bagging film and tape (you won't find a clothes bag that big!) but you could still use a vacuum cleaner for the pull down. It would even be possible to 'graft' the valve off a storage bag onto a conventional vacuum bag (using sealant tape).
Always great explanation 👌... I've try to used refrigerator compressor to do my experience. It had great vacuum. I do the wet layer methods. But somehow I always gets pinholes 😞😞. But I got some lessons from this video.. I'll keep trying to get good cosmetics... Thank you very much Mr..😁😁🙏
Thanks for the comments Adan; it's probably the case that your vacuum level is too high and so is bleeding off too much resin. In our experience, higher levels of vacuum do result in more pin holing.
@@easycompositestv thanks for the explanation 👌... yes probably too high, I didn't notice, because i'm not applying pressure meter ... Once again, thank you 🙏🙏😁
This was very good information for me, thank you. I unfortunately found out that peel ply and max vacuum will leave it dry just before watching this. Doing a thin glass PVC core sandwich repair.
An in depth tutorial regarding UD would be nice. How to build layers for strength in different applications and so forth. The bikeframe briefly touched the subject. And a racecar wingbuild would be awesome!
A race car wing will definitely be happening in the future, this is one of the tutorials we're most keen to do and we would use it as an opportunity to cover UD reinforcement and fibre alignment in more detail.
Thanks for the nice video! I think you explain it really good! I like it that you also show that it can be done with a vacuumbag for clothing, I use them too if the part fits in the bag. I have a question regarding mixing up resin, specificly the amount. In relation to a wet layup. You say in this video that you used the same weight of resin (+ a bit extra) as the weight of carbonfiber. Does this also apply for glassfiber and different weaves/weight of other types of laminate?
Hi Rob, yes, a good rule of thumb for resin quantity is that it will equal the reinforcement weight, pretty much regardless of the reinforcement type. So, this would apply to glass, carbon, hybrids and most other conventional reinforcements. It's not exact but it's certainly close enough.
I'm very thankful for all your efforts in making these tutorials. I have tried this method and I only have a normal vacuum pump with no regulator and the part ended up full of pinholes, I guess my homemade perforated release film was not a good idea, which perforated release film do you recommend for a wet layup? Thanks.
Amazing video and quality of product! Please keep on making these accessible products and tutorials. I realize this particular part is just a protective cover but where’s the line between using this process for a piece with a structural component?
Hi Dean, well, really there isn't a line. A component made using a wet-lay process but still using carbon fibre and epoxy resin will be 80% as good as one made using resin infusion or prepreg and so technically you could make the same components using a wet-lay and vac bag method if you made them 20% thicker/heavier. However, you will find that certain projects, due to their size, shape or complexity, are much easier to make using other methods, particularly prepreg (for tight/complex shapes) or infusion (for larger panels).
Easy Composites Ltd OK that makes sense. When do you chose to use 2mm sheet wax over something thicker? I’m wondering what the guidelines are for choosing one thickness over another.
You choose the sheetwax thickness to match the thickness of the laminate you will be laying into the mould. If you're going to make a 1mm thick part then you would use 1mm sheetwax to make the mould 1mm larger than the original part, that way, when you add 1mm of reinforcement into the inside of the new mould the inside of this laminate will match the outside measurements of the original. Watch part one of this video - we explain the concept of sheetwax and offsets in detail there.
Brilliant, I love making Carbon Fibre products. I didn't know though that you could achieve good results with a vacuum hoover, wished I knew before as it would have saved me buying a dedicated vacuum pump off eBay lol.
Easy Composites Ltd Yeh maybe hehe. I usually do a wet lay but with no bagging at all, have had pretty good results but thought I would try my hand at this Vacuuming business...
Great video Paul, as usual! I'd like to know more about choosing the appropriate amount of vacuum, which kind of process or part requires more or less vacuum is still unclear to me. Can you please make a quick guide on that?
Sure, it's very simple: for almost all vacuum processes you need maximum possible vacuum; this is particularly important for resin infusion and prepreg. Also, for vacuum bagging where consolidation and maximum fibre to resin ratio is the priority over surface finish. The only situation where you would want a lower vacuum level would be the one in this video, where your priority is the surface finish.
Mmmm, I know where you're coming from. Gelcoat is a bit of a funny one on an epoxy part; do you use an epoxy gelcoat (lots of issues with that) or an epoxy compatible polyester gel (some issues and certainly some extra complexity with that). A lighter fabric can help but, in our experience at least, still won't be 100% perfect and, of course, will have a different appearance (most likely) to what you wanted.
@@easycompositestv , I use an epoxy gel coat, you can spray it or with the use of a brush, leave it until it's tacky and not sticky and then just lay up your carbon sheet as usual.
I love this video! Thanks for the professional production and audio Quick question… did you leave Henry on for 6 hours? Would the vacuum overheat? Thanks
No, as its on one of the domestic vacuum bags, the valve does a pretty good job at holding vacuum so normally, once you've drawn it down and put the cap on the valve, you don't need the vacuum cleaner anymore.
I our experience bristle rollers are the best type for helping with bubbles. However, you shouldn't expect to be able to achieve anything much better than you see in this video, wet-lay vacuum bag can get you very close but not pin-hole free, no matter what technique you use.
Love this - got the vacuum bag, a vacuum and peel ply. Having trouble finding the breather fabric - is there any common household item that would work instead?
Sir. You my respect for showing us how even the biggest hillbilly can do this in his barn. I salute you.
The addition of showing how to use simple household equipment as well as the 'professional' methods make it so much more accessible. I have just placed an order to start working on using cf to reinforce an aluminium structure!
Thank you Philip, that's good to hear. We are aware that most of our recent videos have been towards the more commercial end of methods and equipment and so we're making a conscious effort to 'check back in' on some of the most realistic, and still fantastically effective, basic techniques. The ones that got us into this business in the first place :)
Phillip Wilkinson. Sorry mate, you can’t use cf to strengthen aluminium. Cf can only bend about 1.8% before failing, far less than aluminium. You can use the Aluminum as shape the cf but you will need to make the cf layup strong enough to work without the aluminium. At this point the Aluminum can be ditched.
@@mickcoomer9714, the intention is to create a carbon fibre 'lug' to join two bonded aluminium tubes together. The idea is to get around trying to weld thinner aluminium. However I am very interested in your input before I start practicing!
Make sure you insulate the carbon fiber from the aluminum to prevent galvanic corrosion. A layer of fiberglass between the aluminum and carbon fiber is one method to achieve this.
@@ulbuilder Or just make sure the carbon fiber has a completely sealed bond to the aluminum. No electrolyte ingress = no corrosion.
Really appreciate the inclusion of the "el cheapo" options here, that made this video far more useful to me and Id of thought a lot of others.
Good work
Whenever you're feeling stressed, just gaze at the mesmerizing carbon fiber weave.
Guys, I must say your vids are some of the highest execution and quality for tutorials on TH-cam.
Thanks Julian :)
just started working with carbon fiber after being subbed to this channel for well over a year. your tutorials are among the best on this platform, so many thanks!
It doesn’t matter what the design or what object, I like watching all types of creativity. The application of methods of production and product applications, give new clues that I can apply to my craft. Everyone has words of wisdom or new products that were designed to remedy a problem, that I occasionally come to in my own craft. Carbon Kevlar Handbag with Sterling Silver fittings and strap. Sounds really nice to me using your model mould making process. Thank-you.
Such a pleasure to watch your tutorials. When someone likes what they are doing it never looks boring. You sir are an artist
These videos are always so well produced! Thank you for making them!
Thanks; we certainly put a lot of effort into both the content and the production. All credit to our new video guy Kyle who's edited all of these latest tutorials.
Yeah they make any video you want on craiglist too. ☺️
Easy Composites Ltd Yeah Kyle rocks but just as important is the clarity of the presentation and information, both of which you nail every time. Keep it up!
Ma Ma
There have been a lot of improvements in materials and the processes since I worked with these materials. Love seeing how easy it is now for even the beginner to get started with composite parts.
What made it so much more difficult in the past?
@@LiftoffLumberjack Temperature sensitivity and stability of the materials. Longer shelf-life. Better tools. What was once an exotic material to work with has now become commonplace. And I just love that.
Fantastic quality as always. Thanks for explaining what the perforated film is usually for and how you can simplify the stack slightly
You're welcome Logan, that's great if this information helped to make it clearer for you.
The more I watch your videos, the easier it looks! Getting very close to giving a starter kit a go! Thanks.
Haha, it must be time by now Denis; take the plunge.
Give it a go Dennis
I’m not very good at it
But it’s like a challenge
And I enjoy the excitement when you take it out of the mold
(It’s usually got imperfections :(
One day I’ll do a perfect carbon fibre job one day
Came really close the other day
Congratulations for the quality and the content of the video tutorials produced by Easy Composites. They sit far beyond the shallow product promotion videos found in the internet and show your commitment to provide proper education about the use of composite materials.
In the same line of your "car bonnet" tutorial, I kindly suggest the preparation of a video showing aspects related to the selection of the most appropriate materials for each different purpose. As an example, you could take a bike frame or part of a simple car chassis, showing where, why and how to use materials like uni and multidirectional carbon fiber, Kevlar, hybrid materials and how to estimate the necessary number of layers, etc.
I wish you success and please keep doing this excellent job.
Thanks Ronaldo. Certainly we'd like to do some videos going into more detail on material selected and in fact we're working on a new video series right now which calls for comparing different types of coatings and different types of reinforcement (Kevlar, Innegra, Carbon, Diolen) for a particular application. These videos should be coming out in about a month and then we'll also try to include more on this in the future too.
Love the step by step, in depth details in your videos, im in the US and will still purchase your products because of these videos, ill be making my first order in the next week or so, thank you!
Ni Nicholos, thank you very much for your support. We'll continue to make these tutorials and help share the knowledge. Your support helps us to do that :)
Just ordered some bits from you guys. Been toying with the idea of making carbon / kevlar fairings for my Daytona 675, for about 5 years now. Finally going to give it go. Starting with the rear hugger... Thought it might be a good place to get a feeling for it, making something small, instead of a complete side fairing. Wish me luck. I'll post some pics on your customer gallery.
Thank you for the vacuum cleaner demo, this is great for first timers, myself included!
That's great Angus, we certainly want to help people starting out just as much as those pushing the boundaries. Good luck with it.
Well i made my first carbon fiber parts with the vacuum storage bag and got great results with it.I also posted this on the talkcomposites website.
Great to see the combination of vacuum cleaner and the storage bag gives the proper vacuum level for the wet lay up.
Thanks for the comment and the talkcomposites post; I think I did see that post :) - Paul must have done more than 100 tests trying to find the perfect vac level and bagging combination for wet-lay vacuum bag; we were trying to crack it completely and get perfect results. We never quite got there but it's really very close!
I always find your videos to be very informative and educative. So thanks and keep making good videos like this. :)
Really appreciated all the videos you guys have done so far!
Thanks Sergio, it's great you're enjoying them :)
I work with fiberglass and the processes are quite similar but carbon fiber seems to be much more precise and delicate. It's an interesting process. I'd love to learn more about the resins you use
Impressive! Even more impressive to get that finish with a wet lay-up and 'enry the Hoover with vaccum bags!
Love the use of the vacuum cleaner: great way to try out vacuum bagging.
Thanks, we'll try to do some more 'accessible' tips and tricks wherever we we can. We know most home and workshop composites is done with the minimum of special tools and equipment and we'll try to keep that in mind and help those who are starting out in composites too.
@@easycompositestv my dad was an expert in composites at British Aerospace, and famously advised McLaren when they built their first carbon tub for F1. Should have listened a bit more when I was younger but am leaning now!
@@easycompositestv , great idea.
How long do u have to leave the vacuum cleaner running? Just pull the air out of the bag and shut if off or does it need to stay on ?
Such good tutorials. I don’t have any place to work right now, but when I do, will definitely be supporting easy composites...
Thank you, that's great to hear. Look forward to working with you.
The teaching is so good! Even without any projects to use this knowledge, we still enjoy watching it.
Here are a few suggestions / tips to make it even better: Add the costs to the video (text is fine); show the parts being used in real applications; after it's done, test the parts that are subject to stress to show weight reduction and performance.
Costs will change and people will complain. The video is good as is and you can find the costs easily on their website.
Hopefully starting a new job soon with composites. Super nervous but these videos are bring back all my old knowledge I learned years ago
Great to hear Cali, good luck with the new job.
Excellent! Very clear to this newbie. Also the low-budget vacuum storage bag tip was amazing!
Cheers Jonny, glad you liked it.
Great video and well timed, exactly what we need to start trying out carbon manufacturing for small parts.
Great, glad you enjoyed it and good luck with your new projects.
Thank you, I have laminated tons of cold-laminate but never tried any vacuum molding....this video was excellent how-to-do-it !
Thanks for the feedback Riku, glad you found it useful and keep an eye out for some of our other videos :)
Thank you very much indeed for this video! The part with the vacuumcleaner and clothesbags is absolutely what I was looking for. Would have taken me a long long time to figure out one only needs 20%!! Thank you again!
You’re very welcome; look forward to hearing how you get on.
Wow, thanks for the vacuum storage bag i read. This will make my want to try doing composite at home
The household vacuum bag technique is awesome
Thanks Peter :)
Thanks so much for such a great video, demonstration and online short course!!!
Another great video from you guys! its very nice of you to make these tutorials for us newbs and hobby guys.
Thanks, we're very happy to do it.
Perfect timing, I'm just about to bag a model aircraft wing. Many thanks!
Great stuff Richard, I hope it goes well.
A lot of videos out there explaining cf but this ones are the best always, thanks :)
Thanks Brandon.
Love this stuff! Can’t wait to be able to try this myself!
Well, give it a go Ryan! We've tried to re-connect with some more accessible methods; hopefully you can see that you can still get good results from even a relatively low cost and straight forward process.
I've been looking forward to this video since you mentioned it! I've recently made a few parts for my motorbikes. I made some great fibreglass moulds but ended up with lots of voids as they weren't bagged. Ended up getting acceptable results by skinning the original parts and releasing them. I had been contemplating using a JML-type of duvet stuffing bag for a wee while now so looks like I've no excuse now...especially since I've got a square metre of your resin bound 2x2 cloth in my garage ;)
Good stuff Robert; yes, give it a go; although not 100% perfect this process is very reliable at getting you 95% of the way there and producing some very acceptable parts for most applications.
I'm starting in the composites world and this was very helpful. Liked and subscribed.
Great to hear, thanks :)
Remember me, asking about colored fabrics? Here you showed exactly what i needed. A blue kevlar /carbon fabric. Exactly what i wanted!!! Now i'm pretty sure i'll order it from you in future.
Thanks for your comment, I'm glad the video was what you needed! Our decorative Carbon Fibre reinforcements can be located on our website here; www.easycomposites.co.uk/decorative-carbon-fibre
Best videos regarding composites...well done..keep them coming!
Thank you, we'll do our best.
Great having you back with videos, truly educational content! Thumbs up if you want guys to create videos like "Top mistakes to avoid in composites making" or "Top X best practices for comosites making" You have already mentioned lots of things in your videos, but could be nice to gather all these dos/dont's in separate videos, cheers!
Great ideas. We do have some slightly similar videos in mind but I really do like the idea of both a top tips and a classic mistakes video. They're going on the list!
This video is exactly what I was waiting for! Have been watching your tutorials for a while and love them.
The one thing I'm really curious about is how to make something with a two part mold using this technique. I'm specifically curious about the overlapping of the two halves with wet technique, since all previous videos seem to explain this with prepreg.
A video on this topic would be very much appreciated!
Yes, a matched tool with a wet layup process can certainly be done, in fact, years ago (as Carbon Mods) one of our very first products was made in this way. It's not 100% reliable in terms of surface finish but if you persevere you can get great results. Maybe a video on this in the future.
@@easycompositestv Thanks for the quick answer.
I'm planning on making a carbon fiber scooter prototype, and will probably work with a wet layout, so I'm curious to know what the best way to proceed would be, and how the use of inserts would turn out.
I've payed very close attention to the bicycle frame tutorial, but that is using prepreg.
Looking forward to that video!
I used this method a few years back to create our college’s high altitude balloon payload and it worked wonderfully.
Hi Jonathan, sounds like a good college project!
Easy Composites Ltd Thank you, it was great experience. Now our college team is looking to be the first student lead team to engineer a liquid propelled rocket to 100 Km🚀
Great video! You guys are awesome and informative
I'm just waiting on some room to get started iv got a hand full of projects I want to have a go at and seem possible after watching most of the videos you put up 👌
Hi Markus, thanks for the comment, that's great to hear. We look forward to hearing how you get on.
So cool!!!!!!! Absolutely fantastic production and host as well!!!
Thanks, appreciated.
Really great video , it's cool to see it's possible to make it at home with simple methods
Thanks Fabrice, glad you liked it!
Excellent tutorial!
Your videos are beginning to make me feel like I could use carbon fibre or fibreglass and a pvc foam core and obtain good results with your vacuum pump for my modest project.
Give it a go! :)
I very much like "DIY" things and am considering starting my first composites project. I would like to get some trims for my car and I am currently weighing in costs and quality difference between just ordering readily available parts or using this as an opportunity to make my own.
Thank you for your video and I very much appreciate showing how to use household items!
Our pleasure Chris. Generally speaking, for a one-off part, it’s almost always cheaper (and probably better) to but existing parts if someone is already making them. The is because a lot of the cost of making a part is in making the mould, and learning the skill in the first place. However, it’s quite often that you simply can’t get the part any other way, or want a modified version of it, or you want to learn the skills for yourself; in these cases, DIY is the way to go.
Great video as always! I've also just done a video for wet lay carbon and also chopped/forged style too. Can't wait to try Vac bagging soon
Great stuff, looking forward to seeing that video. We have some chopped/forge carbon projects in the pipeline as well.
You linked this video for me from another video on resin infusion. Thanks, top banana, might have to try this on my next project!
Cheers Jim, glad it was up your street.
@@easycompositestv I don't know if you can go into any detail here, but when you have complex shapes to lay up around, is it ok to have very messy lay up so long as lots of fibres overlap, you get angles between fibres if using unidirectional fibre, and you apply some pressure to turn the mess I to one functional unit? I'm trying to avoid the bolt on areas of my cycling shoes, but carbon sheets aren't very easy to stencil holes into I've found... No worries if this is too specific. If you are interested in doing a case study on micro reinforcement, I can send you some pics.
Hi Jim, yes, you can do this and there wouldn't be much detriment structurally. Probably the closest thing you can see to this in our tutorials would be the laying up of UD carbon around some of the hard-points in our bike frame tutorial. I know the prepreg process is quite different but the principles are the same. Sometimes, you just need to do what you can in terms of reinforcement around complex shapes.
@@easycompositestv thanks ever so much! I'll check it out!
These tutorials are awesome. They should be shown at Technical Schools. I wish you guys had US branch.
Thanks for the comment and your support, a branch in the US is something we're certainly keen to do in the future.
Man I really wish you guys shipped to Australia
Yes, I'm really sorry that Australia is so difficult for us to reach, well, for dangerous goods at least. Maybe one day we'll have a better way to support customers over in Australia; we do have some great customers and friends of the company over there but the shipping side of things is pretty challenging.
@@easycompositestv well for what it's worth I share your videos with our UK friends all the time. Would love to spend our money with you guys as specially because of the amazing content you make. By far the best videos on Composite layups 👍
Thanks for your detailed videos. Please do a video on split mold infusion as well.
Hi Rohan, yes, that's definitely on the list.
Easy Composites Ltd been waiting for a long time
Nicely done. Just want to say your production quality of your video and audio could not be better. Excellent lighting and a killer looking set. keep them coming.
Perhaps a video on an aluminum mold using an expanding silicone insert. This gives perfect surface parts.
Thanks for the comments. Yes, we'd like to do something on pressure moulding with silicone in the future, it's on the 'to-do' list!
I had a "Henry" when I lived in England. Feeling nostalgic :)
A classic vacuum cleaner!
This is the best thing I have seen in a long time
Nice one David I'm glad you enjoyed it.
This is awesome! I will definitely be trying the vacuum cleaner method. I can't quite justify the expense of a professional vacuum pump and regulator yet.
Haha, that's fine by us Harry; that's what we wanted to show with this video. That's also why we used both methods so you can see that - although pretty low-lost - the vacuum cleaner method actually delivers results which are a match for the pro version (in this type of situation).
If you're only making relatively small parts, like in this video, a kitchen food saver works great and is cheap. Been using one for this purpose for years.
I used to work for the manufacturer of your vacuum pump. It's a great company based in San Pietro in Casale (Italy) called DVP (Dry Vacuum Pumps).
Hi Andrea, yes, they're a great company to work with. It's good to hear you enjoyed your time working there.
Wonderful stuff, guys!
Cheers!
Best wishes from Argentina!!!
With your wealth of knowledge and great products, I'm surprised you guys haven't jumped on the silicone jacket method of vacuum bagging for production environments.
We know the process well enough (we used to make parts in production volumes ourselves) but but, to be honest, it's quite rare you'll see reusable moulded silicone vacuum bags used in production. The are a number of reasons - probably a bit dull to go into - but the end result is that they're only the answer in quite specific situations and certainly none of the situations we've covered so far.
@@easycompositestv That's a fair and realistic answer. I'm looking at it for a complicated multi-step process that may eventually conclude with either a hydraulic press or sandcasting a mold for composites on a prototype level with aspirations of larger production. It might be the only way I'm able to copy some very tight geometry of components I have now that would cost an absolute fortune to have machined again in stainless or inconel.
Awesome video. Thanks. You guys rock
Haha, nice one, we'll take that :)
You guys are awesome thank you so much!
Thanks Frank, glad you enjoyed it!
Chingon video gracias por tu trabajo saludo 👍👍👍✌
Very informative content. Cheers from Canada.
Thanks Sterling! Glad you enjoyed!
I have recently tried the vacuum storage bag with wet layup and I thought I had discovered something new. I guess not. No Nobel Prize for me :(
No, sorry, we were playing around with this process nearly 10 years ago and I bet we weren't the first! However, the devil is in the detail and we did do a lot of work before arriving at the best vacuum bagging stack (should we use breather, perforated film, mesh, peel-ply, not of these... etc. etc.).
Another superb video Paul, thank you so much.
can't wait to try this on my headlights! ; )
Great idea on the shopvac.
TURK
Good stuff, let us know how you get on.
@@easycompositestv Thanks mate ....................... I most certainly will ; )
I won't need to use the shopvac trick as I have one of your vacuum pumps, I just need to get one of those regulators that you have in the video.
TURK
great - ive always thought I could use a vac bag in this way - but I need to do a full flat floor, splitter and diffuser.
Hi Rob, one problem you might run into making really large parts is the gel time on the resin. If the resin starts to cure before you get the bag down then it's too late really. In terms of the bagging method itself, you'd need to use bagging film and tape (you won't find a clothes bag that big!) but you could still use a vacuum cleaner for the pull down. It would even be possible to 'graft' the valve off a storage bag onto a conventional vacuum bag (using sealant tape).
@@easycompositestv thanks you - i yes will give it a go when I get my double garage in a few months time
Learning how to do this Aircraft Mechanic Training rn. 🤟🏼
really enjoying these videos :) thankyou
Thank you for your kind comment!
This channel is great, so much info
Glad you enjoyed Cameron!
Thank you for your information
Always great explanation 👌... I've try to used refrigerator compressor to do my experience. It had great vacuum. I do the wet layer methods. But somehow I always gets pinholes 😞😞. But I got some lessons from this video..
I'll keep trying to get good cosmetics...
Thank you very much Mr..😁😁🙏
Thanks for the comments Adan; it's probably the case that your vacuum level is too high and so is bleeding off too much resin. In our experience, higher levels of vacuum do result in more pin holing.
@@easycompositestv thanks for the explanation 👌... yes probably too high, I didn't notice, because i'm not applying pressure meter ... Once again, thank you 🙏🙏😁
even if i know how to make parts like this
i like to watch how u do it because it look awesome every time :D
Thank you Sebastian.
This was very good information for me, thank you. I unfortunately found out that peel ply and max vacuum will leave it dry just before watching this. Doing a thin glass PVC core sandwich repair.
Hi Dwayne, mmm, yes, it sounds like you've found out the hard way. We've been there ourselves.
An in depth tutorial regarding UD would be nice. How to build layers for strength in different applications and so forth.
The bikeframe briefly touched the subject.
And a racecar wingbuild would be awesome!
A race car wing will definitely be happening in the future, this is one of the tutorials we're most keen to do and we would use it as an opportunity to cover UD reinforcement and fibre alignment in more detail.
@@easycompositestv Can't wait ☺
More interesting than most movies these days:)
Best videos! Thank you.
You’re welcome, thanks for the support.
Another great video 👍
Thanks Andy, enjoyed making it.
Thanks for the nice video! I think you explain it really good! I like it that you also show that it can be done with a vacuumbag for clothing, I use them too if the part fits in the bag.
I have a question regarding mixing up resin, specificly the amount. In relation to a wet layup. You say in this video that you used the same weight of resin (+ a bit extra) as the weight of carbonfiber. Does this also apply for glassfiber and different weaves/weight of other types of laminate?
Hi Rob, yes, a good rule of thumb for resin quantity is that it will equal the reinforcement weight, pretty much regardless of the reinforcement type. So, this would apply to glass, carbon, hybrids and most other conventional reinforcements. It's not exact but it's certainly close enough.
Thanks for sharing
I'm very thankful for all your efforts in making these tutorials.
I have tried this method and I only have a normal vacuum pump with no regulator and the part ended up full of pinholes, I guess my homemade perforated release film was not a good idea, which perforated release film do you recommend for a wet layup?
Thanks.
You probably used too much vacuum as it can squeeze out too much resin if the vacuum level is high. You want a starting point of around 20% vacuum
@@easycompositestv thanks, what perforated release film do you recommend?
Amazing videos very informative and awesome
Thanks Abdullah, glad you liked it.
great stuff!
Thanks!
Good work
Amazing video and quality of product! Please keep on making these accessible products and tutorials. I realize this particular part is just a protective cover but where’s the line between using this process for a piece with a structural component?
Hi Dean, well, really there isn't a line. A component made using a wet-lay process but still using carbon fibre and epoxy resin will be 80% as good as one made using resin infusion or prepreg and so technically you could make the same components using a wet-lay and vac bag method if you made them 20% thicker/heavier. However, you will find that certain projects, due to their size, shape or complexity, are much easier to make using other methods, particularly prepreg (for tight/complex shapes) or infusion (for larger panels).
Easy Composites Ltd OK that makes sense. When do you chose to use 2mm sheet wax over something thicker? I’m wondering what the guidelines are for choosing one thickness over another.
You choose the sheetwax thickness to match the thickness of the laminate you will be laying into the mould. If you're going to make a 1mm thick part then you would use 1mm sheetwax to make the mould 1mm larger than the original part, that way, when you add 1mm of reinforcement into the inside of the new mould the inside of this laminate will match the outside measurements of the original. Watch part one of this video - we explain the concept of sheetwax and offsets in detail there.
Brilliant, I love making Carbon Fibre products. I didn't know though that you could achieve good results with a vacuum hoover, wished I knew before as it would have saved me buying a dedicated vacuum pump off eBay lol.
Well, if you're serious about composites it's highly unlikely you won't find numerous uses for a good vacuum pump :)
Easy Composites Ltd Yeh maybe hehe. I usually do a wet lay but with no bagging at all, have had pretty good results but thought I would try my hand at this Vacuuming business...
As always great video,will you touch on forged carbon at some point? would like to see how you guys approach it.
Yes, some 'forged carbon' type projects are in the pipeline already :)
Thank you for sharing
You’re welcome David 👍
Great tips
Salam from indonesia🙏🏻
Amazing
Thank yous again for sharing your technical skills... G3 carbon,Florida
Thanks Nancy!
Thanks Nancy!
Great video Paul, as usual! I'd like to know more about choosing the appropriate amount of vacuum, which kind of process or part requires more or less vacuum is still unclear to me. Can you please make a quick guide on that?
Sure, it's very simple: for almost all vacuum processes you need maximum possible vacuum; this is particularly important for resin infusion and prepreg. Also, for vacuum bagging where consolidation and maximum fibre to resin ratio is the priority over surface finish. The only situation where you would want a lower vacuum level would be the one in this video, where your priority is the surface finish.
@@easycompositestv Hey, thanks for the answer! :)
very helpful for beginners
Thanks Tegar, appreciate your comments.
Oke , i can learn step by step thanks from Indonesia :)
A first coat of clear gel coat will help to avoid pin holes or a first layer of 50g satin finish will do the job as well.
Mmmm, I know where you're coming from. Gelcoat is a bit of a funny one on an epoxy part; do you use an epoxy gelcoat (lots of issues with that) or an epoxy compatible polyester gel (some issues and certainly some extra complexity with that). A lighter fabric can help but, in our experience at least, still won't be 100% perfect and, of course, will have a different appearance (most likely) to what you wanted.
@@easycompositestv , I use an epoxy gel coat, you can spray it or with the use of a brush, leave it until it's tacky and not sticky and then just lay up your carbon sheet as usual.
I love this video! Thanks for the professional production and audio
Quick question… did you leave Henry on for 6 hours? Would the vacuum overheat?
Thanks
No, as its on one of the domestic vacuum bags, the valve does a pretty good job at holding vacuum so normally, once you've drawn it down and put the cap on the valve, you don't need the vacuum cleaner anymore.
Hi yet another great video. Would rollering (soft) help with bubbles?
I our experience bristle rollers are the best type for helping with bubbles. However, you shouldn't expect to be able to achieve anything much better than you see in this video, wet-lay vacuum bag can get you very close but not pin-hole free, no matter what technique you use.
Love this - got the vacuum bag, a vacuum and peel ply. Having trouble finding the breather fabric - is there any common household item that would work instead?
Not that we are aware of. We sell breather here: www.easycomposites.co.uk/br180-breather-fabric