Yes, I laminated chainstay yourself. I created it using “forget form” method. You know what it is mean, but for others… I created main shape using balsa wood and blue foam. After curing, balsa and blue foam are removed.
Old free version of RattleCAD is used for making drawings:
Balsa wood hold required shape:
Some sanding and shape is ready:
One layer of 100g/m2 fiber glass added strength before using carbon fiber:
Time to start laminating with carbon fibre:
I used 200 g/m2 twill weave carbon fibre sheet and epoxy resin similar to L285 with long time hardener (80 min). 8 layers of carbon fibre sheet + 1 layer of glass fiber laminate as last layer (My process is simple, sealer and sanding will be used on last glass fiber layer, carbon fiber create strength)
After terrible work with twill weave carbon (it is hard to shape around form) I put chainstay to owen. During summer time is not problem achieve temperature more than 60°C for 8 hours. I do not have vacuum pump so I created press with nylon tape which also removes some redundant epoxy.
After curing:
After removing nylon tape, blue foam and gently sanding (110 g looks good):
Chainstay looks strong, but Time show…
