Add fiberglass or carbon fiber to deck?

Yeah I do. I’m actually mulling over the idea of starting a YouTube channel about how to build and fix all sorts of stuff.

4 Likes

You can get the fiberglass fabric and epoxy from amazon

Use fiberglass weave fabric. Do not use Mat or you’ll eliminate a lot of flex

I did a hand layup of about 5 total layers (2 top 3 bottom) on this deck after routing wires. The last pic is a top coat, but you want to squeege as much resining off as possible on prior costs

It’s actually really easy to do

Carbon fiber has the potential to block signals and cause remote issues. Likely not an issue if the enclosure is FG or plastic.

And yes, I did this in my bathroom :rofl:

3 Likes

:upside_down_face: Favorite room where I make all my deck and enclosure :ok_hand:

4 Likes

Made a f-ing mess lol. But it works :slight_smile:

2 Likes

What did you do to draw excess epoxy out? Weight to press or a vacuum bag? Or was is just left to cure as is?

None. For the layups I laid out the cloth and wet it. Then used a silicone squeege to press out excess resin.

The pic is a final layer where it got two light coats of epoxy only. I was planning to sand it flat and polish out. There’s a sparkle black pigment in there. But for the sake of time, I rough sanded it up and vinyled the bottom and grip taped the top.

Bag method is much better. But it’s primarily just to reduce the amount of excess resin. Which keeps things lighter. If you have the time to do it, you should. But a hand lay up will save you about $150 if you don’t have any of the equipment yet for a vacuum bag

1 Like

The squeegee is pretty good. Though as I’m sure you noticed that can slide your fabric around. I’m just glad I have access to the University’s lab. One way I’ve seen bagging done pretty cheap is you tape your part down with duct tape to a piece of acrylic or polycarbonate with some batting material from Lowe’s. But you also need a peel ply that will let the resin come through but you can peel it off. Though the surface finish isn’t amazing.

1 Like

Hmmmm. As I understand, woven mat is stronger and stiffer given the same volume of saturating resin because the fibers run the entire length of the part instead of being shorter random lengths in random directions…

1 Like

This cracked me up man lmao

1 Like

That’s correct. Fiber size and continuity are very important to the structural integrity of the direction run

Fabrics have a distribution of weaves. Sometimes the fibers going one direction Will skip over some rows rather than going over under over under. Tailoring the weave type and frequency helps tune flex in the final product as well as strength. Fibers increase strength in the direction run but do nothing for the perpendicular direction.
Using a mat puts fibers down in every direction. So applying a force to the board will be resisted by many fibers simultaneously, thus reducing the flex. This greatly increases strength, but at the cost of rigidity.

On the deck I laid up, I have heavy mat from the ends through the truck mounts and it rapers out over the next 6 inches. This reinforced the nose and tail sections a lot. I experienced a deck break behind the front truck previously.
Then over those I laid fabric down.

Fill the channel and put two layers of this down.
[Fiberglass cloth amazon ](Yikai Fiberglass Woven Roving Cloth (2.6 Oz, Plain Weave), 11.8"inch x 164’feet (30cm x 50m) Long for Boat & Pool Repair https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RRKSP6M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_y6VXDb34464D8)

You can add a dye to the epoxy to get some color. Glass frit or grip tape the top layer

2 Likes

Glad that my misfortune serves as entertainment :sweat_smile::joy::joy::joy:.

Bought the CF a long time ago because it was cheap but left it hanging in the shop :sweat_smile:

1 Like

Yes I used some bitchin blue and green on my build and it looks crazy. Keep in mind it will pool up on dips and valleys on your deck. So on the drop of mine it’s way more colored than the straight plane areas.
Just mix up a couple diff colors and twirl them around on application. Make your tube channel already. And film this.

Maybe try and hit it with some air just be careful stuff is delicate as hell so it will RIP tear easy.
Tell me it is actually hanging ?

1 Like

It was hanging, then I rolled that shit tight as a joint and slid it into a tube. Hopefully I haven’t messed up the weaves.

1 Like

sounds like something id do, did you have it hanging just cuz you thought it would look cool? $20 says the saw dust on it adds to strength anyways

2 Likes

Nope mostly lazy ness, I saw an empty spot and threw it there, that’s how I organize my shop.

I hope the sawdust fuses well with the epoxy as well :smile:

1 Like

Took a picture and there is a little bit of wood here and there but it looks clean tho. There is about an 1” extra length compare to the deck so I hope I won’t mess up.

1 Like

pshhh looks fine

1 Like

Perhaps you can still sprinkle some more sawdust on the fiber for added strength :rofl:
Seriously though, Looks clean enough for a skate. Leaving the tape on the edges kept it straight too. We’re not building rocket ships here, lol

3 Likes

You know I am still planning on adding pink or red glitter, maybe In The last coat of epoxy.