Composites Are Hard

[@Backup1982]

It is always nice to see somebody else's struggle. No ASMR cherrypicked bullshit. Just pure pain and underwhelming results.

[@agislycoudis4139]

This made me laugh out loud 😂hahaha

[@piccalillipit9211]

HAHHAHAHAH I should title my autobiography "pure pain and underwhelming results."

[@timlong1462]

This is the real deal. Some channels show the exact opposite and can ruin your outlook on your current projects. SFM makes me feel ok again. Not at all in a I'm better kind of way. Just real struggle and working through it.

[@magillicuddy]

Pain and underwhelming results are a way of life! 😆

[@davonmulder8458]

What ab epic comment!😂

[@JessSimpson1313]

Is 4 alot? Dead bodies, yes. Layers of carbon fiber for a parachute tube, also yes.

[@confuseatronica]

seriously, if you arent making an F1 car and you can see the thickness of the part, its too thick. Maybe even on F1 cars.

[@rmichaeldeutsch]

I vaguely recall that quote, but can't remember what it's from. (Stand-up? Movie?) Can anyone help me out?

[@TheRealMaroonExpy]

​@@rmichaeldeutsch If you're looking for where the "is 4 a lot?" thing comes from, I think it's from Dr Who.

[@EllipsisAircraft]

Sounds like a Louis CK joke. His bit on abortion is 😮😮😮

[@JessSimpson1313]

@@rmichaeldeutsch I thought I already replied to this but I'm not seeing it so just in case, it's a Doctor Who meme called "Depends On Context"

[@gstorhof1]

"Is you're neighbor cooking meth?" "Worse, he's a youtuber"

[@orbitalalpha]

Same chance of late night explosions and manic energy.

[@Mach1048]

@@orbitalalpha with a 24% less chance of Drugs?

[@nathanchildress5596]

An equal menace to society

[@GleepGlop2]

"Mary Lou, what was the name of the neighbor's KZbin program?"... "Oh! I think it's... Super Dave..."

[@debbiereynolds7759]

@@GleepGlop2 super slow steve

[@evilutionltd]

Forged carbon is the chipboard of the laminate world.

[@piccalillipit9211]

I live in Bulgaria now. I just got some old built-in wardrobes from the communist era, just to reuse the chipboard for garage shelving. Communist chipboard was REALLY good. For starters its unbelievably heavy, and its incredibly dense. Nothing like the fluffy stuff we get today.

[@artemiasalina1860]

That was my thought too. Looking at those cars all I could think was a nock-off Chippendale cabinet made from OSB.

[@miles11we]

​@piccalillipit9211 you can still buy the stuff in higher or lower densities and longer shorter chip/fibers, same with mdf like materials. You will just pay a premium for stuff that isn't made in such huge quantities.

[@piccalillipit9211]

@@miles11we Im aware of this - but this stuff is off the charts. Its much more like a composite in that there are NO air pockets in it, its 100% solid in cross-section. I have not seen this stuff in the west - it might exist, but Ive not seen it.

[@onizuka7940]

@@piccalillipit9211 you mean Medium-density fibreboard, MDF

[@tobiwan2741]

Ideas for future Matt: -Make inside molds from Styrofoam blocks (and glue). Use a liberal quantity of paint thinner to dissolve the mold completely and easily. -The issue you had with the ABS part ("condom") is due to the shrink ABS has when it cools. Use a blended ASA filament (Usually called ASA-X) and an enclosure to get rid of that. Added benefit: UV light doesn't hurt it -Speaking of UV light: If you print other parts for the racer, ABS is not the ideal material for desert environments...use ASA-X, it will be easier to print too. You'll still get high on the fumes though. -You will need a container of around 4 times the Epoxy volume to remove air bubbles in a vacuum chamber. This is completely normal, and necessary (The bubbles wont pop otherwise) -Tell past Matt he should have read this comment before making these tubes

[@nathanchildress5596]

“…you’ll still get high on the fumes though…” Matt: “Excellent, thanks for sharing.”

[@dahlgren]

I came here to say this, as it should be a simple layup on foam blocks with rounded corners. I can not imagine a more difficult way to go about this, and yet that didn't stop me from enjoying every minute. Can't imagine what making the shell will look like.

[@chrismichaelyoung]

Let's hope present Matt finds the time to read at least the first few comments

[@FG-418]

I would probably just have made a two part mold in 3D print for the exterior (with generous draft because it didn't needed to be rectangle anyway, only rectanglish) and wrapped wet carbon around the bag, the pressurize it from the inside. This is essentially how they make carbon fiber bikes except they use non-autoclave prepreg carbon and oven it. Or you know, just 3d print the parts and call it a day.

[@mikethezipper]

Another thing is that the outside doesn't need to be vacuum bagged at all. You just wrap the whole thing in wide electrical tape (PVC tape), this squeezes out the excess resin while also keeping any wrinkles from forming as it's compressive. and as it doesn't absorb any resin so it's easier to remove.

[@terryboehler5752]

Several years ago I came out of self-imposed retirement to build another airplane. A carbon fiber airplane. I knew nothing of carbon fiber and I had to see this black art up close. It was 103 degrees in the hangar. My friend had been to the "factory" for the introduction to the "fast build" kit. He was mixing the first of the epoxy, explaining to me the intricacies of not entraining any bubbles into the mixture. Looked to me like he was stirring any other thick substance. He sat the container on the table and began to brief me on what we needed to accomplish. Glancing over to the table I saw that we had made a nice container of fire. So we ordered the slow cure epoxy and began the five year odyssey of building the fast build kit. We got 320 mph out of it. Last year it was second in class at the Reno air races. (The top three big guns all smoked their engines). So two Okies did okay considering we built it for high altitude transport, not low level pylon racing.. it is 919HB. The HB was for my Dad, Hurley Boehler. The one who taught me how not to die in an airplane.

[@philipegoulet448]

Thank you for sharing!

[@9madness9]

Awesome, you probably watched Mike Patey building his plane then if not worth a watch.

[@kilio1948]

What a lovely little story!

[@ot0m0t0]

"Glancing over to the table I saw that we had made a nice container of fire." My lord, I got tears in my eyes :)

[@Avetho]

Is the plane red on top and white on the bottom, with an orange and purple stripe twisting along from the nose to the tail and N919HB just in front and down from the horizontal stabilizers? Number 67 in red on the wingtips and in white on the rudder? That's an awesome looking machine, I have to say!

[@digistruct0r245]

I've heard you can only call it a sawzall if it comes from a specific tool-harvesting region in France

[@smithjohn3080]

Correct otherwise it's just a sparkling reciprocating saw

[@christopherdesbaux5950]

Both of you deserve so many more likes 😂😂😂

[@jasoncampbell4723]

It needs to be RED.

[@ndmusick11]

It looks like a Carbon fiber gutter downspout but strong enough to hold up the hole porch.

[@davidpawson7393]

Whole holes are holy.

[@djtixer]

You beat me to it. Downspouts are available in 4x5 from my local home improvement store, in plastic *or* aluminum....

[@Papa-Bogey]

I’m just here to feed the algorithm … there are many types of engineers. Mechanical, traffic, electrical, to name but a few, but where does one go to get an over engineering degree, with a minor in half-assing?

[@sayethwe8683]

Oklahoma, apparently.

[@danamoroso-xjq]

software

[@oddshot60]

Having been forced to work with a number of various engineers, I know that school exists ... and it's a BIG one.

[@gerglmuff]

like a math minor, you get the half assed minor for free when you major in engineering.

[@thiccccungus6814]

over engineering degrees are exclusive to german universities

[@Martcapt]

I love watching Matt's sisiphean task to build some shit, but barely ever being able to drive anything around. And even when he is, like in the salt flats, the car is immediately fucked up and he nearly has to start all over again.

[@DBGE001]

it's the journey that's important

[@miles11we]

"Head, meet wall, you two will share blows for the next 2 years." - what I think any time I'm taking on a project that I know is out of my depth and I lack the education/experience to do without 100+ iterations.

[@TardMan1]

One must imagine Matt happy

[@hordboy]

It gives me anxiety, sometimes I can’t watch. 😂

[@muzzarobbo]

i reckon this is why the channel is successful, subtle humour

[@larryreece1403]

After a few years as a "Composite Specialist" in the Aerospace Industry I can relate. The biggest thing I learned is was when your mold is sanded smooth enough keep sanding it. same with Mold release, when you think its good enough, put on another coat. best of luck with the Fiberglass!

[@malachaiparker6733]

Brother I have wet sanded by hand a fiber glass mold in stages to 8000 or 10000 grit paper? Absolute hand murder but fun trick, make a squiggle in Sharpie before you go down a layer once you have uniformly sanded down and the marker disappears you can go to the next finer grit

[@lj6278]

Haha, So funny; I was an Aerospace tech for 25 years and was yelling at the screen; no, you're doing it wrong. But overall not bad. The trick is compaction and vacuum/pressure during a very precise cure. But the parts arn't going on an aircraft, Love your humor, Matt.

[@darmichar73]

"Unfortunately, half is the exact amount of ass I like to give in my efforts..." Truer words have never been spoken, so relatable. Also, all hail the algorithm.

[@EUC-lid]

A+ commentary on “fOrGEd CaRBoN”. The chatoyance is cool, and the fact that it’s perfect for using scraps and even recycled materials is great.. but anybody excited about the “look” of carbon fiber isn’t a serious person. Real structural carbon fiber needs lightweight UV protection, not a gloss finish. I love the process in composite production. Taking your time and out-thinking the physics of demolding is always a thrill. Your fast and loose approach was always going to be entertaining for us, if not for you, and thats what we appreciates about you. The degassing step is always a foaming mess where you wish your vessels were 3x bigger. It makes a huge difference when you’re going for an engineered strength:weight. Your tubes will benefit from the voids. I look forward to your body production. Nothing wrong with making entirely disposable molds for one-off projects. Carve out foam or wood on a CNC table. Bondo it and take your time getting it sanded smooth then spray it with PVA. Cheap, easy, fast, and will give you top-notch results. Skip the infusion, degassing, and vacuum bagging for the body. Overkill effort and requires a bigger-stronger mold. (Molds often need to be 3x as strong as the part itself to handle vacuum bagging) Plan (from the start) on filling voids & pinholes with micro & epoxy, then painting and you’ll never be disappointed. Even autoclaved aerospace parts get pinholes filled.

[@ThaJay]

Yeah I agree vacuum is too much trouble because weight is not an issue. Just go wet layup and a big fat flood coat. Its so much easier to do and gives good results.

[@jasonbrown6514]

"Am I a joke to you?" -schedule 40 PVC

[@PhantasmPhoton]

you could prolly go thinner with drain spec pvc

[@NineSun001]

it then he has no content to make videos with. We'll he has, but couldn't be arsed to work on it.

[@jimrobcoyle]

Turn the closet heat up. Soften a 4" pvc drain tube. Blow it I to a 4x5 ID Wood box. Trim to length.

[@mtnbikeman85]

​@@jimrobcoyle This is the way.

[@DJDiarrhea]

I think this was supposed to be practice for making the body

[@STDavis-em1df]

Matt you're one of my favorite youtubers by a stretch. No BS Timelaspes with music for 5 mins to fill content. No cherry picking the wins. It's straightforward. Intuitive and reflexive content that feels as authentic as one could be on here. With a nice dose of comedic relief amongst the suffering. Seriously man, great content. Your methods for creating work/art/content may shift with the times, but may you never lose that authenticity brother. Or do when you hit 1M subs and call it a day and rust out shop built cars instead for fun. Your choice of course.

[@mylesloan]

THANK YOU. Chopped/forged carbon is the particle board of carbon composites

[@yetzt]

If you double-ass it, you're superassed matt.

[@jasoncampbell4723]

Doesn’t that make Matt a full ass?!

[@creativecraving]

Nobody wants to see that! That's four times the ass!

[@oddshot60]

@3:07. You left out the ITCHING as the No. 1 worse thing about fiberglass. In the 1970's I worked at a factory that built sailboats from 18 to 48 feet. Although I worked making the wood parts that went into the boats, I was close enough to wear the grinding, sanding, and cutting of the the fiberglass was done that the constant ITCHING it caused me made me seek other work.

[@theleva7]

When working with short glass fibers for thermoplastic composites, one learns rather quickly to be very careful when going to the bathroom. Switching to continuous fiber was very welcome.

[@InternetListener]

Itching is loving, breath and skin protection is caring.

[@therealchayd]

I've only ever worked with chopped strand fiberglass once (built a custom shower tray for my camper conversion), and it was the stickiest, itchiest, smelliest, most unpleasant experience. Ever. I don't know how anyone could work with the stuff full time.

[@oddshot60]

@@InternetListener Back in the 19and70s, we were MEN! We eschewed PPE and despised those who used it. Most seat belts of that era were NEVER removed fro the plastic bags they were put into.

[@PaulG.x]

@@oddshot60 And you are all dead from emphysema now , aren't you , Mr Zombie commenter?

[@SuperYellowsubmarin]

Pro tip : for that kind of pseudo-cylindrical part, the easiest and cleanest is wet lay-up and then wrapping in a special heat shrink tape and blast it with a heat gun. No need for a vacuum bag then It's cheap, doesn't wrinkle the part, and looks shiny on the outer surface. Also, you want to use a perforated release film between the peelply and the breather mat (wet lay-up) or mesh (infusion). It's much easier to remove then. The air bubbles may also come from trapped air that's inside your 3D printed mold. Infusion is a great process but it's Achilles heel is its absolute intolerance to leaks or trapped gasses. It will ruin your part under your eyes and there's very little you can do once it's started.

[@beardoe6874]

You complicated this far too much. After watching a few minutes: Find a cardboard tube with an OD near what you want for the ID of your tube. Coat the tube exterior with clear packing tape to create a surface that releases easily. Create 4-5 wooden bulkheads to insert in to the tube and create the shape you are looking for. Put it all together and you have a cheap and easy to make (saccrificial) buck. Since you aren't concerned about strength, go resin rich on the carbon, wrap it over the buck (after applying a good coat of carnuaba wax for a release agent), then add your peel ply and some of the matt used to absorb the excess resin. Instead of a vacuum bag, just wrap the whole thing with duct tape or even rope to squeeze the assembly. Once cured, remove the tape and see if you can get the peel ply off. Hopefully it won't be too hard to remove. For the interior, pop the bulkheads sideways to get them out if you can. If not use a large hole saw with an extension to cut out most of their centers, then throw the whole thing in some water to turn the cardboard tube in to mush. After it's mushy, tear it up and pull it out in chunks. That's the process. I would make it a bit long so I could cut the ends clean before trying to remove the interior buck. I would also wrap the peel ply and matt around the exterior of the carbon in the shape of an "e" with a little bit of plastic in the overlap where it wraps over itself so you have some peel ply without resin to grab on to and pull to get the release started. You might have the same veiny exterior but that's what Bondo and palm sanders are for. Hopefully the interior would be smooth so your parachute will release too.

[@chalkchalkson5639]

Used to be in a rocketry club that did a lot of "3D printed" reusable molds. We made them by printing positives, then creating a negative, reusable fibreglass mold from it. 1. Print part, paint with gap filling primer and sand to oblivion 2. Wrap with fibreglass, put wet ensamble in a wood box, fill with styrofoam and cheap epoxy. Also put in some stuff that will later serve as locating features here 3. Destructively remove the printed part and cut the mold in half These negative molds are way easier to separate than positive ones! The fibreglass surface works reasonably well with release agent. Being fibreglass you can actually apply some force without destroying it. We also did negative molds by cnc machining aluminium and polishing it to a mirror surface. Can't recommend. They work great, they're just a pain to make.

[@leftfootfirst9847]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who struggles with composites! In building the body for my car I learned a few lessons like yours - Wet layup then vacuum bag does not work, the excess resin has nowhere to go so you end up with pools of it making those "veins" adding weight without strength - The carbon you are using looks heavy which sucks up a ton of resin to get wetted out, you need to roll and compact the layers together a lot to get as much resin out as possible - Getting the molds out is always hard, with a part that long you could do a "lost foam" mold that you disolve out with acetone after, just don't try it with poly resin - The mess is unavoidable, no advice there! Keep them coming!!!

[@wirebrush]

Mike Patey makes it look so simple and easy. This video is exactly how I expect it to go if I were to try it. Thanks for the awesome and entertaining content!

[@MaltAndPepper]

There is absolutely zero chance I'm ever going to do anything even remotely close to the stuff you do on this channel, but I still enjoy these videos immensely. Possibly because there is absolute zero chance I'm ever going to do anything even remotely close to the stuff you do on this channel. But probably because they are hilarious.

[@marcschneiderphoto]

simpler method for constructing grp tubes: make an outer mold, not an inner one. two halfes, joined by a hinge or somethingl ike that (even just tape. lay the pre-soaked mats into the mold, covering both halfes and with overhang on the "open" side of the mold. then join the molds, making sure one overhang overlaps the other. before joining the molds you lay a large balloon like strucutre like a plastic bag or rubber tube or similar on the mats. after joining the halfes inflate the rubber tube thing. this presses out excess resin and presses the mats to your outer mold, giving you a nice surface finish. the ugly surface will be on the inside (where it shouldn't matter). removing the molds should be easier too when properly prepared as access is from the outside. the rubber / plastic bag etc. won't stick to the epoxy anyway.

[@brianb-p6586]

In this case, only the inner surface matters. The outer surface is not visible when the bodywork is on, and the parachute needs to slide smoothly out of the inside.

[@marcschneiderphoto]

@@brianb-p6586 but he also mentioned that he didn't care how the inner surface looked. And you'll get a clean smooth surface anyway. So I'd rather have a simpler method in terms of molds and a nice looking outer surface as that's the one you're going to see when working on the project.

[@luislongoria6621]

Look at that, Frosty the Snowman melted. We must be living in the End Times for the Snowball of Secrets to disappear like that

[@JaakkoIsWatching]

"Vacuum bagging is one of those things in composites that always sucks" - my favorite!

[@AngySumo]

Feeding the algorithm by early comment. But hey Matt, if you read these, I gotta say you've very quickly become a personal favorite youtuber. Your presenting style is phenomenal, and I love that I actually get to actually learn some cool stuff with each video on top of just being entertained. On another note, I've been trying to get into carbon work for one of my projects; this quickly reminded me why I'm procrastinating on that lol

[@jrnmller1551]

Laughing for 15 min, did this for 10 years, and you sounded just like my engineers whenever new projects where coming up, it is so easy-we have doing this many times!!!!! Your mould need to be hardened and Polished and then several layers off mould release??

[@zachbelstra4901]

“Way too enough” is going into my lexicon immediately.

[@MIUBHI007]

Absolutely love your humor and monotone voice in these videos! One thing that you could’ve done is instead of doing the whole 3-D print thing, use Styrofoam and wrap it and finish it the same way I’m sure it would be cheaper, faster and a lot easier. Then when done all you would have to do is pour a little gas or solvent inside and it would melt the Styrofoam away. Of course again that’s what I do simply because I don’t have a 3-D printer, but to each his own.

[@carterbabin6867]

Babe wake up there's a new SFM video

[@orthodynamicstereonails]

I read that as Source Film Maker lol

[@olivermikolajuk4631]

Source Film Maker?

[@exmagnae2350]

two meanings

[@k20nutz]

Surface feet per minute?

[@mushovers3006]

Expiration Date on first

[@PaulG.x]

The best curing ovens are parked cars on sunny days. I have had resin cure in 2 hours in one of these ovens 8:54 this is why you don't wrap absorbent layer around the whole part . Instead leave a narrow clear strip down one side. You can also separate the absorbent layer overlap with a plastic strip so the two ends don't bond

[@WoodEe-zq6qv]

feed algorithm

[@albertpolak786]

I think at this point we're hyped up to see the body build video as much as you're dreading doing it XD At least the body deserves it, not like it could be made from alu pipe in 5 minutes!

[@bishopdredd5349]

Thanks for cheering me up my grim life and I even learn things I’ll never actually use!

[@nathanchildress5596]

There’s a lot of bad “hey I suck at this but watch my tutorial” videos on KZbin, but I could watch Matt screw things up all day.

[@Javii96]

For those handles that were breaking off your mold, I might suggest leaving a threaded hole that goes pretty deep so you can thread a long rod down it.

[@patentlyrubbish]

Wonderful as ever, Matt. Consistently the wittiest on KZbin. Just a thought - from many years ago as a materials science undergrad, do lacquer the tubes. CF so so tempting to touch and to stroke, but if there are any spikes along the surface then you’ll wish you’d sanded & lacquered it.

[@JC0037]

As a composite design engineer, watching this hurts me a lot 😂. Incredibly entertaining to watch, and I love how you do it your way. Please never change

[@PedroFetter]

Been working with composites for 15 years and I still hate it as much as in the early days. Great video.

[@FG-418]

For the large body panels, if you do infusion because it is way less messy, one trick we had was to place alternate resin fill tubes along the infusion path with clamps. So if for any reason we did not have enough vacuum to pull it through we could switch the fill tube at the last minute. It's not a perfect solution and you may end up with some dry/spot defects if you need it. But it's better than losing the whole part when it's not for structurally critical components.

[@AlphaDeltaMike486]

I appreciate you allowing me to live vicariously through you. Ive been wanting to play with composites for a while and binge watch every easy composites video they ever made. Seeing it from a more realistic perspective makes me want to go down the rabbit hole even more.

[@ThaJay]

Don't do the vacuum bags. Just go for a wet layup and be very thorough in removing all the air bubbles. It will be fine.

[@MatthewHeiskell]

This is the next best thing to an expert how-to video. Seeing the mistakes and results helps a lot.

[@crystalzues4712]

Hey Matt, fellow somewhat fast Matt here. Your videos are honestly the greatest DIY type automotive car videos. I plan on building my own track oriented kit car. And these videos are priceless. Cheers other Matt.

[@Maxzillian]

I'm pretty well convinced that for just about any DIY composite project, just assume 100% mold loss and save yourself the trouble of trying to be clever with it.

[@martinmckee5333]

I did that on a recent project using an ABS mold and dissolving it with Acetone. It was wonderful!

[@ThaJay]

Either that or just make a weak part and strengthen it with a composite layup.

[@charlieennes]

I love the realism and dark sarcasm. I have so many friends that will tell me their plans and I just see 10,000 things that can and probably will go wrong and it takes all the self control I have not to tell them they're better off killing themselves rather than pursuing their plans. With myself I can be honest and narrow the scope of my plans to reality. I feel like we are very similar.

[@benmolitor1519]

This has inspired me to try this myself, mostly so I can try it completely differently

[@andresadoff6762]

I’ll admit the reason I use the Milwaukee sawzall and battery ecosystem is their 1/2” impact is just so dang good. Don’t even need a compressor anymore. Love your videos ty

[@NoanatorTV]

Hey Matt, letting you know how you should have designed the part: you want two tubes, you dont really care what they look like inside -> make the tube out of two halfes flanged together on the outside Why? -> no struggle demolding and you only need one tool (tool could have been as easy as taking half the desired crossection and glueing it on a plate). Also you can use the outboard flanges to fix the two tubes together for added stiffness things could have been so easy. anyway, have a nice day!

[@ThaJay]

Agreed this could be pretty easy but I would make sure to fillet the corners to the flange with thickened epoxy because the fibers won't bend in there

[@okday72]

Your commitment to making a simple part amazingly complicated is impressive.

[@tomcoon9038]

Original reason for watching SuperfastMatt video? Building a vehicle from scratch to race! How cool. (Ex drag racer here) Now? I don't care what he does. He missed his calling. A+ comedian! I love his humor. It's perfect. Always brings a laugh. Especially since I've built a few cars (and "things") myself and it IS all relatable. Love this channel.

[@luiscarlosvieira3966]

... the "Forged Carbon Fiber" description.... that was what I wrote on a Composites YT channel a year ago... lol.... it is just CF scrap glued together.... My first job was on a project for development of a VARTM process to produce wind turbine blades.... loved it...

[@strangebike1]

Hi Matt, I feel your pain and work with this stuff all day long. My only suggestions for you are use more wax, yes much more wax. 5 coats at least and allow to flash off then polish it. When you infuse the carbon the resin is drawn into all of your jointing surfaces so use loads of wax on them too or just assume that its bad. Love the show , keep it up and good luck on the race cars

[@xyzero1682]

Thanks so much for the humor. I am having a terrible day, and laughing unexpectedly at a car vlog helped me out a lot. Thanks.

[@lameboysmtb6705]

10:55 to 11:00 has to be the trippiest looking shot ive ever seen that was like visual overload

[@kawaiirunnersdriftclub]

I would have done double the effort to have half of the success... You are awesome Matt! Keep it up man!!! Can't wait to see more of the Viper and your S600 if possible! Much love from Brazil!

[@MrPizzaman09]

Open air + wet layup is so much easier and you get a pretty good result if you're careful. We did this for the car that holds the US built fuel economy record. 10 ft long car that weighed 14 lbs.

[@KarriKoivusalo]

You're a brave man. I would've settled for PVC drain pipe and a heat gun.

[@HaywireRides]

The coolest part of forged carbon is how many smaller 3d parts you can make with it fairly easily

[@cozmo4694]

well forged carbon is a GREAT material for uses like high performance delta 3d printers (I've dabbled...) because it is stiff and lightweight since it's a fiber composite, and the forging process allows for more fiber density and more 3d geometry. The thing that engineers dislike about the forged carbon is that it is exactly the wrong material for for example a car hood, since for a part that flat and big woven is just better in almost every way, while imo looking better. I love forged carbon and use it, but I always cringe when i see cars use it in hoods etc.

[@HaywireRides]

@@cozmo4694 Oh yeah 100% agree, it’s even worse when people make wings out of it, horrible material properties for that kind of load

[@meetim6271]

SFM is always good value. I don't normally 'like' things but I'll 'like' this one.

[@itsreallytom4310]

@2:44 FINALLY! Finally someone who gets it right. It’s so refreshing to find an automotive channel thats authentic and actually knows something. Instead of regurgitating nonsense from each other’s channels for likes

[@Liberty.Francis]

Love this video. The frustration of composites for a diy person figuring it out on their own is massive. It's something I think needs to be taught and coached in person. Composites often kick your butt. Plus epoxy is really bad for you if you get it on your skin.

[@observer2624]

you should look up acetone smoothing of ABS and/or ASA, just to help with all the sanding. you can also brush the acetone on the part to get it smooth. it basically melts the top layers and when the acetone evaporates it leaves the hardened smooth plastic

[@KevinATJumpWorks]

I agree, wet layups are always messy. Build yourself a curing oven. Prepregs are such a bliss to work with.

[@Disco_Snake]

You dont want to pull a full vacuum on wet lay composites it draws out too much resin and weakens the part. Also the other purpose of the white breather cloth that you put on top of the peel ply is to prevent the vacuum bag from sealing against the part, and preventing all the air from being drawn out so in future, you should also include a section of breather cloth that extends from the part to where the vacuum is being drawn from to promote good airflow.

[@iforce2d]

Why does full vacuum draw out too much resin from a wet layup, but not for infusion?

[@allareasindex7984]

From a very old guy: Big Daddy Ed Roth used plaster of Paris blocks which he carved to shape, then laid up fiberglass over it. When the resin cured he’d smack it with hammers to break up the plaster. Sometimes he made closed compartments and the plaster just stayed trapped inside forever. If need be you can saw the thing in half and break out the plaster that way. Plaster of Paris is cheap and mixes with water. The fiberglass hassle is still there. Sorry.

[@Jono.]

That’s pretty cool, man. I work as a mech doing ECU stuff, really interested in composites, racing, automotive engineer stuff like this. I work for one of the EV companies so we don’t get to touch carbon fiber much but always hear about nightmare stories from the aerospace guys. I’m impressed at your garage-made result, I had it in my mind this stuff was far too complicated to do on my own. The tube under the wheel was sick

[@ericp.9497]

"Like the fiberglass cafeteria trays" YES! THANK YOU!

[@DavidM2002]

I CNC parts out of thin, flat CF plates. I love working with it. No molds fortunately. It machines very quickly and easily although it does dull my cutters quicker than other materials. The dust is hazardous but easily dealt with. And, the finished parts can be tapped to accept fasteners.

[@cadthunkin]

So you hit the subject of composite tubes. Its one that comes up with RC planes, kayak paddles, fishing poles and other things where you would like a compacted layers product so resin squeezes out and you get a smooth enough finish, without an outside mold. I had decent luck with foam core then heat shrink tape outside wrapping, but it does buckle the outside fabric a bit. I'm ok with foam remaining inside, in fact its a bonus in many cases. Just wrapping outside with peel ply does what you discovered.

[@dog3y3]

1st degassing... it's typical for it to foam up... Bring it up till the foam nears the top, the let it down... repeat 3 ~4 times until it stops foaming. 2nd vacuum pull.... you can't avoid the small bubbles as you're pulling the liquid through very small chambers (the inter-weave). All you can do is make sure you pulled enough resin through and then put it under a strong vacuum until it sets.

[@malachaiparker6733]

Pro tip when hand making and fiber glass or carbon fiber composite. Wear all the PPE matt is here but wide painters tape the wrist of your gloves to just over the body suit. Then wear another layer of gloves. Leaves no expsosed skin and you can cleanly swao gloves by hooking a finger. With out this resin can get everywhere during a mold making

[@designandbuild3953]

Juvenile humor is my absolue jam!!! And, you Sir, are a master! Love the channel, always have.

[@trevorwray]

In the plant I work at we use Loctite Frekote 700-NC as our mold release agent. Works really good, no complaints with the various composite curing methods we use.

[@harralk]

And don't forget about the fact that spending the extra money for carbon fiber vs fiberglass is completely wasted if you don't have the correct tooling to utilize the superior material properties. But if the material is free, the cost aspect is mute and you're left with black composite parts that are only slightly heavier and weaker than they would have been if you had access to an autoclave. Well done! This is the sort of diy projects I really enjoy watching and doing myself.

[@aadams3316]

Matt .... classic-car junky turned composites tech. turned aero-structures eng. here. Loved this episode. Your mold release experience is on point, haha. If/when you tackle some more, I'd love to help.

[@heinrichhagen43]

I subscribed just for his attitude towards composites. Very entertaining

[@Myrune1]

I always love SFM videos. Rock on!

[@pastaalalamborghini]

11:21 hilarious “…absolutely unnecessary, just how I like it” - very apropos

[@IanLikesVideosSometimes]

Another fantastic video, and thank you for showing the reality of projects as usual!

[@andrewbradley318]

"You're not supposed to make the whole dinner out of garnish". This is why I subscribe.

[@elgage]

Carbon skinning is kinda like a wet layup decent for large non structural parts. The center part is a mandrel, that's the technical name for the mold. You have all the release stuff on like you did. From there you brush on a layer of epoxy, wait for it to get tacky, apply a layer of carbon, brush newly mixed epoxy onto it and wait for it to get tacky. Rinse and repeat for as many layers as you want. It's a cheaper and easy want and makes it easy to avoid wrinkles. Downside is you can get voids and not ideal resin to fiber ratio but that's fine for what you are doing.

[@blissfulshadowsx]

What better place to nitpick than a youtube comments section. Lamborghini's original "forged" composite patent does actually contain test piece data stating that for equivalent strength a compression molded chopped fiber laminate part can be 17% lighter than a traditional layup. You're not going to see that result using a c-clamp in your garage, but you can form under high pressure and achieve stronger parts. /nitpick

[@holzwurm_hd7029]

You not finishing your Projects is one of the things i like most about your Channel. Its just so... Idk Charismatic i guess... I really enjoy it. I keep asking myself "Whats going to be next?"

[@Iamkraze]

You have officially shown me that I never want to do this myself ever. Thank you :)

[@DoubleD132]

on the 3D printed interior moulds. If they stick in again, blow a hot air gun down the inside and get the PLA (I'm assuming) good and gooey, makes it much more easy to pull off the carbon

[@joelouis5705]

After working in a composite shop for years I'll offer a piece of advice for de-molding. Use compressed air. Get under a corner, use a blowgun with a rubber tip. if you can find one with an extension, even better. it'll release quite a bit of the part from the mold.

[@obiwankenobi2749]

I think that yellow clay strip stuff you used is called butyl tape. Its great for sealing the shit out of windows and skylights on RVs. Little trick is to put it in the freezer to make it less sticky, and make the backing paper peel off easy.

[@mutt2jeff]

The bubbling of the resin in the vacuum chamber is normal and good, that's the air coming out. You can crack the valve to slow the vacuum a bit until you pass that critical mass point, then finish at full vacuum

[@jessemeyer3052]

I've watched how DIYers build up carbon fiber canoes, and it's quite interesting to see how their techniques differ from most other DIYers.

[@RainbowGin]

Never have I laughed so much at a video. Your dry humour is "chefs kiss" 🤌

[@operaatio5117]

So now this man is full assing the project? I never thought I would see the day.

[@bodanerius]

Many moons ago I helped a guy making carbon fibre bits. He used aluminum foil as a release agent. Not sure if it was the plastic coating low temperature foil has, but it worked. Still seems weird to me but maybe worth a test. A friend of mine is a model builder. He puts whatever material he is mixing on a speaker playing music. Says it the easiest way to remove bubbles.

[@ThaJay]

The whole bubble removal is for casting, I don't believe in it for laminating or coating.

[@bodanerius]

@@ThaJay Good point. Im quoting my friend. Its a dead simple way to remove bubbles/foam. This is my two cents. Bubble physics is a bit weird. They form from super small bubbles to form larger, visible ones. If you can eliminate the microscopic bubbles at the mixing stage. Its going to be beneficial at any later stage in the process.

[@onetonpun]

I feel your pain. I too half ass fiberglass without the right tools.

[@herzogsbuick]

"40 Minutes of Violence" the ambient masterpiece by SFM

[@sobertillnoon]

It is such a good thing that red film existed. Made specifically for this application. Made things so much easier.

[@goodnightut]

i love this so much, but i love you more matt. i hope you're not too stressed. take care of yourself, algorithm be damned.

[@bradcrossman5068]

Helluva determination you have there old boy. Oh..and the vid was fun to watch also. Cheers!😁

[@danamunkelt3276]

I knew a guy who did something like this with a waxed aluminum tube inside. The cure heat expanded the alloy. After cure an ice bath shrank the aluminum so it could be tapped out.

[@MisterCOM]

Look i want to make custom brake levers for my mountainbike "forged" cf just seems like a good viable option