Graphite plate with 30° kick-up?

[Asso_man!]

Does someone know where I could source a (woven) graphite plate with a built-in 30° kick-up? I want to have a custom chassis made but need to find a plate with kick-up first... I will be eternally grateful to the one who can bring it to me

[jeroen206]

You have to contact Carbonman on TC.
He knows a place where to get carbon plates , that you can bend with a heatgun.
I saw the parts he made for his Baja , when they weren't available yet.

[Asso_man!]

You have to contact Carbonman on TC.
He knows a place where to get carbon plates , that you can bend with a heatgun.
I saw the parts he made for his Baja , when they weren't available yet.

I'll check out later, but heating a carbon plate with a heat gun doesn't seem very ortodox to me, normally you have to mold it, first time I hear that kind of process maybe it's a special carbon Anyway, thanks for tip, anyone else? I'm particularly looking for a company or someone that has mold ready to use... and would prefer woven graphite...

Edit: I just checked his showroom, that guy is nuts and he's Belgian too I'll try to send him a message, but since I'm not a TC member is that possible? The body of his Baja 5B is indeed amazing!

[RichieRich]

You can send a message using the "ask member a question" link on the username tab when view their showroom.

[Asso_man!]

Thanks Rich

[Mr. ED]

Let me know how it goes. I'm back in belgium since last night and may have to give this a try too.

It does sound odd though.
Normally 'graphite' uses a heat curing resin: epoxy, so it wouldn't soften when heatened up.
Also the woven type would not like to be bent: the the graphite filament doesn't stretch so the inside of the bend would have to ripple together a bit.

Now if it's a plastic/graphite composit with very short fibers it would be similar to the graphite reinforced arms and molded chassis;
And that would be interesting as you could not only bend a kick-up but also some side nerfs or even try a tub-like-design by welding parts together.

[adam lancia]

I'll chime in real quickly on the topic of heating carbon fiber. It really depends on the resin you use. I'm a prosthetic technician and we use carbon all the time. When a prosthetic doesn't fit quite right, it's possible to hear it up and make it somewhat maelable. Erik is right about the resin being thermally activated to cure however you can re-activate it up to a point. It is however not as good as having it modled that way to begin with and it depends on the type of resin used. Hope that helps!

[jeroen206]

look here , there is some information http://www.carbon-platten.de/page/linkliste/index.html

And here memory-carbon http://www.carbon-team.de/cgi-bin/cosmoshop/lshop.cgi?action=showrub&rubnum=modellsport&artnum=&file=&gesamt_zeilen=&wkid=23627&ls=d&nocache=1227001702-23627

[Asso_man!]

Sounds interesting... from http://www.carbon-team.de/cgi-bin/cosmo ... 1702-23627:

GB Instruction Memory-Carbon-Plates:
1) you can form the plate by heating it up to 170 °C
2) After cooling down the plate will stay in the given form
3) Give the Plate a shape before or after heating
4) Use the rough side of the plate to stick it on other components with carbon-glue from carbonteam

BUT, it looks like the maximal thickness is 2mm... I sent them an email, we'll see!

[Mr. ED]

Did you also see their standard carbon can only take 110°c? So please don't go try heating a standard plate the same way as that thermo-stuff.

[Jirka]

Asso_man! did you ever try this?

Jirka

[Asso_man!]

Nope, but would really like to! Big lack of spare time here