sinner16 Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 Well first off .. I would like to say thank you soooo much for this site being available. I must say I'm addicted to it!!!! My wife wants to pull the plug on my PC!!! This is my first post... so please be forgiving.... Ok now for the nitty gritty of my post .... I've been thinking about using carbon fiber as an inlay material. I have found a few web sites that sell this stuff by the sheet in different thickness and colors ( they use this stuff for robot wars that were popular for a short time on TV). Anyway, has any one ever tried using this material and if so ... what were the results ? I also was pondering using it to make a custom logo. It comes in .013 " thickness. I may have to "inlay" the logo into the headstock so that it is smooth ... similar to the Jem "pyramid" inlay tutorial. The carbon fiber would give an inlay an awesome 3D effect an would be a little different..... Any feedback would be appreciated ... This site rocks! !!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 First of all welcome to the forum bro! Carbon fiber is very cool looking but be careful and wear protection when cutting and carving it because it can be toxic. That's all I know about it for the most part. I do have a vinal material available to me that simulates it but the real thing would be even more awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 If it's anything like the carbon fiber rods that $tewmac sells, you might have a hard time getting a clean edge on your cuts. I cut the rods with a hack saw, and sanded them down a bit but they were pretty easy to splinter. Maybe it's not the same stuff though - or maybe using a jewelers saw would help prevent this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syxxstring Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 sine carbon fiber is a cloth in resin, could you get the cloth and then cast the resin in the fretboard.(i sense another LGM smackdown comming) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saber Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 I also was pondering using it to make a custom logo. It comes in .013 " thickness. I may have to "inlay" the logo into the headstock so that it is smooth ... similar to the Jem "pyramid" inlay tutorial. That would make sense to me because then you can sand the acrylic level to the guitar without worrying about eating into the fiber itself. Just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted December 12, 2003 Report Share Posted December 12, 2003 Hello, Carbon for inlay I think would look great on a maple board, there are a few things to consider with carbon fibre though. First, if it's thick you will have a very hard time cutting it. When it is a weave (like you are talking about) it can be laser cut fairly nicely. If it is of the .050 or thicker variety it will be hard to cut cleanly with anything by hand at all. Secondly, Carbon Fibre is not toxic, the dust, like any dust is dangerous to breath though, it will not break down in your body at all. The resins used to impregnate the cloth can be and usually are toxic however. Also, when working with Carbon, small microscopic slivers can penetrate your skin and get into your blood causing heart problems as they will puncture your heart. Last, if you are inlaying carbon, you want to have it set exactly at the surface, or just below and sand to the resin, it looks great when it has a nice glossy coat of resin on it, but should you sand through the resin (which does not take much) and hit the cloth, it will be garbage. You'll have dull spots which cannot really be fixed up except with more resin, but if you've sanded through, you don't have room for the resin again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinner16 Posted December 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 I thought about casting my own carbon fiber sheets... however the fumes from resin curing does not sound like a good idea ... not in my basement anyway. I hear ya on the safety factor. Slivers of carbon in my lungs does not sound like a walk in the park to me. I think this stuff has some real potential. I found this site that offers it in a few colors and thickness: http://www.robotcombat.com/marketplace_car...arbonfiber.html Of course this is my first project and it sounds like removing and re-fretting a neck will be harder than playing the dueling guitar solo from "Crossroads" movie. LOL. I appreciate everyone's feedback. I guess the only thing that is left is for me to find get some sheets of carbon fiber and practice for the next year or so..lol.... Measure 6 times and cut once!!! Is re-fretting that much of a nightmare??? Just wondering. Thanks guys .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johntbyrne Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 Try these guys for a source. http://www.acp-composites.com/ Suspect they can't advise about inlays but can about just about anything else. They sell a paper thin CF sheet designed for dashboard laminates. I've thought it would be cool to veneer a top with it. I have some and laminate it for strenght/thickness with CA glue. Neat stuff. Ordered from them several times for my model helicopter adiction. Good folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snork Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 that gives me SUCH a good idea for a BADASS acoustic. i even have a sick rosette designed for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted December 15, 2003 Report Share Posted December 15, 2003 would your badass acoustic happen to look like these? http://www.rainsong.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingo328 Posted December 16, 2003 Report Share Posted December 16, 2003 Any place that does interior work for cars will have thin CF like material for laminating on dashes and such. It's not really carbon fiber usually but you can't tell by looking at it. It could be used like the acrylic inlay tutorial where you just lay the sticker under the acrylic and use clear glue. No sand throughs or toxins at all. Check on ebay, there's a number of dealers that sell it in self adhesive sheets for little money. Also go to any custom auto stores, they usually have it, especially the ones for making rice-rockets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted December 16, 2003 Report Share Posted December 16, 2003 Go to your nearest motorbike shop. They normally have sticky back carbon fibre tank protectors and yoke protectors and suchforth. They're hard and sticky and might be worth a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted December 16, 2003 Report Share Posted December 16, 2003 They're hard and sticky and might be worth a look. ewwwwwwwwwwww the protectors or the salesman yuck, LOL!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Nordic Gawd Posted December 17, 2003 Report Share Posted December 17, 2003 woah. those rainsong acoustics are pretty neat-(). except i would probably make it a slim line acoustic due to the "racing nature" of carbon fiber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johntbyrne Posted December 18, 2003 Report Share Posted December 18, 2003 Any place that does interior work for cars will have thin CF like material for laminating on dashes and such. It's not really carbon fiber usually but you can't tell by looking at it. It could be used like the acrylic inlay tutorial where you just lay the sticker under the acrylic and use clear glue. No sand throughs or toxins at all. Check on ebay, there's a number of dealers that sell it in self adhesive sheets for little money. Also go to any custom auto stores, they usually have it, especially the ones for making rice-rockets. Actually the dash stuff from aerospace is real CF. I use it (in my laminates) for making CF frames for my R/C helicopters. I'm not sure how it would sand however, suspect not too good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckguitarist Posted December 18, 2003 Report Share Posted December 18, 2003 would your badass acoustic happen to look like these? http://www.rainsong.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted December 19, 2003 Report Share Posted December 19, 2003 making CF frames for my R/C helicopters. cool, cool, cooooooooooooool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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