How many yards of carbon are used to make a carbon bike frame?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mcawesome
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Mcawesome

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I know this varies alot, but I need to know becuase I am making my own. Is it a small amount like 5 yards or more like 25?
Thanks, and I know what I am getting into. I will use a foam core and wrap it in fiberglass. This will help the first layers be compacted even tighter to make the frame sturdier. I will not be using pre impregnated carbon, but using epoxy from west systems and getting the metal parts from ceeway. I already have a frame that I wish to duplicate, so the dimensions will be easy to duplicate with an adjustable frame jig. And it will be a huge task considering I havent even graduated highschool.
 
Wow. You are getting into a big job ad the question you are asking will answer itself once you do your initial work. I fear that once the design and engineering is completed that you'll think twice about tackling the job, but if you follow through I wish to be the first to congratulate you. It takes me about 2 years (call it 4000 hours) to design and prototype a CF frame and I've been doing it for over a decade.

If you're making your own frame don't you think that it would be a good idea to work this out for yourself? You need to decide the materials needed... if you don't want to work this out yourself then you really shouldn't try to make a CF frame. It is horribly messy and must be completed in a short period of time with some pretty good precision.

I'm sure that you know by now that although the actual layup of CF is similar to fiberglas that making it into a bike frame is completely different since you need to use special thermoset resins. If you plan to have hollow tubes then of course you'll need a bladder and then insert the CF/bladder combination in a mold so you can eliminate voids and maintain shape. Then you'll need an "oven" which carefully monitors humidity and temperature so the thermoset cures properly and evenly.

So, if you have worked all this out and have a good idea of surface area as well as the number of layers you need in each part of the frame the amount of material required will reveal itself.

Oh yeah... don't forget that you'll need a metal "core" for the bottom bracket threads (no, you can't just thread the CF) and also have a thin walled aluminum insert in most of the seat tube, and that everything has to be held in strict alignment since you can't reshape cured composite (the combination of CF and thermoset resin/hardener).

Best of luck (I mean it!).

EDIT: If you already have a frame that you are going to try and duplicate, and you know where the areas of greatest stresses are then all you have to do is determine the total area of the existing frame and multiply by the number of layers, then multiply by 2 (so if you make an error you won't have to wait to get more). By the way, you'll still need to compress those layers of CF to eliminate delaminations and such. You might want to just make a simple tube to start with THEN get your teeth into something bigger... just a suggestion.
 
Yet again we have another winner for the day....Bikework... you just keep hitting the nail into the questions of the day!
Seriously man, I'm not sure Evil Knievel would even attempt to ride this one...good luck!
 
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