How do you tell the difference between Wet and Dry Carbon?
In this case its a RE-Amemiya AD Bonnet.
I thought the wet carbon has a gloss look to it? Also, what is the ACTUAL difference is one stronger than the other or lighter or is it just a preference?
Yeah wet carbon is glossed and shiny. Dry carbon is matt without shine as it\'s not glossed, kind of like Gurj\'s paint job.
Dry carbon is stronger and lighter. I think wet carbon is made and then glossed whereas dry carbon is pre-pregnated with the bonding agent and then baked in an autoclave (which are damn expensive) which is why dry carbon is so expensive.
A quick explaination here Ross.
http://www.rotaryart.uk.com/acatalog/Xtreme_Body_kits_FD.html
scroll to bottom.
You got any pics of the bonnet Ross? I\'ve never seen the dry carbon AD9 if that\'s what it is...
I presume it must be wet then.
When had the Veilside demo car, that had a dry carbon wing on it.
And I have a car coming over with dry carbon bonnet and rear wing.
Cant post pics on here though, i\'ll put some pix on dragworx.
Cool, I just registered...
Quote from: DRAGONHow do you tell the difference between Wet and Dry Carbon?
Touch it, or look for droplets. Although if you leave it out on a dewy morning, it\'s likely to be damp.
what? *innocent grin*
Quote from: ArchbishTouch it, or look for droplets. Although if you leave it out on a dewy morning, it\'s likely to be damp.
what? *innocent grin*
Yhoooo my man, I thought you moistened up at the thought of carbon
I\'ll post two pics.
I think you can definately tell the difference between 140000 and 340000 yen
Blue car is Wet
White car is dry
Russ.
Much prefer the look of the wet carbon over the dry. That blue rx7 is stunning.
any more pictures of the blue car
:D
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm car porn :yes
I love the look of the white one. ANy more pictures and details to what is on it.. Bodykit wise??
Adam
Wet carbon:
Wet carbon is when you get the carbon weave & resin seperatly.... you lay the carblon in to the mould, wet it out with the resin, vaccum bag it & bake it to cure.
Dry carbon:
this is when you use what is known as pre preg. this basicaly means you don\'t have to wet the carbon out manualy, all you have to do is cut it to shape, fit it in the mould, vaccum bag it & bake it. this then activates the resins & cures them!
The reason the dry carbon is so much more expensive is due to the costs in the manufacturing of the material as they have to put the resin in to the mating, where as with the wet lay up, all they have to do is produce the carbon cloth (baicaly less labour intensive, and a little crueder)
The finish doesn\'t have anything to do with the way you lay up or the type of lay up you use, this is determind by the condition of the mould: matt finish in the mold = a matt finish on the product and likewise..... a highly polished mould results in a mirror finish on the final product. another thing aswell... the clear gell coat that they put down before the matting is the other factor, as you can actualy get a matt & gloss clear coat (this gets applied to the mould befor the carbon is placed in to it!)
Hope this helps
Jono
Search for 7\'s day on this forum and you will find more pics.
The Blue car is prepped by Zimax. Known for Race prep.
The White car was awesome.
When you see the dry carbon up close it is amazing. You just want it.
You can coat it in clear to get the same look effect.
The White car is a customer car prepped by R-Magic, even though it used RE-A front and Bonnet.
It uses the R-Magic Wide Body Kit for the FD3s with Side Diffussers.
Same as the Time attack Machine.
Probably those two are a couple of the best STREET cars around at the moment.
Russ.
From my experience with having produced a few carbon fibre parts.
A lot of wet lay-up carbon uses Polyester resin. As already mentioned the finish of the part is dictated by the condition of the mould surface.
With the Polyester resin (the some base resin is used in body filler) a clear gel coat is brushed on to the mould (you can usual spot gel rich sharp corners which have an opaque look) then the dry carbon fabric laid up on the back of that.
Polyester is much cheaper then epoxy resin, but unlike fibre glass which has a preimpregnated starch to help the polyester resin chemically bond to the glass strands, polyester resin does not penetrate the carbon fabric & bond the fibres together so well. Hence its use for none structal parts like bonnets & the like so more for looks.
If you break a piece of carbon layed up with polyester you can see the individual strands of carbon. But the easy give away is the smell of the polyester resin especial on new components & a lack of vac bag marks on the back of the component.
Proper carbon fibre parts use preimpregnated fabric which needs be vacuum bagged to the mould & cured using heat hence the autoclave.
A half way house is to use cold cure epoxy resins & vac bag.
Can\'t agree more with Russ, the white car was SO NICE! Full rollcage, very neat install. Very nice interior work done and the bodykit. MMMM Hope to see more of it at next 7/7 meet!
Btw Russ, have ordered tickets. Will arrive on Christmas eve 10am and leave on 6th of Jan. See you soon!
I would not use Dry carbon on a roadcar if you want it to look good since it\'s prone to cracking and misscoloring. But it\'s veeery nice whilst it holds!