Graphite Guitar

[Matt]

does anyone know how i might be able to finish a solid graphite guitar or what would be a suitable finish to use?

also whether epoxy resin is a suitable glue? ve done tests and it seems alright?

[Devon Headen]

Solid Graphite, I really have no idea. I guess the only reason you'd need a finish is to stop the graphite from rubbing off on you. I am interested in how you machined it (assuming you have already).

[RGGR]

Epoxy sounds good to me. Has nice poisoneous smell to it too.

[asm]

im pretty sure industrial graphite doesnt have any of the same properties as pencil graphite. you cant rub it off on you, break it easiliy, ect.

if you do decide to sand any of it, watch out for the dust, very dangerous in that its got microscopic pieces of glass, worse than fiberglass, and the dust is pretty toxic i think.

[JackyB]

I had a strat body made of graphite epoxy (very similar to carbon fiber) that I had my dad machine for me when he worked for Kaiser Space Products. My plan was to just clear coat it so the graphite could still be seen. I sold the body to my friend for $50, which I regret doing to this very day.

[mu_sound]

Industrial graphite is just like pencil lead graphite, it WILL rub off on you. There are about a google of varieties of graphite, they all have the same chemical composition (Carbon) but they have different bonding structures. This leads to changes in the material properties, but its still dominated by the usual bulk graphite properties. In other words, it will always be brittle, youre likely to chip off parts of the body if you ding it. And if you ding it with something sharp, you may just cleave your guitar in half. Its rather soft (in comparison to hardwoods & tonewoods). And it makes a huge mess when you machine it. I usually see our machinists wear respiratory gear when they machine graphite. It does not contain minute glass particles, but the effect is similar to that of fiberglass-silicosis or asbestosis...for graphite its just carbon, but carbon fibers can be just as bad as glass fibers in your lungs.

[Devon Headen]

You could try carbon fiber. I've been doing a lot of research on it, and I may try using some CF in an upcoming project. With the CF you could just do an epoxy finish. Obviously your wouldn't want a solid CF body. Talk about expensive. Unless you made a VERY thin body, then overlaid it with the CF. That could be very cool and industrial looking. Not to mention very light.

[asm]

heres an idea.

dont carve it out of a block of carbon fiber or graphite.

just make it hollow, use carbon fiber cloth, that can be bought for about 8-13$ a yard, buy a couple of yards, then just make a body jig, put the carbon fiber cloth in there to fit to your body shape, then epoxy it up like they do surfboards.

should probably use at least 5 layers of cloth.

http://www.hollowsurfboards.com/Surfboard_...ng_Bottom_1.jpg

i shaped and glassed a surfboard a few months ago, was alot of fun.

also, you wont need to do any kind of finish to it.

they do what they call a 'hotcoat' in which more catalyst is mixed with the epoxy, and it will kick faster, put that on with a brush and you can get a nice thick smooth finish you can sand with a softpad and 320grit on a power sander.

http://www.hollowsurfboards.com/Surfboard_...rd_7/Tail_1.jpg

Edited December 23, 2004 by asm

[Devon Headen]

heres an idea.

dont carve it out of a block of carbon fiber or graphite.

just make it hollow, use carbon fiber cloth, that can be bought for about 8-13$ a yard, buy a couple of yards, then just make a body jig, put the carbon fiber cloth in there to fit to your body shape, then epoxy it up like they do surfboards.

should probably use at least 5 layers of cloth.

http://www.hollowsurfboards.com/Surfboard_...ng_Bottom_1.jpg

i shaped and glassed a surfboard a few months ago, was alot of fun.

also, you wont need to do any kind of finish to it.

they do what they call a 'hotcoat' in which more catalyst is mixed with the epoxy, and it will kick faster, put that on with a brush and you can get a nice thick smooth finish you can sand with a softpad and 320grit on a power sander.

http://www.hollowsurfboards.com/Surfboard_...rd_7/Tail_1.jpg

That's what I meant by overlay it.

[LGM Guitars]

heres an idea.

dont carve it out of a block of carbon fiber or graphite.

just make it hollow, use carbon fiber cloth, that can be bought for about 8-13$ a yard, buy a couple of yards, then just make a body jig, put the carbon fiber cloth in there to fit to your body shape, then epoxy it up like they do surfboards.

should probably use at least 5 layers of cloth.

http://www.hollowsurfboards.com/Surfboard_...ng_Bottom_1.jpg

i shaped and glassed a surfboard a few months ago, was alot of fun.

also, you wont need to do any kind of finish to it.

they do what they call a 'hotcoat' in which more catalyst is mixed with the epoxy, and it will kick faster, put that on with a brush and you can get a nice thick smooth finish you can sand with a softpad and 320grit on a power sander.

http://www.hollowsurfboards.com/Surfboard_...rd_7/Tail_1.jpg

Where are you getting carbon weave for $8 to $13 a yard?????? Please, seriously tell me, the last time I bought a basket weave carbon it cost me about $45 a yard!

[Hotrock]

Devon,

I'm in the early stages of a bit of research into carbon fibre for a project too. Could you send me any good links to doing it yourself if you have any?

Cheers dude.

Kaj

[asm]

sorry jeremy,

http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/Product_Ca...and_kevlar.html

i was off a little, but not much. its around 15-25

[Devon Headen]

hmmm..I can't find many of them that I've been to, but here are a couple I saved in my favorites.

http://www.mci.i12.com/carbon/index.htm

This is probably the best thing I've found so far:

http://www.fibreglast.com