Rapid Prototyping Forged - Chopped Carbon Fiber PART 1

[@MatthieuLibeert]

Call it forged carbon or chopped resin carbon fiber, I know... call it whatever you want :D Leave a comment below on how I should title this video below in the comments ;) Most upvoted comment will be the title ;)

[@ddegn]

*"Hammer Forged"* gun barrels are supposed to be really good. If you tap on the mold with a hammer while making the part you could call the process: *HAMMER FORGED CARBON FIBER* Calling it "hammer forged carbon fiber" has got to worse than "forged carbon fiber" to those people who think it should be called "chopped carbon fiber." The term *forged carbon fiber* used to annoy me since nothing is being melted together. The more videos I watch on making carbon fiber parts, the less the term *forged carbon fiber* annoys me. I think I personally prefer *forged carbon fiber* over *chopped carbon fiber* now. Thanks for another interesting video. I really enjoyed it.

[@MatthieuLibeert]

@@ddegn I follow you on this one! It's a matter of giving it a name but so controversial in another way... at some point someone said let's call it an ice cream, other people said lets call it a frozen penguin stick :D the more adopted one made it ...

[@additivealex4566]

I just learned this term a few days ago so I could be off, I believe that length of CF stand would make this "milled" instead of chopped. So Forged/Milled carbon fiber parts. I'm going to have to make some resin molds for some parts now, great idea. Are the 4 small channels at the edges of the mold tapered and open to the outside of the mold? kind of like a sprue? I've been playing around with this quite a bit and I'm getting the hang of it. All my molds so far have been 3D printed but sometimes I destroy them accidentally when de-molding the part. Not that I've been making it easy for myself, most of my parts are thin (~3mm thick) and I'm using 3 part molds with a core. One trick that's worked for me, put the mold in the freezer before you break out the part. In my case the thermal coefficients of the mold & resin is different enough that a few times the forged part has slipped right out after cooling down adequately. Also, tip for filling the part fully with resin. Paint the mold surface with resin then alternate adding fibers and resin. its very difficult for thick resin to penetrate the fibers that's why the first few didn't infuse all the way through. Also your mold could have a deeper cavity so when the top is pressed down the resin and fiber doesn't flow right out the sides but instead is compressed like a piston. I believe the term "forged" should be "pressed" instead when its chopped/milled strands infused in resin, but apparently the term forged was used as a marketing gimmick.

[@juanesteban8827]

I really appreciate your tutorial videos. The pace and detail are excellent and the production is second to none without being overproduced using a bunch of garbage. The best part is you actually speak. I listen to videos while driving or doing other things (often going back to watch them later) so having verbal commentary and instructions is vital to me. So many videos are condensed with no sound or even worse music!

[@WereAllThatBored]

One thing I know about composites is that perfection is rare. Nice work my friend!

[@DJ-wl5yi]

Great tip on the urethane, but your mold design should incorporate a piston design to really capture and compress the fiber mix. Easy composites has a great video series about that

[@GIFT-Auto]

I watched your video and got some great tips for making forged carbon. I was having a really hard time releasing types. However, when I compressed the cling wrap I use in the kitchen by putting it in a mold, I was able to release it surprisingly smoothly. No tools were required and it could be opened by hand. I believe this is the smoothest method.

[@sergiocantoli5783]

Thanks Matthieu for sharing your experiments with us!

[@MatthieuLibeert]

glad you liked it! appreciate your comment on here ;)

[@kingofherdaz]

Welcome back! Looking forward to the rest of the series!

[@MatthieuLibeert]

thanks! it took me some time but glad I'm back to see all your comments! it's heartwarming reading comments of true fans from day one one here :)

[@SjengdeKameel]

Very nice explanation. I actually simply use the moulds printed directly in PETG or other copolyesters and the apply a gelcoat afterwards to deal with the layerlines. EasyComposites also sells a mould releasy wax by Stoner I believe. That stuff is really good. As long as I apply drafts on my arts of at least 3 degrees I have no issues with parts releasing from the mould even without the ejectors. The real reason why I stick with 3d printed moulds is the forgivingness of the moulds. I've been using the same moulds for almost 60 runs now without fail.

[@AlenHR]

I figured that the ratio of vertical and horizontal surfaces correlates with the ease of release. I did some test runs on simple shapes and they just popped right out of the mold. When I forged the more complex drone frame I struggled to get it out of the mold.

[@SjengdeKameel]

@@AlenHR With the mould release I mentioned or just in general? I think in general more draft would equal more friction during de-mould. But I even did some near neutral draft parts and that worked even. Was there actually draft on the parts? When I read 'complex drone shape' I can imagine organic shapes where you might perceive draft, but due to the curvature there actually is none. What did mess me up a few times when working with purely FDM printed moulds was underextrusion.

[@MatthieuLibeert]

the hardest thing with forged is that you have no flanges to get the part out of the mould compared to resin infused parts. Thanks for the comments both of you ;)

[@MASI_forging]

Great work. Looking forward to the next video. 😍😍

[@MatthieuLibeert]

Thanks! part 2 is online now as well ;) I have new video's lined up for the next to month now, with a video a week or sometimes more :D

[@mezzanoon]

Oh baby super excited to watch this, forged carbon fiber is so underutilized!

[@MatthieuLibeert]

it's a very controversial topic. I do like it, other say its not composites work, I see it more as an alternative to injection moulded plastic parts and believe carbon fiber can have a big role in this!

[@mezzanoon]

@@MatthieuLibeert I feel it almost bridges the gap between injection molded plastic and machining. The omnidirectionality that chopped fibers give I really think is underappeciated, and it's tough to be a better fiber than carbon fiber! Appreciate the reply, and hope you keep exploring this regardless of the controversy!

[@marccretten]

Its been a while, nice to see content again

[@MatthieuLibeert]

Glad to be back as well! I have bundled a lot of videos and most are edited so for the next two month I'll have a video a week or sometimes even more 😉

[@AlenHR]

Nice video, thanks. I made a drone frame out of forged carbon. Wanted to create a shape that would be very hard to achieve using a wet layup. It turned out amazingly well, I really like this technique.

[@MatthieuLibeert]

thinking the same! the way of thinking is more like reinforced carbonfiber injection moulding like traditional injection moulded parts! your topic seems very suited to it indeed

[@theELiTEboarder]

I've successfully made a few 3D printed molds and my process is: sanding the molds with 220-600 grit, filling large gaps and coating the whole mold with UV curing resin (for 3D printers), sanding with 400-600 grit, waxing with 5 coats of Partall paste #2, followed by 3-4 coats of PVA. My struggle right now is getting a flat, mirror finish without bubbles and pinholes. I have not found a good coating resin yet

[@gafrers]

Interesting as always

[@Todestelzer]

1:24 looks like you had a fair bit of under-extrusion there. Thanks for the vid. CF molds is something I will try out someday too.

[@MatthieuLibeert]

it wasn't under-extrusion but the Z-height nozzle being a bit to close, nylon is printed at 280°C without cooling and the nozzle was "scratching" the inner lines :)

[@andressebastiannietobarret1205]

Do you think that wax release can be used/work instead the spray release for this technic? Great video :D

[@MatthieuLibeert]

yes should work as well! any release agent compatible for polyurethanes should work. I find the spray the easiest way to apply :)

[@andreaseh2002]

Like your Videos 👍🏻 I think about making some travel luggage from carbon fiber but am not sure how to design/produce the mold and ad the zipper to the fiber. Would that be an project for you to make?

[@jonsports_and_diy_stuff3924]

Thanks for sharing!!!

[@MatthieuLibeert]

Thanks for your comment! glad you liked it, more video's are coming ;)

[@Tarex_]

Great stuff, it's always reassuring to see that the experts also need to try a few times 😅 beating the 5-10min cure time of PU is hard.. if you have the 3d printer there though, just cure it on the heatbed, with the amount of resin in there, should be good in 20mins

[@MatthieuLibeert]

haha it's a part of the process as well to try fail and learn and take that knowledge to other projects then :) Heatbed works, or oven might be better to evenly heat everything :D but I mostly like to let the parts cure at room temperature, then do a postcure to avoid exothermal reations and shrink or expansion

[@hi-tv6yh]

hello any video on how you did the mold ?

[@SevenDeMagnus]

How many layers of 2K and what grit's on the sander? What was the ratio of carbon fiber to epoxy? Nice.

[@wolpumba4099]

Nice!

[@MatthieuLibeert]

Thanks :D

[@SevenDeMagnus]

Cool

[@seenmakino]

Does the CF add significant strength to the PU?

[@MatthieuLibeert]

I don't have numbers but makes a big difference in theorie... PU can be brittle and the fibers function as reinforcement, comparable to glassfiber reinforced concrete for example

[@RLCPLUMBINGLLC]

Can I buy one of your car pucks or mabe both body styles?

[@ronjlwhite8058]

Nice

[@MatthieuLibeert]

Thanks! more video's will follow ;)

[@sierraecho884]

Use wood veneere and cardboard instead. Way cheaper and eco friendlier compared to CF. Would be interesting to see those results.

[@MatthieuLibeert]

Thanks for your suggestion! Would be a cool thing to do! Will see if I can fit it into a video!

[@luccardi.]

12:27 was this also a forged carbon result?

[@MatthieuLibeert]

a mystery do be solved in part 2 :D

[@bizzare4481]

this is look like casting carbonfiber. If the mould deeper you can fill more carbonfiber and use the second mould to compress it, I think that how forged carbonfiber look like

[@MatthieuLibeert]

thanks for your comment! you are correct, mould geometry makes a lot of difference in the production of parts!

[@overtinker.projects]

Never really considered carbon fiber as a material to make something with, but this looks very interesting!

[@MatthieuLibeert]

It's a cool process, you can compare it a bit to fiber reinforced concrete being more "commonly" used in the daily life.