DIY Carbon Fiber Repair Kit and Step-by-Step Tutorial 

i would have put the fabric on at a 30-45 degree angle and put a "squeeze" lay of thread on the outside....otherwise yeach a very involved way to repair fiberglass fishing rods

Hi Chi Chen, I would recommend 3-4 layers. Fused with your frame's carbon, this should be enough material to secure your bottle cage and support the weight of a full bottle. Good luck with your repair.

Na, the audio is just awful in this particular video

Fibreglass is strands of glass set by an epoxy resin. The epoxy is the liquid you see in the video. The resin sets hard. Carbon fibre is very similar but it uses strands of carbon instead of glass.

You need to mix 2 batches of resin in the correct sequence (not in parallel). Timing is key. The 1st batch of mixed resin is applied onto the part as a thin coat. Wait for it to become tacky (50-60 min), then proceed to mix the 2nd batch and apply it while you wrap the carbon reinforcement around your part. Hope this clarifies it. Good luck with your project!

No, take a cracked aluminum bike frame to a metal welder

Yes, of course. the epoxy putty is optional and only recommended on severe cases. Good luck!

The epoxy doesn't add any structural rigidity to the repair. It's used only to provide a smooth, complete surface to avoid indentations that would be formed without it. If you don't fill in the gap, the carbon will sink into it and take the shape of the dent once its compressed. You MUST lay up new carbon over the epoxy/plasteline.

Hi. I think that the patch length he used its fine because he did 2 or 3 'laps' around the tube + the solid white resin. If he used more, the thickness would be more and the repair was already strong enough. As for the vaccum pump, I think it would be interesting using it in a circular repair like this one, since you needed to cut all the consumables like bagging plastic, breather etc. The difference in this case wont be much because he applied a good pressure around the repair with tape to remove the resin excess and make in uniform. But if it was me, maybe a plastic bag with vaccum pump was the solution here. Even tough it would not be as easy as this repair technique. Sorry for the english

Appreciate the response audior011, by 'longer patch length' I meant in the axial direction (ie length along the top tube) not in the circumferential direction around the tube. Just an aesthetics thing, the repair is structurally sound as is. I was just thinking by extending the patch length along the tube you'd have more room to sand in a smooth transition and eliminate any sort of repair "bump". But either way, it's a great tutorial, really well done and appreciate the content by CD!

@@jsti23 I know what you mean. The 'bump' your are saying can be removed if he applies more than just 1 layer with different measures for example. Instead of adding 1 overall layer, he can put 2 or 3 layers with different lenght by moving the 'joint' of each one 5 mm. This way you wont get the bump. Like this: --- ----- ------- Hope you understand this explaination, if it was in portuguese I could explain this much better lol. If not, i'll try to explain better.

It's actually quite easy. The must accurate way to mix the correct amounts of resin and hardener is to use a kitchen weight scale (measuring by weight is far more accurate and easier that measuring by liquid volume) . As an example, a 2:1 resin/hardener ratio means that for every 2 grams of resin you will need to add 1 gram of hardener. In the video we used a 100:30 ratio, which means that for every 10 grams of resin, we needed to mix 3 grams of hardener. I hope that this helps. Cheers !!!

Hi I ended up buying a hdx measuring container the kitchen scale was out of my budget in the store that sells it at my area. Once I measure the correct resin to hardener ratio then I would need to pour it into a plastic cup and that will not change or affect the ratio much will it? The resin and hardener is not like water but will be slightly gluey looking and thick?

Kitchen weight scales are relatively inexpensive and readily available on line. Using a scale is the most accurate method for dispensing and mixing the correct amount of resin & hardener since most resin systems are measured by weight and not by volume. You can also use a plastic cup with a volume scale on it, but it is a less accurate method. Regarding viscosity, most resins have the consistency of syrup or honey while hardeners are thinner and behave closer to water. Good luck with your project!

This is a 2-part epoxy putty used to fill-in cracks and missing material, and to provide a solid base on which the new carbon fiber reinforcement can rest on. We do sell this product in a 50 gram packs on our website, here is the link: www.compositedimensions.com/2-part-epoxy-putty-exp

so is this stuff like optional? my carbon crack does not have any missing material like big holes??

i would order this but i am planning to do my repair tmr. do you think this will work with the epoxy resin and hardener that came with the kit? www.homedepot.com/p/Loctite-2-oz-Universal-Epoxy-Putty-1999131/206156392?

Yes, it is optional and usually only needed in severe cases

We never used plastic food wrap as an alternative to shrink tape, so I'm afraid I can't predict the outcome. Using the correct materials is key to achieving a structurally sound repair.

i used it and the repair still came out successful but i cant get rid of all the tape.seeing tape stuck onto my carbon otherwise my repair is actually very smooth from what it is looking except the ends some piece of the carbon turned really hard with the epoxy when it dried up??? ..so is my best chance just trying to keep sanding it off? which sand paper would u use a higher grit number or a lower grit number? im about to do a test ride but cant wait and i am thinking about just covering the part with some vinyl tape or duct or electrical tape because the following day is my bike tour...

You need to sand away all the left-over surface wrinkles and left-over tape residue with a coarse grit sand paper, usual 120 grit will do the job.

i tried its not coming off maybe i put too much resin on top of the carbon fiber and instead it rubbed off all the sand or grit on the sand paper hahaha....do i need a lower one like 80

Hi there, thanks for your comment! In this case the repair area was sanded down just enough to remove the layer of lacquer in order to achieve a good bond between the new carbon and the original carbon underneath. Grinding the area below this level runs the risk of weakening the base surface in which the new carbon needs to fuse to, specially when the wall thickness of the tube undergoing the repair is just 1 mm. The technique that you describe would definitely work in cases where enough of the original material thickness exists underneath. The main goal of this video was to show how it is possible to repair a severe crack on a carbon tube at the expense of a slightly thicker cross-section (a purely aesthetic compromise if at all). This trade-off is often acceptable when the primary goal is saving the part vs. scrapping it.

Composite Dimensions Ah I see . I was referring to frame repair but you're right you would need enough layers to support the repair . Nice video .

Matthieu, our carbon fiber repair kits are exclusively sold in Israel, thus helping our local customers avoid paying exuberant import taxes and surcharges that they would otherwise incur by outsourcing some of these materials themselves. In addition, we provide them with unparalleled levels of support and guidance to help eliminate trial-&-error as most of our local customers are new to working with composites. Dov

Sure, I don't see any problem with that, It's just that it caught my attention that it is exactly the same kit as Easycomposites for a higher price with the same technical sheet and so on but with some words changed :)

Not really! We source our materials from various suppliers in the US and Europe. Perhaps the only similarity to the EC kits is the type of epoxy resin system (hence similar MSDS & TDS). Besides this, our kits comprise items based on our own fully tested and developed repair techniques, supported by our own step-by-step guides. Our prices are fairly competitive for our local customer base compared to the EC kits when factoring shipping cost and other surcharges.

It means you did it wrong.

Assuming that you are repairing a tube, rolling the carbon around it multiple times is a more effective and easier laminating process vs. applying it in separate layers as you would normally do on flatter surfaces.

i am trying to repair a crack that has occurred at my seat stay that part holds lots of weight.....

This usually happens when too much hardener is mixed with the resin. Double-check the correct mix ratio and try again. If you experience this again, take the cup outside and let the exothermic effect die down. Good luck with your project!

Ohhh darn it but just to check if I did it right when you said measure the ratio with a kitchen scale which unit of measurement do you usually set the scale to? And for example if you were to use oz for the kitchen scale if you were to use 2 to 1 in oz is it 0.2 you look at or 2.0? And what about for 3 to 1?

Also I did this repair outside in very warm 80+ degrees weather. ...I hope when measuring my kitchen scale was accurate and properly calibrated. ...

Buy more shrink tape. Using the correct materials is key to achieving a structurally sound repair. Other than applying full vacuum, we don't recommend using an alternative method to consolidate the repair area during curing.

How would you sand inside?

What a dumb idea lol. Leave the plastics to guys like this.

There is nothing special about weight scales. They are readily available online. We recommend a digital scale with a high precision strain gauge sensor, a zero reset feature, and with a readout resolution of at least 1 gram.

Kitchen weight scales.... Means " hight tech" Advanced Composite Teccniques ??? What a fake !!!!

perhaps even more stronger than the entire frame

This looks like it may be stronger. This is definitely not a carbon repair solution if you are conscious about weight, i.g. RC sailplanes.

This is a premium quality 2/2 twill, 3K, 200 g/m^2 carbon fiber reinforcement fabric with a partially impregnated resin binder that allows the weave pattern to keep perfectly aligned during handling and cutting with no fraying. It is the only material we use and recommend for this type of repair. For more information visit: www.compositedimensions.com/carbon-fiber-reinforcement

can u tell me if my crack is repairable by using this carbon fiber cloth? if i send the pics to u here?

Of course. Please make sure your pictures capture all the damaged areas, preferably in high-res quality so that in turn we can give you an accurate assessment. You can also e-mail us at: info@compositedimensions.com

hopefully these pics are good enough let me know if you need more...i took a couple of pics but i have three which i think were the clearest/best view of the crack...people i was talking to telling me this"What I'm seeing looks like compression failure, like you took a jump too high and landed hard. "That part will NEVER have any strength now, repaired or not." My vote is that your frame is toast, and only 'repair' it if you are going to use it as wall-art." "If the crack were vertical, yeah, you could get away with repairing it, but with a circumferential crack, the only strength it will have will be of the repair epoxy itself." Here's the pic links... www.dropbox.com/s/ll4oe51v04y4ho0/20160720_145217.jpg?dl=0 www.dropbox.com/s/3yfu26a30bb1ccr/20160720_145254.jpg?dl=0 www.dropbox.com/s/7tinupnu3x3w4vx/20160720_145446.jpg?dl=0 www.dropbox.com/s/6vyjm91l57neb2r/20160720_145538.jpg?dl=0

FYI, the damage in this pic is on the seat stay of my frame...which is carbon but my whole frame is aluminum with fork carbon and seat stay carbon.

maybe show the strength of your repair and if it any good and likely also the reason why 1/6 are downvoting your vid. are the curing solid, all of this you could demonstrate by testing it and perhaps show a slice thrueit., actual concrete proofs.