Carbon fibre panel

 Hi Guys

I'm looking for someone who can make a foam sandwiched carbon fibre panel. Needs to be 6mm thick, 500mm wide by 300mm high. Needs to have a hole cut in the centre to mount a GPS to be fitted to a flat dash. I will fit myself. Prefer the edges to be bull nosed.

I have googled everything I can think of and I can't find anything in Perth. I did find someone called Carbon Weasel in UK and I have sent them the details looking for a price delivered to Perth.

Is anyone aware of any carbon fibre fabricators in Perth or Australia that might be able to do this ?

cheers


Posts: 5738

Date Joined: 18/01/12

 Is this to go on your dash

Sun, 2014-10-19 10:16

 Is this to go on your dash panel Bruce? To fit a different set of electronics?

I used king starboard though carbon fibre would look good. Beware that it can also get very hot though.

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Cruise Control's picture

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Date Joined: 03/11/10

 Yep. Taking out the older

Sun, 2014-10-19 12:43

 Yep. Taking out the older units and left with two great holes in the dash. Thought about glassing it back in and using something like the starboard but thought if I am going to do it the carbon Fibre would look smick given that it will be fitted over the existing dash. I hadn't thought about heat though and it does get hot up there behind the glass. Just looking for something different if you know what I mean. 

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Date Joined: 19/08/13

king starboard

Sun, 2014-10-19 10:59

 Rob H how thick is the king starboard and where abouts can you get it in Perth    cheers

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Date Joined: 18/01/12

 comes in a few imperial

Sun, 2014-10-19 11:12

 comes in a few imperial sizes, I still have half a sheet of 3/8" in my shed left over from building my bait board

http://fishwrecked.com/forum/diy-baitboard

If you go thru my posts somewhere you'll find a pic of the panel infills as well.

Easy to work with a circular saw and trimmer (router)

If you want a piece we can work something out, though I live in Gero

____________________________________________________________________________

 Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...

 

 

The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

Everyone's just winging it.

 

z00m's picture

Posts: 1086

Date Joined: 10/05/14

 Epoxy is not great when

Sun, 2014-10-19 11:20

 Epoxy is not great when exposed to the sun and UV. It turns yellow after a few years. You'll need to give it a top coat of UV stabilised clear coat once it comes out of the mold. If you want bullnose then the mold is the hardest part of doing what you want and where the expense will be. If you want it flat then start with a piece of perspex, put down your release agent, layup your epoxy and cloth, squeegee and roller it to get rid of air and excess resin, wait for it to cure and cut to shape.

Most economical way would be to have someone (or even yourself) make the majority of the thickness from fibreglass cloth and epoxy and just one or two layers of carbon cloth to make the face of it look pretty. 6mm is easy to achieve without great expense. It's not a structural piece so no need for it to be full carbon is it?

Cruise Control's picture

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Date Joined: 03/11/10

 Nope Zoom, it's not

Sun, 2014-10-19 12:51

 Nope Zoom, it's not structural. I thought that it could  be foam sandwich to give it the thickness. It just needs to be rigid enough to support the weight of the Lowrance. So I am guessing foam middle and o bottom layer of carbon fibre with two top layers finished with UV stabilised lacquer. The photos from the work do e by carbon weasel in UK look really smicko. 

Im in not really that handy so would be looking for someone who knows what they are doing. 

Cheers

Posts: 187

Date Joined: 19/08/13

thanks Rob H

Sun, 2014-10-19 13:31

 working away at moment get back middle next month, by the way awesome job on baitboard I don't think you could buy one like that, def custom

pgreen1's picture

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Date Joined: 20/02/08

 a company in Malaga called

Mon, 2014-10-20 06:04

 a company in Malaga called Inovas do carbon fiber work for the mining and oil and gas industry. they might be able to knock something customized for you

z00m's picture

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Date Joined: 10/05/14

The foam sandwich is not a

Mon, 2014-10-20 07:10

The foam sandwich is not a good idea if you're going to cut a hole in the middle of it. Tightening your Lowrance to it (flush mount I'm guessing?) means the lowrance would be supporting the surrounding structure and the thin carbon would eventially crack. Don't get too hung up about the core material. 500 x 300 in glass with carbon on the front won't be a weight issue.

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Carbon fibre

Mon, 2014-10-20 14:04

Swarbrick and Swarbrick Yachts in Henderson do carbon fibre work.

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Date Joined: 10/06/09

just get it made in plasic or

Mon, 2014-10-20 16:02

just get it made in plasic or glass

then get it wrapped in carbon look alike plenty of guys wrapping cars and bike in perth and its ok in the sun

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Marineboy's picture

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Date Joined: 14/03/14

Carbon fibre

Mon, 2014-10-20 17:45

in Malaga there is a place called plastral they don't have carbon fibre but they do have a pretty good look alike.

I bought a piece of stuff from them to repair my dash when I fitted up a new motor to mount the new gauges.

They have a few different products to choose from.

Good luck.  

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scottnofish's picture

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Date Joined: 28/08/07

try this from super cheap

Mon, 2014-10-20 17:52

 http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/3M-Wrap-Carbon-Fibre-Black-Acc-Pack.aspx?pid=343560#Cross

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Date Joined: 12/05/13

Hi mate,My brother (in

Fri, 2014-10-24 08:22

Hi mate,

My brother (in Victoria) is a boat builder that specialises in carbon fiber and other compisites. He did his trade building ocean racers and has since specialised in high end yachts, powerboats, V8 supercar fairings etc. He went out of it for a while but is now getting back into it and starting to build custom bass boats and composite offshore fishing boats.

He could throw something together for you and freight it over easily. He als has a Cnc machine so can do precision cutting and shaping if you give him exact dimensions of your GPS.

Let me know if you want me to put you in touch.

Cheers,

 

 

Cruise Control's picture

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Date Joined: 03/11/10

Cheers all, thanks for the

Fri, 2014-10-24 13:10

Cheers all, thanks for the replies. Pretty well sorted now.