CARBON TIME

CARBON IS STIFFER SO GIVES THE NEEDED STRENGTH WITH FEWER LAYERS — THEREFORE LESS WEIGHT!

If your plug surface prep was on point, your gel coat surface will be perfect and ready for release agent. You can use PVA release agent, but a better option is to use a release wax as it ensures you have a perfectly smooth surface. Additionally, if you want to make multiple parts, the wax work is already sorted, and will last four or five lay-ups. Build your wax surface up as Zac says: Karate Kid– style — wax on, wax off. Do this three or four times. The key to achieving maximum strength with composites like carbon or Kevlar is running minimum resin. This is achieved with a process known as resin infusion, where you bag up the part and draw resin through using a vacuum pump. While you can simply do a wet lay-up as you did to make the mould itself, using a vacuum pump will result in a part 10 times better in every respect. Parts like these guards only require three layers of cloth with an added strip where the fender will be bolted on. The visible layer is 240g satin, and behind that is a layer of 200g double bias, and then the outer strip is added again in 240g, followed by the final layer which is hybrid Kevlar. The reason the inside layer is Kevlar is because it is more flexible than carbon so less susceptible to stone chips, etc. Carbon is stiffer so gives the needed strength with fewer layers — therefore less weight!

To avoid the weave being distorted, or having it bridge over swags etc., use a contact adhesive such as 3M Super 77 so that you you can lay it into the mould and ensure that it sits in there perfectly. Lay all your layers of cloth down dry.