Cool at home forged carbon process

[Senrusho]

Anyone have the expertise needed to model the door handles, steering wheel trim, and vent rings that are all chrome in the JL? I think it would be super sick to replace that chrome with forged carbon, and other than the mold creation it looks pretty easy.

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[Vanburi]

I think 3D printing would be easier and cheaper...

 

[mllcb42]

I think 3D printing would be easier and cheaper...

3d printing produces a significantly different final product.

 

[Senrusho]

I think 3D printing would be easier and cheaper...

If I could 3d print the parts, I could 3d print molds for those same parts. After that its just a little prep work, a vice (which I have), some clamps (which I also have), and about $80 in materials.

The 3D printing (more specifically the modeling) is far and away the limiting factor preventing me from doing this.

 

[mllcb42]

If I could 3d print the parts, I could 3d print molds for those same parts. After that its just a little prep work, a vice (which I have), some clamps (which I also have), and about $80 in materials.

The 3D printing (more specifically the modeling) is far and away the limiting factor preventing me from doing this.

Your best option for these parts is actually going to be to look into some of the photogrammetry software options to scan the stock parts. You'd still need some CAD skills to clean that up and model your molds though.

With that said, the door handles, for example, will not be as simple as printing and two piece mold and going at it. It's going to take at least a 3 piece mold, and probably wants to have some machined parts bonded/co-cured in for the actual interfaces with the door mechanism.

Still totally doable, but not as trivial as it looks at first glance.

 

[Rubi SoHo]

Carbon molds are pretty expensive. Very expensive actually. And working with carbon fiber is actually a fairly developed skill.

In the Mountain Bike world, which is my other hobby (Moab is a friggin’ wonderland for me, hence why I’ll always live in Utah). Carbon is a highly sought after frame material, and manufacturers will usually try to get a few years of use out of a single frame design because the molds are so pricy.

There are companies that do Carbon overlay, a veneering process that’s much less expensive and probably appropriate for the type of application you are interested in.

 

[mllcb42]

Carbon molds are pretty expensive.

Yes and no. Production carbon molds that have to hold up to lots and lots of cycles at high heat are indeed expensive. One/few off molds aren't actually all that bad, especially if we're talking about something for an ambient cure.

 

[Senrusho]

Carbon molds are pretty expensive. Very expensive actually. And working with carbon fiber is actually a fairly developed skill.

In the Mountain Bike world, which is my other hobby (Moab is a friggin’ wonderland for me, hence why I’ll always live in Utah). Carbon is a highly sought after frame material, and manufacturers will usually try to get a few years of use out of a single frame design because the molds are so pricy.

There are companies that do Carbon overlay, a veneering process that’s much less expensive and probably appropriate for the type of application you are interested in.

Did you watch the video? He literally uses a normal 3d printed mold that they printed on a consumer 3d printer.

 

[Rubi SoHo]

Did you watch the video? He literally uses a normal 3d printed mold that they printed on a consumer 3d printer.

no, I didn’t watch. Makes sense I suppose, but probably gives a suboptimal result. But for interior trim and other parts that don’t see a lot of stress, it’s probably adequate since it’s all about cosmetics there. Then again, I’d probably send the parts off for veneering in that case.

 

[mllcb42]

Makes sense I suppose, but probably gives a suboptimal result

Nah, you can get great results using 3d printed tooling, you just don't end up with good long term tool durability generally. It'll certainly be way better than veneered parts.

 

[Senrusho]

Nah, you can get great results using 3d printed tooling, you just don't end up with good long term tool durability generally. It'll certainly be way better than veneered parts.

Yeah, and in this case I think tool durability is of very little importance. Its still a pipe dream for me though because I would have absolutely no clue where to even start to model the parts to design the molds.

 

[Rubi SoHo]

Hey @Senrusho , I’m glad I could give you a chuckle. Not sure why it was funny, but you do you.

I’m just used to sourcing carbon MTB stuff that’s built for strength and weight savings, not appearances. It’s correspondingly pricy (4-5x the price of an aluminum alternative in many cases) and found in limited supply. I would never try to make my own carbon parts that could fail and cause injury. Doesn’t sound like you’re interested in parts that would be put into harms way, so there’s that.

But if you can find a way to make up some homemade carbon trim pieces that you like, I say more power to you.

 

[El Zilcho]

Hey @Senrusho , I’m glad I could give you a chuckle. Not sure why it was funny, but you do you.

I’m just used to sourcing carbon MTB stuff that’s built for strength and weight savings, not appearances. It’s correspondingly pricy (4-5x the price of an aluminum alternative in many cases) and found in limited supply. I would never try to make my own carbon parts that could fail and cause injury. Doesn’t sound like you’re interested in parts that would be put into harms way, so there’s that.

But if you can find a way to make up some homemade carbon trim pieces that you like, I say more power to you.

As a fellow MTB rider I understand your position, but you have to realize that a lot of carbon MTB parts are overhyped and overpriced. Plus the process in the video will produce a strong but comparatively heavy part. So strength will be there but not the weight savings.

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