Carbon Fibre Reinforcement Weights and Weaves Explained

[@leglessAlex]

Unbelievable that clear, informative content like this is free. I love the internet. Great job Easy Composites!

[@easycompositestv]

Hi Alex, yes, for sure. The internet gets a bad rap these days but people forget how much great content there is out there. If we want to understand other subjects, we turn to KZbin ourselves, there really is some great knowledge being shared in a way that wasn't even possible 20 years ago.

[@StefsEngineering]

@@easycompositestv You have to know how to search for information. When you master that craft you will be amazed by what you find!

[@leglessAlex]

@@easycompositestv I think you can take huge credit when it comes to people trying their had at moulding and manufacturing, your videos really are top class. Thank you! I’ve recently got my own garage and I’m very interested in trying it myself, I just need the courage to jump in!

[@kennethhicks2113]

Yes, the wonders of carbon fiber is exceeded by Easy Composites ethical policies of sharing knowledge/experience.

[@kennethhicks2113]

@@StefsEngineering Indeed Stef.

[@lucbegin7334]

Still the BEST source of carbon fiber and infusion methods on the web. Many thanks EC!

[@sim-racing2277]

The gold standard for how to present technical info. Thanks so much!

[@easycompositestv]

Thanks for the awesome feedback, really appreciate the comment!

[@sim-racing2277]

@@easycompositestv well thanks. I watched the skinning the gun episode and it inspired me to make my own carbon fiber sim racing wheel which was a very rewarding experience. Thank you.

[@easycompositestv]

@@sim-racing2277 Its our pleasure, I'm glad it has turned out well for you :)

[@sim-racing2277]

@@easycompositestv yeah still lots to practice but really pleased!

[@MicroTypeEngineering]

Fantastic video! Hands down the best single overview video of weave types I've ever seen. Keep it up!

[@qcnck2776]

Wow, no idea you guys did your own weaving. Always thought it was some mega corp. Excellent content, as always.

[@easycompositestv]

Actually the loom shots were taken up the road at weaver who produces our fabrics. The UK was the home of carbon fabric weaving and we're very lucky to have some great weavers right on our doorstep who produce our fabrics. They were very obliging and happy for us to pop round with our gear!

[@Lolzomolo]

Amazing Video. Note that CF strands are ~7um not ~7nm! 1000 times larger!

[@davidlarson2534]

You sure know your business. The progression of this presentation is flawless. The info I got from this video prepped satisfied what I need to know to continue on a project I have in mind. Thank you.

[@muneeburrehman4698]

Been searching for this video for two years. Finally, carbon fibres explained in a way that I can understand

[@easycompositestv]

Glad you found the video helpful. We hope to cover more topics in future videos.

[@muneeburrehman4698]

@@easycompositestv A suggestion, you guys should offer some sor of course and certification on composite materials. I am a fresh mechanical engineering graduate and I have so many ideas and products that I want to develop, I see composites as the perfect material for me. Sadly, there was little to no content on composites in our courses. A course and certification from you guys would be really helpful for me and lots of other aspiring design engineers.

[@slappys.garage]

I don't know who this guy is but I love him

[@fabio9910]

I rarely comment, subscribe or like any video but you guys are just brilliant. I am about to make my first order.

[@mattiabelfico376]

It would be amazing to have a dedicated series covering the different grades, types of lay-up, matrix and way of curing the different materials! Anyway, truly simple and clear explanation on this one! kudos!

[@mf1ve]

After all these years... you are still producing THE BEST videos on composites. Thanks so much!

[@easycompositestv]

Glad you like them and hopefully we can continue to produce similar high quality videos.

[@BennysThoughts]

I came to KZbin to be entertained, but apparently I took a wrong turn and am now sitting in a lecture hall. No complaints! Great detailed information from a practical point of view. I love it!

[@easycompositestv]

Haha, cheers Ben; that’s KZbin for you!

[@jakou31]

I'm a French aircraft mechanic composite material specialist... this video is way better for explain composite than my teacher when i was at school lol I gonna recomand this video to him ^^'

[@easycompositestv]

Glad you found this video so useful! Hopefully he likes the recommendation :)

[@LaOwlett]

Very useful! Also, I realized that a lot of diy'ers are using chopped fiberglass and cloth's wrong, and I can see exactly why they struggle to get some weaves to conform to a surface without cutting a bunch of tabs into the cloth. Thank you.

[@alaint]

This channel is exactly what I needed. I owe you one

[@PK-is3di]

One of the best educational videos I found so far. I saw one and then binge watched many. Thank you for the efforts.

[@easycompositestv]

Really appreciate the kind feedback! Thanks for binging our videos!

[@rudolfabelin383]

Dear friends, I just want to remind you about one of the main inventors of the carbon fiber. His name was Lesley N. Phillips and was a friend of my father (from Sweden, as me). He worked at the Royal Aircraft Establishment. So I played with small carbon fiber bars in the 60th as a kid.

[@guloguloguy]

WOW!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU, VERY MUCH, FOR THIS VERY HELPFUL, EDUCATIONAL, DEMO VIDEO!!! MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!

[@carlsagan2371]

I go back to your bonnet video series all the time to remind myself of all the basic principles.

[@easycompositestv]

Hi Carl, I'm glad that you continue to find out bonnet video useful!

[@michigan_supercars6569]

This video is very facinating! I've never seen a video going in-depth about carbon fiber.

[@easycompositestv]

Thank you for your comment, we always appreciate great feedback like this :)

[@mikeoco1850]

Awesome video. I learned everything you discussed completely from what I can tell. Informative. Concise. Quick video. I am actually disappointed you weren't going to keep going on longer and teach us more. Lol. 5/5. Would watch again except I don't think it would be necessary.

[@alexanderrydberg6118]

Finally! I have been looking for such a video for a while now

[@en-nurakhundlu937]

thank you so much

[@mrcpu9999]

Very clear and easy to follow, and answered a ton of questions...

[@Niki_Parvanov]

If I ever decide to make something from composite materials, this is the company that I am going to order from! ❤

[@Bladedancer13]

I absolutely love this series if videos. The level if information that is jammed into each video is wonderful for someone like myself that has no real experience with CF.

[@easycompositestv]

Glad you like them!

[@johnarmstrong4053]

Thank you. @11:15 I was looking for an explanation for multiple layers of the same weight for a long time. Well done!

[@easycompositestv]

Hi John, we appreciate the comment. Glad you enjoyed the video and explanation!

[@slimanus8m]

Paul always bring the best composite tutorials on the web, what a talent

[@easycompositestv]

I'll be sure to let the man himself know; he's already back and busy in the video studio!! :)

[@rqx666]

Easy Composites is number one in lectures

[@shere_kan8329]

Incredible video, very understandable, even for a stranger like me (love that accent 😉). You are doing a great job and I have been plenty satisfied of my purchases on your website. Thanks a lot for your work 👍🏻👍🏻

[@easycompositestv]

Thank you for your comment, great feedback like this is one of the reasons we keep making content :)

[@vazhasukhiashvili3796]

Great video, really good explanation. Thank you for your job !

[@andresilva8444]

You answered many questions I've been asking the wrong people for many years. Thank you!!

[@easycompositestv]

Hi Andre, thanks for the comment! Glad we managed to answer some of the questions you had :)

[@themadscotsman2159]

Another great truly informative video, I've learned a lot from you guys in working with CF, previously it was trial and error for projects, they were only vanity items so strength wasn't important, just being made from CF for the appearance. I've made some panels recently using a sandwich of thin spread 12k on the outside for cosmetic appearance with 2x2 and unidirectional either side of a foam panel in the middle, surprisingly strong and stiff seeing as I'm still experimenting and learning. The panel was used as a support bracket for a self made bag which I hang on my Brompton bike to carry my laptop and lunch. I use techniques learned from you guys and other youtube videos and a s a rank amateur with no proper workshop facilities, the results are impressive and improving each time. Keep up the good work, I'm keen to learn more as are I'm sure other viewers.

[@easycompositestv]

Great to hear about your project, glad you’re getting results that you can use and benefit from. Thanks for the feedback and we look forward to giving you some more ideas with future videos.

[@MathaiMosesazure]

I really love this channel, you always answer questions I didn't even know I should ask

[@easycompositestv]

We try our best to cover everything we possibly can so its great to hear you're learning things you didn't even know you wanted to!! :-)

[@S2_2707]

Great, you should watch this video before the molding process. What you do on the surface will actually be of better quality. Thank you

[@easycompositestv]

Thanks for the feedback, yes, this is certainly a video to watch earlier on in a composites project if you're unsure about material selection. We're going to add a link to it to most of the fabric pages on our site to help customers earlier on in their project planning.

[@abdulrahmanalmotawa9765]

Vastly informative video, great job, and all the best 👍

[@RUBMotorsport]

This is a fantastic video! Brilliantly explained and very well produced.

[@DarkAeroInc]

Excellent summary!

[@easycompositestv]

Thanks DarkAero, Inc - keep up the good work :)

[@MrCarlold]

Best video ever about composites! Congratulations!!

[@captcarlos]

A very clear, concise and accurate summary of (most of) the carbon fabric available. Certainly sufficient for the HammerChewer. A review of epoxies and other resins would be nice.

[@easycompositestv]

Thanks Carl, yes, we’ll do something on resins soon 👍.

[@MooshMeat]

Hand shown the most informative video if seen this far. Thank you!

[@shaneroper5470]

Interesting to learn about the different weaves, strand counts, weights and applications. Thank you.

[@easycompositestv]

I'm glad that you find the process as interesting as us!

[@joboost3230]

Very nice and intressing information, it helps a lot to understand the diverence between all the fabrics. Many thanks from your employee in the Netherlands.

[@easycompositestv]

Haha, thanks Job! Nice to see you taking in the new content. I'm sure our customers in Europe appreciate your hard work :)

[@literaryartist1]

Your breakdown is masterful!!!!

[@sk8jesustv964]

The company I work for Is the standard in this and he is spot on with what he is talking about

[@KylesGuide]

This might be your best video yet. You guys do an awesome job.

[@easycompositestv]

Wow, thanks Kyle, appreciate your comments.

[@pant97055]

Great content as always! It would be very interesting with a video on your take on repairing composites and different methods for this.

[@easycompositestv]

Its certainly something we'll consider although we have a lot of new videos and tutorials in the pipeline already. The only 'repair' videos we already have are the Kayak and the Fishing Pole Repair videos.

[@Cranston0]

Epic video! Such good explanations. Can you make a video how the filaments are made?!? It will probably be the best video on that topic!

[@easycompositestv]

Hi, thanks for your comment. Unfortunately its not something we would have access to facilities to film fibre production ourselves

[@frommyashesrisenrebornredemed]

By far the most informative webshop in existance....that is why, i will be shopping for building my cat.

[@easycompositestv]

Thank you, that's praise indeed. Appreciated your comments and support. Looking forward to talking to you about the cat project.

[@peterjones4621]

A fascinating product. Excellent explanation, I think working with carbon fiber would be very interesting. Thank you, well done!

[@easycompositestv]

Glad you enjoyed Peter!

[@d.m.2223]

Amazing video, so well detailed & articulate too. Thank you so much for providing this. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@easycompositestv]

You’re welcome, we love producing these videos and sharing some knowledge!

[@d.m.2223]

@@easycompositestv A big credit to EC Ltd for sharing such knowledge and awesome videos. 😇

[@keebordcowboy]

"..One thing I know. I was blind but now I see" John 9:25 Absolutely eye-opening video. Thank you.

[@cmmguy99]

Another excellent instructional video from Easy Composites!

[@easycompositestv]

Thank you for the kind comment, we've got more videos in the pipeline!

[@kriszg5836]

Unbelievably good video! Very informative! Thank you! I wish you had a warehouse in the US!

[@easycompositestv]

Hi Krisz, thanks, and we do too. We hope to be able to expand State-side soon!

[@Dustmadeout]

Wow, another great content from Easy Composites! Would be awesome if you could cover laminates with different core materials as well.

[@easycompositestv]

We have a couple of videos planned about core material, again, quite a broad subject that's difficult to distil down into a video that would be watchable to most people we seem to get a good reception for the more technical content so stay tuned, this will certainly be covered fairly soon.

[@capnthepeafarmer]

Once again you guys make a phenomenal video with so much helpful information! Much appreciated! Keep up the outstanding work!

[@easycompositestv]

Thanks for the kind words, we appreciate the feedback and encouragement 😃

[@julieannepatterson3295]

i enjoyed that. its given me so many ideas for curved structures of my bass speaker box designs that i cant do with timber and have the smoothness, strength and weight. cheers i only stumbled on this site by chance. good work. cheers

[@andy_kn]

It would be interesting to see a similar video on the different types on resin. How each ones cure, how strong they are and with which material or application they should be used. And as always: keep these exceptional videos up!! Cheers

[@easycompositestv]

Thanks Andy, yes, agreed, this would make an interesting and useful video. We’ll definitely keep it in mind.

[@acs_australia]

Excellent video @Easy Composites - very clear, informative and great content showcasing the material, inspiring the next generation of composite engineers!

[@easycompositestv]

Thanks for the valued feedback, we genuinely appreciate it :-)

[@vipahman]

Fantastic information. I will touch base in a year or two to begin the process of re-manufacturing some plastic sports car parts in CF.

[@easycompositestv]

Great, look forward to it 👍

[@timpickering1516]

Great to see you back Easy Composites!

[@Falkon848]

I have been making carbon parts since january 2021. Your movies helped me making better parts! Thanks Easy Composites, Igor from ULTRAVELOCE

[@easycompositestv]

Thanks Igor, it's great to hear from people putting our information into practice. Good luck with your enterprise!

[@ScottOrd]

2:28 - That's quite ill-loom-inating...great shots of the process!

[@easycompositestv]

Ba bum tshsss

[@turmat01]

Bro... These videos are amazingly good! There are a bunch of this kind of "informational" videos out there, usually with very incomplete/inaccurate info... I have watched a dozen of your videos in the last few days, as I want to make myself a little composite setup for RC planes and stuff like that. This was all very scary to me, but thanks to you, I feel like I'm becoming a pro at it myself!! I haven't even touched CF yet XD

[@easycompositestv]

Thanks for the great comment, I'm glad to hear they've been useful to you :)

[@jrod4538]

Great job, your team is leaps and bounds ahead or your competitors…👍👍🤙

[@easycompositestv]

We're certainly trying our best :-)

[@Speedy.V]

This is incredibly great and valuable content. Thank you.

[@easycompositestv]

You’re welcome, we enjoy making and sharing it.

[@FlesHBoX]

Always love seeing new videos from you guys. Great information delivered in a straightforward manner that makes it easy to comprehend. I would love to see you dive a little deeper like this into concepts like determining an optimal schedule and calculating strength needs for both solid laminate and sandwich. Or if you known of good, easily available software for designing a layup (read, not some multi thousand dollar per seat enterprise level software that is utterly overboard for a home DIYer)

[@easycompositestv]

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, we do get quite a few questions on this subject but it is a really difficult one to deal with. In the bike frame video we explained how - even for really experienced composites engineers - a combination of previous experience, gut instinct, and trial and error is still probably the main starting point for most laminate schedules. Of course these things can be modelled and calculated in CAD but there are SO many obstacles that, unless you REALLY know what you're doing and have very reliable data - the real life performance of a component can be so far from the predicted performance as to render the CAD/FEA less useful than an *educated* guess. Having said all that, a video that does go a bit deeper into this subject would be great, just need to figure out what we could do or show that would actually be useful and useable for people!

[@alfredocampos5670]

I love, love, love it, thank you so much. Im planning on doing some difficult contouring shaped on car door panels for mouldings. This helps me alot as to which type of weave fabric to work with and thickness. 😘🥰 I love this!!!!

[@easycompositestv]

That's great to hear Alfredo. Look forward to seeing how you get on with your project... all the best with it.

[@RLCPLUMBINGLLC]

Thank you for all you do from TEXAS

[@easycompositestv]

Hi Robert, thank you for the comment! Glad you are enjoying the content :)

[@sahiljjangra1026]

your videos are top class always... thank you very for the valuable information that you guys share and please keep doing that, you guys are the best

[@easycompositestv]

Hi Sahilj, thank you for your kind comment! We've got plenty more videos in the pipeline :)

[@sahiljjangra1026]

@@easycompositestv eagle waiting for those

[@shaikchandbasha1550]

Good video. Lot of information. Please make a video about the tow and GSM combination. Like 1K is used to weave what and all GSM ?

[@TheSoonAnn]

amazing video, i din learn all these during my composite modules lectures back in uni

[@CatchiestWorm12]

I didn't know you guys actually wove your own carbon fabric! I would love to see you guys covering very, very small parts and items that you might use in your hand, like (as I've been going on about) a gaming mouse.

[@easycompositestv]

Thanks for the suggestion. We do have a video coming up (hopefully just a few weeks) where we demonstrate a compression moulding technique that is best suited to relatively small components so that one should be up your street. Also, components like the drone shell (which we made in the recent 3D printing tutorial) would be very similar to the shell of a gaming mouse and would be a good process for a component like that.

[@CatchiestWorm12]

@@easycompositestv yes, the drone video is one that is very helpful. My major concern is about creating a shell that is both light enough to actually save weight over a plastic shell and be strong enough to withstand long-term use like plastic does.

[@easycompositestv]

Well, it could and should be but it's true that carbon fibre isn't always the best material for every application. For one case, carbon fibre blocks RF and that should be a consideration where radio gear is involved: we work with some drone manufacturers and supply them with prepreg E-glass or S-glass in applications where radio transparency is a consideration.

[@CatchiestWorm12]

@@easycompositestv right. In this case it's a wired connection so that's not an issue, I'm concerned about maximum weight reduction but with structural integrity comparable to that of the plastic counterpart. It could be that carbon fibre isn't the answer, but we won't know until we try first!

[@nevillecreativitymentor]

Wow ... that was a Masterclass for me.

[@rickfearn3663]

Exceptional clarity. Thank you.

[@easycompositestv]

Glad you enjoyed how the video was presented Rick!

[@ScrewDrvr]

Always excited when I see a new video from you guys.

[@CrazyCat229]

Love the videos thanks so much for doing them!

[@easycompositestv]

Glad you like them!

[@manoman0]

We don't need TV. This was brilliant.

[@easycompositestv]

Haha, thanks. Proper telly!

[@mcanderson0]

no hex weave? was hoping youd mention that one since its rather different from 90degree X-Y format weaves

[@BennysThoughts]

I always learn something from you guys. Keep up the amazing work!

[@easycompositestv]

Glad you enjoyed the video Ben!

[@mikemcdermid2689]

Great video! I'm going to be carbon fiber skinning a jetski hull here soon! Having a hard time deciding on what product to use

[@easycompositestv]

We'd love to see the end product!

[@rotorgeeks2727]

Great video - the best I've seen on the subject. Thank you, I'll be sharing this one!

[@easycompositestv]

Thank you for your great comment! Glad you enjoyed the video and we always appreciate when it's shared to others :)

[@mariebaxter473]

Always a nice set of video's to watch, Ive a lot of model boat moulds with steps for hatch seals , not a problem in grp, as i flood the areas with gel coat would like to see a way around tight curves and step down areas .Regards PJB

[@log_it8282]

Awesome that you got an EU warehouse now!

[@billiardrichard6351]

Hey thank you very much for sharing such knowledgeable videos. Please also share types of core materials and typical uses and applications of them.

[@easycompositestv]

Glad you liked the video, that might be a good subject for another video.

[@MG-vo7is]

Excellent information. Thank you.

[@justboy5182]

Speaking of the hemisphere, could you guys show how one would correctly lay carbon fiber on round/ curved shapes. Do you need to cut the fiber when its creasing and sort of line up the edges with another carbon fiber piece when using the resin infusion method? Thank you for the throughout great and informative video as always.👍

[@easycompositestv]

Generally with a curved surface you manipulate it like shown on the hemisphere. Where it cannot do that, typically you can cut and overlap so the edges do not need to line up. Often if you can, put the cut line on a corner or crease on the part as it will show up less visually.

[@justboy5182]

@easycompositestv Thank you for your answer, that was what I was concerned about. Is there a special method to make it near seamless when overlapping, I can imagine a seamless finish is not possible in that case, because one can't literally line up the whole pattern right?

[@easycompositestv]

@justboy5182 You can reduce the visibility with careful placing and alignment but it's likely that something will still be present.

[@Diving_Into_History]

Great video that demystifies something that until now seemed quite complex. A suggestion for a new video - wet layup of a foam core composite part - a shape a little more complex than a thin foam core

[@easycompositestv]

Hi Kent, we've got a list of video ideas. This would certainly be an interesting video and I'll make sure the idea joins the queue :)

[@AeroFrics]

Composites made easy! As always great content, thank you

[@KarlOnSea]

Excellent video, thank you Paul from Easy Composites!

[@IngeBall]

Thought about you guys an hour ago haha! Great vid as always. Cheers

[@easycompositestv]

Cheers, must have sensed you thinking about us and just rushed this video out!

[@IngeBall]

@@easycompositestv Lmao 😂

[@4130Media]

thank you for sharing what would be considered as kitchen secret by many...

[@akbarshoed]

Fantastic! This is what KZbin is all about!!

[@Pushyhog]

incredible channel thanks! l buy from easy composites, wish they have small store in usa.

[@easycompositestv]

We really do want this to happen so hopefully you won't have to wait too long.

[@afilos]

Wonderful videos, full of solid information and very well described, thanks for sharing ! ! !

[@easycompositestv]

Appreciate the comment, glad you enjoy our videos!

[@HobiCerdas]

Thank you a lots ❤❤❤

[@ChimeraActual]

Love your videos. You are so knowledgeable. But, unless we're talking about different things when we say "torsional stiffness", at ~7:30 I think you say that 45/45 is more torsionally stiff than 0/90. That certainly seems intuitive, but from my own tests and the literature it's actually the other way round. It may be more complex than that, love to some data.

[@easycompositestv]

Unlike in a homogenous material, the fibre direction in a composite material plays a huge role in the distribution of stiffness and strength; in the case of a 0-90, the stiffness will be carried along those planes but there is no fibre to resist twisting/torsional forces - orienting the material at +/- 45' will give torsional stiffness but little longitidunal or transverse stiffness. As you try and twist in one direction, the fibres in the opposite direction resist the torsional forces - in a 0-90, there are no fibres to resist that twist. For this reason, you usually need to incorporate layers of material with fibres in multiple axis to give a quasi-isotropic layup which would be more uniform in all planes and more akin to a homogenous material. That being said, it can be advantageous to orient fibres only in a specific directions based on how a part will be used and loaded.

[@rubendario1296]

Forget the carbon fiber.. I’m more impressed with the machinery that makes it.

[@carlnewtonfishing6045]

Excellent video again. Thanks for taking the time to make it. I would be interested to see how the actual carbon fibres are made.

[@easycompositestv]

Hi Car, thanks for the feedback. That would be a great video to make although might mean a bit of a trip away for us - there’s no carbon fibre production in the UK (lots of weaving of course) so not quite as easy for us to do anything on site but we’ll certainly keep it in mind.

[@carlnewtonfishing6045]

@@easycompositestv Love the videos you make here so just keep doing that please! They are really good.