Carbon Fiber 3D Printing...

[Ryan]

A good friend of mine has a very rare and very cool Porsche Cayman R. He got some new wheels and needed an appropriate center cap... So, I got some Nylon filament infused with carbon fiber and then printed the centers on my Carbon X1 using a stainless steel build plate with carbon fiber laminated on top. Here is the result:



Honestly, the picture does not do them justice. It's the first thing I've ever 3D printed and been somewhat proud of. In person and if you only got to see the surface of the centers, you would be hard pressed to tell they were printed and not hand laid carbon. They are really, really good. I might throw a little clear on them for protection, but they are ready to go as is...

 

[NUTTSGT]

They look cool in the picture. How do they mount on the wheel ?

 

[Firebrick43]

Please explain.

Is this a pattern that the printer printed?

Or is this a print that then had carbon fiber cloth laminated over?

 

[MadeByMiller]

Looks great Ryan! Where did you source the filament and build sheet? I've seen the build sheets that have a faux carbon fiber pattern on them, but never the real deal.

 

[Cruzan80]

Ryan, if you are looking at doing things out of CF for strength, I would look at MarkForged. They run specific filament that is designed for optimum strength, and has infused fibers. They are kind of a one-trick pony in that regard.

 

[Ryan]

They look cool in the picture. How do they mount on the wheel ?

They mount from the backside of the wheel.

Please explain.

Is this a pattern that the printer printed?

Or is this a print that then had carbon fiber cloth laminated over?

The pattern is the result of the melted plastic curing over the carbon build plate.

Looks great Ryan! Where did you source the filament and build sheet? I've seen the build sheets that have a faux carbon fiber pattern on them, but never the real deal.

A friend of mine made it. I got three prints on it before it was pretty much destroyed. He’s working on the process.

 

[Ryan]

Ryan, if you are looking at doing things out of CF for strength, I would look at MarkForged. They run specific filament that is designed for optimum strength, and has infused fibers. They are kind of a one-trick pony in that regard.

I have some! Seems super hard to print with, but I haven’t gotten serious with it yet.

 

[Cruzan80]

If you need any tips, let me know. The other teacher I work with uses it with his IB students. I know, even in CO with our micro-humidity, he keeps the filament in a dry box (think it is part of the MarkForged system). So far, it seems like they are having success.

 

[Firebrick43]

The pattern is the result of the melted plastic curing over the carbon build plate.

So I would assume that the carbon fiber on the build plate was laid up very dry so it had its texture of the weave available to transfer to the plastic?

Did it fail because it delaminated when pulling the prints, or do you think it was heat related and the type of resin used?

 

[Cruzan80]

I can grab some prints from our IB kids in the next few days, to see if the CF "look" transfers via our MarkForged. IIRC, we have the Onyx.

 

[Ryan]

So I would assume that the carbon fiber on the build plate was laid up very dry so it had its texture of the weave available to transfer to the plastic?

Did it fail because it delaminated when pulling the prints, or do you think it was heat related and the type of resin used?

Exactly… the heat warped the epoxy and caused the delaminating as far as I can tell. And yeah, it had to be laid very dry to keep a light texture. I gave the plate back to him for r&d.

I have one of those Chinese fake carbon build plates and the results aren’t as detailed and the parts don’t feel as real, but they aren’t bad either.

 

[Blackbyrd]

Thats Crazy!

 

[Poolshark314]

Exactly… the heat warped the epoxy and caused the delaminating as far as I can tell. And yeah, it had to be laid very dry to keep a light texture. I gave the plate back to him for r&d.

I have one of those Chinese fake carbon build plates and the results aren’t as detailed and the parts don’t feel as real, but they aren’t bad either.

Yeah the fake carbon build plates are actually just a light trick to create the pattern. I will say I am happy with the fake ones for the most part tho

 

[jeepxj]

so its actual CF laid up on a steel build plate that gets printed on? neat. you running a hardened nozzle for that filament?

 

[Ryan]

so its actual CF laid up on a steel build plate that gets printed on? neat. you running a hardened nozzle for that filament?

Yes, it's a specialized 1.5oz carbon fiber weave that is vacuum bagged over sheet steel with some kind of a wax on top to preserve the first .10 texture or so of the CF weave. Once cured, he strips off the wax, cuts the sheet to size and hands it over... The end result is smoother than you would expect. You can still feel a little texture, but with your eyes closed it's harder...

The caps you see here were the first print. Each subsequent one got worse and worse until the plate completely failed.

Like I mentioned earlier, I think the heat warped the epoxy and caused the CF to lift. But also, nylon adheres to the texture really well (almost a mechanical bond) and that makes lifting the print off pretty damaging to the surface as well.

As it stands, it's probably way cheaper and less time consuming to just lay real carbon fiber. And then, of course, you get all the benefits of CF to boot... Still, it's a pretty cool project to figure out I think.

 

[jeepxj]

Yes, it's a specialized 1.5oz carbon fiber weave that is vacuum bagged over sheet steel with some kind of a wax on top to preserve the first .10 texture or so of the CF weave. Once cured, he strips off the wax, cuts the sheet to size and hands it over... The end result is smoother than you would expect. You can still feel a little texture, but with your eyes closed it's harder...

The caps you see here were the first print. Each subsequent one got worse and worse until the plate completely failed.

Like I mentioned earlier, I think the heat warped the epoxy and caused the CF to lift. But also, nylon adheres to the texture really well (almost a mechanical bond) and that makes lifting the print off pretty damaging to the surface as well.

As it stands, it's probably way cheaper and less time consuming to just lay real carbon fiber. And then, of course, you get all the benefits of CF to boot... Still, it's a pretty cool project to figure out I think.

I use a product called bedweld for my print plates. helps with removal. wonder if that would prolong the life.

https://www.amazon.com/Printer-Adhesive-Layerneer-Original-Filament/dp/B079984GV5?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Ryan]

I use a product called bedweld for my print plates. helps with removal. wonder if that would prolong the life.

https://www.amazon.com/Printer-Adhesive-Layerneer-Original-Filament/dp/B079984GV5?tag=atomicindus08-20

Anything you use to aid in adhesion or removal lessens the detail of the texture you put it on. That being said, I didn't try Bedweld.

On the next plate, he mentioned he was gonna try some ceramic coating over the top of the plate once it's cured.

 

[jeepxj]

Anything you use to aid in adhesion or removal lessens the detail of the texture you put it on. That being said, I didn't try Bedweld.

On the next plate, he mentioned he was gonna try some ceramic coating over the top of the plate once it's cured.

its a liquid but yea it'll lessen it.

dare i even ask what these plates run a pop? im so happy with my 12 dollar aliexpress ones but i feel like real texture would be enticing.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805549537995.html

 

[Ryan]

its a liquid but yea it'll lessen it.

dare i even ask what these plates run a pop? im so happy with my 12 dollar aliexpress ones but i feel like real texture would be enticing.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805549537995.html

He's just a hobbyist trying to figure out if he can get it to work or not. He's a brain and spine surgeon, so can't imagine he's planning on introducing something to market.

That said, if I could get a 100 prints out of one I'd pay $100 all day long...

 

[jeepxj]

He's just a hobbyist trying to figure out if he can get it to work or not. He's a brain and spine surgeon, so can't imagine he's planning on introducing something to market.

That said, if I could get a 100 prints out of one I'd pay $100 all day long...

really need to put that together. once he finds the correct balance to stop the delamination it'll be neat.

yea i'd think a buck a print is a fair wear ratio.

 

[slowtwitch73]

Seems like engraving/pressing/lasering etc the texture straight into the plate would be the way to go... skip the epoxy.