Thread: First attempt at making carbon scales!

Well my fist attempt at making any scales really....
This is only what i have thus far, still have yet to turn my home made carbon sheet into anything, but am pretty happy with it considering the janky setup... I shall show pictures of the final scales when finished, hopefully in the next day or two!
I made this sheet with seven layers of carbon, and west system epoxy. I squeezed all the excess out using some plywood.

Be sure to wear a respirator when cutting or sanding that stuff. Those little carbon fibers are nasty, and you don't want them in your lungs. I also wear medical type gloves when grinding, etc., as they help keep stuff out of your hands, without the worry of getting pulled into a spinning machine by a regular glove.

Oh absolutely! I cut Carbon Frequently at the bicycle shop i work at, so I know whats up
The gloves arent a big deal to me so much, as im used to getting my hands dirty. I noticed last night though as i was grinding away, i think the Carbon dust started to irritate my wrists. Ive never ground in that volume before...
Funny story though, i was grinding away in my garage, and the carbon got knocked out of my hands, and flew somewhere in the garage. I looked for an hour or more and still cant find half of my sheet...

Quick sneak peak!

Can anyone with experience with laying carbon help answer the following question? :P

There are these lines (indentations in the surface, not scratches) indicated in the surface of the carbon made from the wax paper i used while the epoxy was hardening. I plan to clear coat the scales with more epoxy for a nice finish, but I want to know what i should expect to see from these lines? Will they still be as apparent, or should they 'disappear'? Is it worth attempting to sand down the scales before the final clear coat?
Thanks!

Soooo... my ancy-ness to get this all together has overcome me, so i decided to go ahead with the epoxy, and im glad i did! While this photo shows it wet, i know it'll definitely hide the marks i shared in the previous photo!

Also as a side note, I got the epoxy clear coat idea from the "make your own micarta scales' in the library. The scales are currently 'suspended' a top rubber erasers from wooden pencils, seems to work effectively, and I know they will come off in the grinder like nothing!

It looks nice. Carbon is an interesting material and i'd like to have a razor with carbon scales some day.

They are some pretty nice looking scales. Lucky you have access to the materials.

Carbon looks pretty, but for me is an expensive material for the home hobbyist to work with. If you can find cloth offcuts it would save a lot of money over buying whole areas of cloth. Black fibreglass is a good alternative. It isn't quite black, but like a deep deep ocean blue.