Making Complex Carbon Fibre Tubes Using a Split-Mould 

In vac, the atmospheric pressure push the mold together. When bladder tries to open the mold, so you would need stronger mold to hold

@@LestaAZL I was wondering this same exact thing. Thanks for the logical response.

Yes, it's exactly as LestaAZL has commented. The moulds you need for a pressurised bladder need to be incredibly strong (usually billet aluminium) in order to resist the deflection of the 'unbalanced' pressurised bladder. Therefore they tend to be very expensive to produce. An internal vacuum bag setup like this exerts equal pressure on the inside and outside of the mould, allowing much lighter, more cost effective composite moulds to be used.

Good point. Vacuum + plastic film= waste + money. You can make a thicker mould just by adding 3-4 layers of fiberglass or carbon fiber, hence achieving a stronger mould. I prefer the bladder anyways

What pressure would a pipe like that hold

Thanks for the comment, that’s great to hear. 👍

Can i ask what kinda parts you made and for which team? I'm just a big F1 fan and i'd like to know

+1 on knowing what team you were on with driver and what parts. Pleassseeee!

@@slipknotfan2217 He worked for Mercedes AMG F1

@@elissitdesign Mercedes AMG F1

exactly what i was thinking ahaha

Especially that now you know that you could possibly make it at home. I wonder what kind of oven needs to be used though, and at what temps and duration.

same...

And that's why they cost millions of dollars as well.

At least they won't rust.

If you want an idea on the labor involved, check out the youtube channel Street Bandito. One of the guys is making (and is almost finished with) a full carbon body 240z. The guys does some fantastic work and his car looks gorgeous, all done himself.

GUNER 400 parts;) But dont worrie you Pay for the extra Carbon time:)

@@readysetnogo I believe their channel is the reason why this video was recommended to me. I'm interested in handcrafted/homemade carbon fiber stuff. I'm glad there's other fans of the Street Bandito out here. They deserve more love for all of the effort they put into their builds especially the carbon z.

Thank you Lukas, we appreciate your comments and support.

Thanks, yes, we're pleased to be getting back on with them.

@@easycompositestv great work! cheers from Italy!

Because you learn something just by looking and get ideas what you can do with it .

That's right I'm afraid!

Hyperian if you want to make them lower buy price just use industrial machines and bigger number of employees and you can produce more so price will be lower

@@PakleniVuk industrial machines = money. More employees = money. More machines + more employees + more money invested does not equal more demand.

@@kolyafreeman5414 + more production + more supply + more availability - price - time ✌✌✌😅

@@samyoung8470 if it was that simple, we would be swimming in carbon fiber products nowadays. Modern mass manufacturing has existed for more than a century now and carbon fiber mass manufacturing has existed for more than half a century now. Even quality carbon bike frames are still in the $1k+ range.

Hi Karl, yes indeed.

meh not really. fiberglass parts are cheap as fuck. Cf is only slightly more expensive to work with. but it looks cool and people are easily fooled. so why not charge out the ass for it? the skills here are very basic. the tools very basic.

Diesel Ramcharger Basic skills? Then 99% of the population doesn’t possess basic skills. Lol

@@SkypowerwithKarl Just because you can't do it doesn't mean the rest of the world can't.

@@DieselRamcharger if what you are saying is true then make a carbon fiber part manufacturing business and make a killing. Ezpz right???

Haha, thanks Dennis, sometimes entertainment comes from the strangest places!

Yes, but as they said, it's harder to do it

Thanks Peter, glad it was helpful.

Hi Dmitrii, the epoxy is already in the carbon fibre because we're using 'prepreg' carbon fibre in this tutorial. If you'd like to understand more about what prepreg is and how it works then take a look at our Introduction to Prepreg Carbon Fibre tutorial: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HfrFaKDsJxc.html

Thanks for the comment, I'm glad you like it.

@@easycompositestv hello am an amataeur when it comes to metals and non etals and materials, as far as i understand carbon fiber has been used extensively in space. i want to know what combination is best for such purpose and what types can i use to build space habitats ... say in the kuiper belt....thanks in dvance

For sure, this is labour intensive work!

Koenigsegg* but yeah it's stupidly hard. And koenigsegg makes sure all the weaves line up then sand down the outer to a perfect matte finish. So if it takes two hours to make this tube for a normal person, you can look at about four to six for koenigsegg.

Thank you, glad you liked it.

Our pleasure. Thanks for watching!

Haha, that's true David.

Well if we are about to enter a world wide depression, no is not the time for hobbies

Thanks very much. Yes, we try to show a range of ways of doing things. We will, in fact, be returning to some simpler and more entry-level topics over the next few videos but they'll always be showing a process that's used for a good reason, even if that reason is simply to avoid the need for complex tools or equipment. Stay tuned.

Thank you sir, much appreciated. Good health and prosperity to you too. :)

@@easycompositestv thank you. Namaste 🙏😊

Yes, you can do this. It really depends on the general quality you're working towards. A dissolvable foam mandrel will be putting you in a very different place in terms of accuracy, finish and future production but could be a workable option for one-offs or more basic solutions.

That’s just part of a 20 year commitment to composites! 👍

There are ways to use 3D printing in composites but this process, as you see it in this tutorial, isn’t quite one of them. However, stay tuned to our channel, we have several 3D printing tutorials coming soon.

Watch our other video on mandrel wrapped tubes as they are smooth inside.

@@easycompositestv but I have mould like in this video my tube is almost like the one in the video not straight is there a solution ?

he said you can but its not worth it

It's really very difficult to make something like this using a resin infusion process. Nothing is impossible but the practicalities of dealing with dry fabric and then handling the infusion consumables, it just makes it too difficult.

@@easycompositestv indeed it is. The resin needs heated and degassed for a start. The material needs an activator and heat, to create a pre-formed shape. And then the resin needs injected with compressed air pushing it in, with vacuum at the other side helping draw the heated resin to every crevice in the pre-form. That's the "vague" theory used by aerospace to make resin infused carbon parts 👍 (I worked on autoclaves in this way)

@@E9JMX The only things that I find wrong with your reply is #1. The A+B epoxy creates its own heat to cure. #2. You only need vacuum to draw the epoxy into the material. #3. Adding compressed air would add air to the mix. Keep in mind I used to do these processes when making carbon fiber prosthetics. Adding to the fact that we both understand manufacturing, our products might require different processes. Just throwing my two cents in.

Haha, thanks a lot. We'll get cracking then!

Something that sort of shape should be possible relatively easily. You just need to find a replica or something with the similar dish to it for making the pattern in a simple way.

Thanks Caleb, I'm glad you found it easy to follow. That's always the challenge with these complex subjects.

Yes, this is pretty much top of our list. Lots of people requesting 3D printed mould solutions; we'll put something together.

This mould is made from tooling pre-preg

Thanks very much, we appreciate your comments.

was just about to say this too!

Yep, this really is the reason!

Generally, carbon fibre tubes, especially in their raw form like this, wouldn't make the best choice for radiator hoses. The engine cooling system is actually quite a challenging environment for a composite material; you have the combination of boiling (or near boiling) water, an operating temperature that's almost at the maximum operating temperature of the laminate anyway, and the ethylene glycol (antifreeze) all adding up to create an environment that is likely to compromise the carbon fibre. Where you really want to use carbon fibre on a coolant system I would suggest using a tank sealer coating on the inside of the tube, something like Caswell Europe's GTS75.

Easy Composites Ltd What about intake manifold?

Link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LS47125tUzk.html The part is around the 13:10 mark

on that particular part there appears to be no undercuts on the larger opening but the throat of the intake would have likely been separate part of the negative keyed into the rest of the negative part. The process would be generally the same as creating the first mold for a standard part as seen in Easy Composites "Fibreglass/FRP Split-Mould Making Guide" or "How to Make a Prepreg Carbon Fibre Mould", except instead of having a split on the outer layer you would split the internal buck to easily remove it. For more complicated internal geometry you would have to include draft angles in the internal buck in order to ease removal as seen in "Making a Carbon Fibre Bike Frame" @32:30 with removing the inserts for the pass through on the frame.

Hi Christian, I'd agree with what Andrew says.The best process for parts that are 'smooth on the inside' would either be a made tool (if the part could be removed from the without becoming stuck) or it could be a male tool in more than one part, i.e. a split male tool, this would be common, or - for really complex shapes like induction shapes with multiple turns, then you could even use a sacrificial core. These wash-out or melt-out cores are a whole complex subject in their own right but in general they are made from a material that can be dissolved with water or melted out (lots to consider in terms of cure temp of the prepreg vs melt temp of the core) which is either cast (into a mould) or CNC machined.

Yes you can see how the tooling pre-preg is used here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-k4GdAuNji5g.html

Thanks very much, I'm really glad this is inspiring you.

Haha, thanks. Well, just make sure you spread the word :) We're very pleased to get each and every like!

There's a few obstacles with braided sleeves Anthony. Firstly, I'm not sure how braided prepregs could even practically be manufactured, stored, handled or used (although there may be solutions I'm not familiar with). For starters, the prepreg process has films on the inside and outside of the prepreg, I'm not sure how that could work - practically - for a braided sleeve. Furthermore, in most cases, the fibre orientation of a braid would be wrong. Braids will have predominantly +/- 45 degree fibre orientation, or at least some off-axis orientation, due to the way they're woven. Most applications for carbon tubes made the way we do in this video use a lot of unidirectional carbon oriented down the length of the tube, which isn't possible using a braided sleeve.

@@easycompositestv I believe that there are suppliers of braided prepregs. Not sure about those that are out of autoclave though. Braids are available in almost all fibre angles and have many great attributes. Among them are the increase in bulk properties as a result of short fibre crimping. They are a great replacement for wound fibres. I have used miles of them in my high pressure layflat hose invention. This site can give you loads of information about them. I especially like using triaxial braids. In general they require fewer layers, often only one, to match the performance of multi-axial knits. A & P technology is I believe the world leader in braids. Talk to Pam Schneider there, she will get you onto the right people in short order. www.braider.com/

Thank you for watching and commenting Mac Mac, we’ll keep them coming 😀

Hi Arsh, thanks for your comments. I'm not sure we'll make a video specifically about making carbon fibre wheels because it's unlikely that anyone at the learning stage of the their composites is going to take-on making carbon fibre wheels. However, the process would essentially be a combination of what you see in this video and in our bike frame video, with a lot of extra complexity and really critical calculations and knowledge for safety.

aerosol wax

The moulds you need for a pressurised bladder need to be incredibly strong (usually billet aluminium) in order to resist the deflection of the 'unbalanced' pressurised bladder. Therefore they tend to be very expensive to produce. An internal vacuum bag setup like this exerts equal pressure on the inside and outside of the mould, allowing much lighter, more cost effective composite moulds to be used.

And it takes 14x the amount of energy to make the equivalent in steel.

Bro we’re able to build complex carbon Fiber parts so easy… LIFE IS GOOD.

Exactly why carbon parts are expensive

Resin infusion like our bonnet video is usually the best approach.

Thank you Graham :)

Hi, the materials seen in the videos can all be purchased on our website. Kind regards

Check out our bike frame build video if you want to really get into the details of it! Thanks for watching and commenting?

Yes you can use this same method.

Haha, thanks a lot :)

In large scale manufacture, CNC cutting pre-preg templates is commonplace. It is not generally affordable or practical for smaller scale and DIY manufacture.

That all depends on how any overlaps are treated. With proper overlaps the strength will not be significantly compromised.

Мы бы с удовольствием делали русские субтитры, а также языки, но, к сожалению, здесь никто не говорит по-русски. Может быть, мы найдем способ в будущем. Спасибо за просмотр.

Pre-preg needs the heat source from the oven to cure the material.

@@easycompositestv thank you!

They have a large factory and multiple tools for many parts. Also for larger scale production the methods can be altered to speed things up. Eg CNC cut pre-preg templates, pre-made bags or bladders to save time etc.

@@easycompositestv I'm really keen on understanding if carbon fiber body and chassis can be viable on an economy car. I mean, if they have a tendency to snap, is it even viable to make cars out of carbon fiber?

The Mould is made from our XPREG Pre-preg Tooling System. tinyurl.com/yxkh7zb7

@@OwenSullivan03 yeah you are right but there are filaments that can resist over 200°, instead with this carbon treatment, the temperatures are not very high

@@OwenSullivan03 You can easily release the carbon fiber from the mold by putting a special grease called "vax" before you put the carbon fiber with the resin. They didnt mentioned it in the video but you can find it in other videos with carbon fiber projects.

Glad you like them!

It’s made using our XT135 prepreg carbon fibre tooling system. Check the description about for more info.

It really depends on what tools, equipment and materials you already have I guess or it might just have to be a project for when we all come out of the other side!

There is an overlap at the joins which makes it much stronger than if it was a butt joint bonded together. People do successfully make turbo boost pipes from carbon fibre but you may need to do some testing or calculations to work out a suitable wall thickness.

British English its called mould, American English its mold.

Not necessary for such a small non-critical part. Where accuracy and alignment is critical, I agree, hence you see dowels used in the bike frame video.

@@easycompositestv Oh yeah, you did use them for the bike frame. I guess you're right, piping shouldn't matter unless flanges or mounting was critical.

Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed the end result!