Thread: Scales in Carbon Fiber

Hi everyone. I'm looking for some advice on carbon fiber scales - I have the material (which is quite difficult to get in the UK) and need some guidance on whether to cut the scales in one go i.e. placing two pieces together or cutting them individually. My concern is that if if put the two pieces together I will need to size the thickness from the front facing - so will this destroy the pattern?

As you can probably tell from the question, I am new to restoration, so any advice willbe gladly accepted.

What do you mean by size the thickness? I think that you mean if you round the edges will the pattern disappear? With the fake stuff it will. That is all I have worked with.

I'm not clear on the question either. The Fibers are the full thickness of the material. When sanding the under laying fiber grain may change direction where thinner, but will not go away. When sanded equal on both sides scaless, I think this mirrored look is nice.

If this is a veneer, then it would be a concern, and I would not want to sand through that layer when rounding the edges

Be careful if you are making any narrow parts in you scale design. The carbon fiber has a tendency to DE-laminate where the cross section is narrow. Also, any material like a rag, old t-shirt, etc will pick up and pull loose fibers. The scales that I made have bee milled out on CNC. It worked but I don't think that I would try it again. Give yourself enough material outside of you finished size for sanding to ensure that your edges will smooth out. The fibers are similar to fiber glass and can give you slivers easily.