Looking for Graphite Sheets

[Bubbleboy]

Hey guys, I want to recreate Kinwald's Worlds RC10 rear shock tower with graphite that is similar to the weave of the stock front shock tower. I realize his actually had sparkles in it, but I don't want to go that route. Any ideas where I can source this? I'm also looking to duplicate the battery strap in graphite as well.

Or perhaps someone has these lying around already

thanks

[jwscab]

the 'weave' you are looking for will be called isotropic or plain weave. There are some vendors that might have this style on ebay or other carbon fiber whole sale vendors.

you don't wan't 2k,3k,4k, etc weaves, this will be the cross hatched pattern. You might have luck with composite craft on facebook, or you might not.

[Phin]

I'm pretty sure the flat black carbon fiber is called Unidirectional and isotropic refers to the angles the layers of the sheets are laid up in relation to each other. Also plain weave is the checkerboard patterned carbon fiber while twill weave is the carbon fiber with the diagonal pattern. 2K, 3K, etc. would be the size of the braids in the weave. A smaller number refers to a tighter weave.

The stuff Kinwald used with the sparkles was sold by Composite Craft and DA Graphite but I don't know if either of them still makes it.

If you want just plain black Uni carbon fiber Rockwest Composites sells some cheap sheets:

http://www.rockwestcomposites.com/browse/carbon-fiber-plate/carbon-fiber-uni-plate

I can't vouch for the quality though since I never bought any sheets from them.

[GoMachV]

DA still have glitter sheets. He is pretty proud of them too

[Bubbleboy]

Well, if I'm going to give this an honest go...

I've sent DA Graphite an email about the sparkle stock. We'll see where it goes from here.

Much thanks guys!!!

[GoMachV]

This was a couple years ago...but here is its name...

I have many panels and some partial panels with pieces too that should fit your needs. I have some 093”and .075” uni panels with (Iridium Rainbow) finish. It was used on HPI cars for exclusive sales to Europe and mainly Japan.

[Phin]

.....
If you want just plain black Uni carbon fiber Rockwest Composites sells some cheap sheets:

http://www.rockwestcomposites.com/browse/carbon-fiber-plate/carbon-fiber-uni-plate

I can't vouch for the quality though since I never bought any sheets from them.

Well took a shot at a sheet of the Uni from Rockwest and while the quality is top notch...very solid and no defects...it's unfortunately not a good match for the old school graphite sheets.

I purchased a sheet of the glossy finish and it's too shiny. The matte might have been a better choice but it's hard to tell by the pics on the site. There's two different sheets in the pics for the .100" matte sheets.

[harvey]

If your Rockwell sheet is to shiny, I think that's just the finnish of the resin, not the fibers. Maybe you could scuff it up somehow. Emery paper would leave scratches, but how about a light sand blast?

[broodenburg]

Did you look at Hobbyking? They sell all kinds kind of sheet material.....

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__168__58__Hardware_Accessories-Carbon_Glass_Fiber.html

[Phin]

If your Rockwell sheet is to shiny, I think that's just the finnish of the resin, not the fibers. Maybe you could scuff it up somehow. Emery paper would leave scratches, but how about a light sand blast?

Yeah that thought occurred to me too. There's a pattern of lines in the gloss finish that make the sheet look a bit like a vinyl record. Dulling the shine a little to remove those lines would improve the look.

Don't know how much better it would match some of the old graphite though. I was hoping to use some of the material to recreate parts for a Woods pan car I own but that definitely won't happen even without the shine.

Also I don't have a sandblaster, and it would be my first go at using one so I'm sure I'd just make things worse.

[klavy69]

If your Rockwell sheet is to shiny, I think that's just the finnish of the resin, not the fibers. Maybe you could scuff it up somehow. Emery paper would leave scratches, but how about a light sand blast?

Yeah that thought occurred to me too. There's a pattern of lines in the gloss finish that make the sheet look a bit like a vinyl record. Dulling the shine a little to remove those lines would improve the look.

Don't know how much better it would match some of the old graphite though. I was hoping to use some of the material to recreate parts for a Woods pan car I own but that definitely won't happen even without the shine.

Also I don't have a sandblaster, and it would be my first go at using one so I'm sure I'd just make things worse.

you could try steel wool. I've used steel wool to remove the shine off of powdercoating in the past to make it look like hard anno. Depending on how much elbow grease you apply it can degloss pretty quickly or slowly to get your desired results.

Todd

[Bubbleboy]

I ended up buy from hobbyking.

I should try dulling up some shiny graphite....goodness knows I have some offcuts...measure twice, cut six times, then repeat until happy I'll be able to co pare it against a sheet of matt that I also have

[jwscab]

Try some scotchbrite, and rub in one direction only green or grey

[ManMan]

Just shoot a matte clear rather than trying to scuff the finish.