Patience and attention to detail goes a long way. As with the carbon repair, being methodical and thorough at each step yielded excellent results.
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I ordered the “Easy Start” kit from a company called Gorilla Carbonworks on Amazon. Sure, I could easily add layers of the fabric to my frame, but I didn’t have any way to compress it. The goal with this step is to completely saturate the fabric without going overboard. Before the Repair After the Repair Introduction: The following tutorial is kind of an extension to the other frame repair tutorial that I did. IMBA Epics |
I used a hair dryer to apply heat, but a true heat gun would have been much better.
After coming across a DIY carbon fiber repair kit on Amazon, I decided to try my hand at fixing my frame. - Carbon Fiber Fabric, Carbon Fiber Repair Kit, Kit de Lámina de Fibra de Carbono y Resina Epoxi, Predator Cycling Carbon Repair Kit, Do It Your Self, RCP USA RCF Bowed Concrete Foundation Wall Crack Repair Kit 10' For Basement Cement Repair, Crack Repair using Epoxy and Carbon Fiber (RCF-1000), RCP USA RCF-VCRK Unidirectional Concrete Crack Repair Kit, Black, 10 Count, 5 FT x 12" - Carbon Fiber FABRIC-2x2 Twill WEAVE-3K/220g, 3M DI-NOC CA-421 BLACK CARBON FIBER 4ft x 1ft (4 sq/ft) Flex Vinyl Wrap, 6 oz. My advice would be to take your time, read (and reread) instructions, and watch videos on YouTube for tips on technique. First, I laid down some electrical tape, and then I put painter’s tape over the top of that. The kit I used suggested five minutes of mixing.
Do NOT try to repair carbon fiber handlebars, seatposts, forks, saddles, etc. If I had used a heat gun instead of a hair dryer, there would have been even less resin. As a composite person I will tell you that a cosmetic repair like yours is a pretty straight forward fix. Predator Cycling suggests using plastic wrap to protect the rest of the frame, and if I had any at home, I would have used it instead of the painter’s tape.
With the epoxy ready to go, I carefully laid down the first patch. I’m just a guy that likes working on bikes and trying to figure out new things. Since I had to completely disassemble my bike to do the repair, I decided to take the opportunity to repaint the frame as well.
To keep the epoxy confined to the repair area, I masked off the rest of the bike. It took a lot of searching to find this tape. Wet sandpaper helped keep the dust down for this step. My carbon fiber road bike had a pretty serious gouge in the downtube from dropping the chain. Please contact our marketing team with any requests for marketing or sales materials. I then wet this layer out and placed the final, largest patch over that, and also wet that out. You’re seeing this ad based on the product’s relevance to your search query.
Goodwinds Composites LLC 1829 Railroad Avenue Mount Vernon, WA 98273 United States. This guide is intended to be a helpful resource for someone considering repairing their carbon frame at home.
OUR PRODUCTS. Once I was satisfied with the sanding, I thoroughly cleaned the frame with alcohol and a lint-free cloth.
Simply laying some fiber on top of other fiber does not provide an adequate high integrity repair. The $40 kit includes a 39″x6″ sheet of 3K carbon fiber, a bottle of epoxy, a bottle of hardener, mold release wax, a brush, mixing pot, and gloves.
Includes plumber's putty, a tighter knit, and more resin. FiberFix Repair Wrap Pro is the wrap you need for higher pressure pipe repair.
Prime members enjoy FREE Delivery and exclusive access to music, movies, TV shows, original audio series, and Kindle books. Repeat this process as many times as you have layers of carbon. Rhino Carbon Fiber™ is an industry leader in concrete crack repair and structural strengthening, providing strong, efficient and easy-to-use products! After wetting out the first layer of carbon, I put the second, larger patch over the top of it.
I was hoping it would be flashier than it turned out. You want the epoxy to be tacky when you touch it while wearing a rubber glove, but no residue should come off on the glove. You only get one shot to get the first piece right, so take your time.
hows your bike doing? Predator Cycling offers it on their website, but at $15 (plus shipping) for just 5 yards of tape, I searched for a better deal. Carbon fabric can easily snag on a rough surface or pick up debris from a dirty work surface. In all, this was a relatively easy project to complete. Now that the frame was patched and painted, all that was left was to put the components back on and go ride!
The weave was loose, so I handled the fabric gently, and stored it in between foil to keep it safe while I prepped the epoxy. Carbon fiber plain cloth tape - Sold per metre Carbon Tapes are ideal for selective reinforcement, tube winding, lap joining, and repairs etc Carbon fiber unidirectional tape - 50mm wide
Keep in mind composite using carbon strands or mat depends heavily on being integrated with the structure. On the rest of the bike, I was less concerned about getting that far down. Lots and lots and lots of sanding. I used electrical tape to hold down each end of the shrink release tape. I looked at other carbon fiber repair kits like this one from Predator Cycling, and realized I needed shrink release tape — a highly-specialized type of tape used in composites.
The hair dryer worked just okay, and it took far too long.