Forged Carbon Fibre Overmoulding

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]using a mighty guide. And next, what we want to do is make it really strong by putting a filler in. In this case, it's about 20 mm.

[00:00:08]And in order to add this extra material, what we're going to do is create a mold box. And so, a part that goes around our piece. And then this we can extrude. Um After that, we can do a boolean and remove that part to create the cavity.

[00:00:25]And then all we need to do from here is to create a couple of chamfers just to remove some material to make it an easier print. So, all good to go.

[00:00:35]So, now the um molds have been printed and um we've coated them with epoxy. Um two layers and then we've polished it to get a nice finish just where we're going to be um uh worried about the finish. It's time to coat them and then get them ready for um the molding process.

[00:00:56]So, now our mold release is um all happily on. Um it's time for us to mix up some epoxy and then um get two different containers. One of them with epoxy and the other one with um chopped carbon to make our little forged carbon connector.

[00:01:12]Um and we're going to need enough to fill this gap um in the side um over here.

[00:01:17]I like to put a layer of epoxy right on the mold. Um that can often help with surface blemishes like air bubbles.

[00:01:25]Um after that, I There's two ways to add um carbon fiber into here. One of them is to put it in dry. Um if you're clever about this, you can um control the um orientations um for the performance of the part.

[00:01:40]Um but the problem with that is if it's a thick part, um it's very hard to get the um epoxy into it using this method and you can't put much um carbon down um each time. And if you do it improperly, you can end up with dry spots is is really bad. Um so, I usually only advise this for like quite a thin little layup here.

[00:02:00]Um, the next thing you can do is to actually get a little pile of carbon fibers and then, um, pour epoxy straight onto that. Um, that way you can, uh, ensure it's nicely wetted out. Um, but you can't, um, control any of those fiber directions. Um, So, we do that and then we, um, add make sure we have enough to, um, fill those voids, um, that create the, uh, kind of welds or fillets.

[00:02:31]Um, [snorts] in this process we're going to compress, um, those two mold surfaces against that those carbon tube, um, mandrel. And so, we can provide a lot of pressure to, um, squeeze out that excess epoxy. So, at this point we're not too worried about having too much cuz most of that will come out afterwards.

[00:02:50]Um, once we check for the fitment, um, that we do have a whole bunch of epoxy and carbon fiber sticking up that we can compress, um, we close the molds and then, um, compress them in clamps or a vice or something like that. Um, when we're compressing them, we just compress them slowly to make sure that there's, um, a path for those bubbles to come out of.

[00:03:13]There we go. Look at that.

[00:03:17]Um, it's got a bit of flashing and carbon on the side that we're going to have to grind off. I already showed you the grinding, um, and, uh, sanding process in the last one. So, I'll just finally show you the, um, the end product.

[00:03:28]So, it came out pretty well. Um, not too many, uh, surface imperfections. That's straight off the mold without any polishing. Um, I also then put it through some pretty rigorous testing, um, scooting, uh, couple hundred kilometers with, um, 30 kilos on the front.

[00:03:45]Thanks for joining. Um, in our next, uh, episodes we're going to go through using these long continuous carbon fibers to make really strong parts that uh are combined with carbon fiber.

[00:03:56]So, instead of looking ugly like they used to and sharp, they now look nice and pretty. Um we'll also go through um about using um mold design to orient your short strand forged carbon fibers nicely. Um and also how using um poles and uh roll wrap tubes avoids um seam line seam line delaminations. We'll also go through a little bit about using um backings for molds to make them really strong and uh not as big at print times.

[00:04:28]So, foam, uh grout, concrete, all those kind of things. So, if that sounds exciting to you, please like and subscribe and leave any comments um below. Thanks a lot and see you soon.