TheAuroch

Who knows who invented Carbon Fiber, and when it was invented. Of course, if you know who, then you undoubtedly know when. What do you win...



Sheeyyeaaahhh, like I can afford to give away a prize...
LOL

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

Insufficient information.... Can I guess?... okay...

Carbon fibre was invented in 1929 by... Daemons... to fight.. Aliens....

I knew it!

Alright, now for MY trivia question... where did I just rip that mangled sequence of events from?

Jon

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

it was invented in 1962 by a carbone` fibre` an italian scientist working on a more durable cinzano style umbrella

mike

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

I find it hard to believe his first name was carbone..... Because that's probably the most freaky coincidance ever.. Carbon fibre is made of what? Carbon... right... and it's weaved together in... fibres!... okay... invented by... Carbone? Carbone 'fibre'?

tmiked

Anybody know where you can buy the stuff cheap in sheets like you can fiberglass ?

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

ok you got me, i dont have a clue

mike

MarkPerez

invented by the same guy who invented velcro Lol

rx-7 crazy

carbon is a hardner but its also used to hold the fibers together, it bonds with everything. example our bodies are carbon based thats how our bodies can pull nutrients out of stuff, we exhale carbon dioxide...our bodies combining carbon to dioxide to stableize it and expell it from our bodies...carbon is our friend

rx-7 crazy

sorry i was getting taught about different metals last night how they make them hard, magnetic or non magnetic, how to make metal that is almost impossible to wear even over time

Sammymatik

The process by which the starnds are made is also interesting...

toxic_d

http://www.carb.com/index.html

Check this link

Kyle

tmiked

Kewl link, Kyle. The appear to only sell the cloth. I was hoping to find a place that sold the stuff in sheets already resin cured. Like 1/8 inch plywood but carbon fiber instead

CHEF_EG_1

www.uscomposites.com

toxic_d

look around... you should be able to find some simple how-to's on flat panels give me a bit and i will post something

Kyle

Evil Aviator

Thomas Edison invented it in 1879 while attempting to find a long-lasting filament for his light bulb. He eventually found a filament that lasted forever, and he sold its secret formula to the newly-formed New World Order who installed it in their personal vehicles which were also fitted with the infamous 100mpg carburetors. The carbon fiber research was picked up a short time later by Sir Joseph W. Swan, who gave them to his wife to crochet so that she had something better to do rather than to nag him all day about spending so much time in the laboratory.

*In the current fashion of the commercial media, some facts of this story have been edited by the author to make it more interesting in order to increase ratings, which is what the news is really all about, anyway.

TheAuroch

B I N G O !!!!


At a boy, good one, and the first time it was used was on the back of his buggy-wagon. He put it over the tail gate to impress some people at a pick nick. You know what they say, "one man's trash is another man's treasure..." LOL Later dudes'

Oh, can any-one give me shadetree instructions on how to overhaul the complete fuel and OMP system on my 85" GSL-SE...

PaulFitzwarryne

You can buy carbon fibre, which is a spun thread, woven into tape or cloth. It is similar to fibreglass or kevlar cloth except you can buy it as chopped mat. You wet it out with resin and hardner as if working with fibreglass.

The ultimate form is pre-preg which contains both and is cured by heat in an oven. This is the technique for building racing yachts such as those for the America's Cup. The oven used is a fantastic size to get the whole boat in.

You can not buy it in flat sheets, there is simply no demand because it used primarily for moulded parts in aircraft and racing cars. In itself a flat sheet would have low structural strength.

I use it a lot for yacht construction. In fact my preent yacht is built from carbon fibre laid over end-grain balsa to give an ultra light high strength sandwich cconstuction.

As a matter of interest, carbon fibre comes in a whole range of specifications with the top versions costing up to a 100 times the cost of fibreglass cloth. Only people like NASA can afford these ultimate forms.

tmiked

I am sure you are basically right. But somebody is making CHEAP carbon-fiber products like those dashboard covers. I have seen precut flat parts for private plane instrument panels and I am sure somebody is making it in bulk.
I was thinking of building things like:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...&category=6768

for example

Lookieme

Carbon fiber was developed after WWII, when america's factories started making commercial products again. It came around just like plastic did. It's a material made from a refinery byproduct.

It's great for it's molded-use integrity. But it's still not as strong or cheap as metal products yet.

The military tried to develop some gliders with carbon fiber wings. It went no-where cause we didn't need gliders after the 50s.

Ended up going commercial with airplanes after a while, and, like everything else, made it into the automobile market.

Boeing's Skunk Works did a lot with Carbon Fiber in the last three decades. It was used in the construction of the F-117 and the B-2, even the F-22 Raptor.

PaulFitzwarryne

You can make a flat sheet by putting mold release on a smooth piece of ply slightly larger than what you need. Then cut the fibre to shape, either glass, carbon or kevlar [the latter is cheaper than carbon but tough to cut]. Wet-out with resin/hardner. The result after curing is a smooth surface which can be buffed-up.

The strength/rigidity depends on the cloth weight and the number of layers you add. So you can taylor the panel to suit the use and cost you want. For examle a 40 foot yacht mast in carbon weighs 60% of an alloy mast of the same strength, but it costs nearly three times the price.

Unlike glass which goes transparent, carbon keeps its colour. Most of the cheap cloths have little carbon and the threads stand out making an attractive finish.