# DIY Carbon frames



## Mr.Magura (Aug 11, 2010)

Hi fellow DIY'ers,

Has any of you taken on building a carbon frame? 

If so, how did it go?

I ask as I will make a carbon DH bike this summer, and so far the only info on the subject I have been able to find, is the BMeres website and a bit from Sheldon Brown.

I have made loads of carbon parts in the past, including a fork for my road bike, but wondered if somebody had something new to add?



Magura


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## wyatt79m (Mar 3, 2007)

Got any pics of your fork ?


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## Mr.Magura (Aug 11, 2010)

wyatt79m said:


> Got any pics of your fork ?


I can dig it out of the stash tomorrow and take a pic.

It is nothing special by todays standards though. I made it like 15 years ago, back when carbon forks were expensive and wobbly.

Magura


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## TigWorld (Feb 8, 2010)

Its about a road bike but there's quite a bit of info here and in some older threads on prototype 1 and 2 - http://fairwheelbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7602&sid=bf83d625919d140aad829647412af592


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## Mr.Magura (Aug 11, 2010)

wyatt79m said:


> Got any pics of your fork ?


A pic of the DIY fork.

Magura


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## Mr.Magura (Aug 11, 2010)

TigWorld said:


> Its about a but there's quite a bit of info here and in some older threads on prototype 1 and 2 - http://fairwheelbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7602&sid=bf83d625919d140aad829647412af592


Thanks for the links, that sure is a nice and simple approach he has to it.

Magura


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## wyatt79m (Mar 3, 2007)

How long did you ride your fork ? Looks pretty good, did it end up being about average weight or was it heavy compared to forks you could have bought at the time ?


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## Mr.Magura (Aug 11, 2010)

wyatt79m said:


> How long did you ride your fork ? Looks pretty good, did it end up being about average weight or was it heavy compared to forks you could have bought at the time ?


For the time being, it was in the light end of the offerings. I can't remember how heavy it is though.

I rode it for like 25.000km during a period of like 3 years, and it is still in good shape today. 
I have kept it as a "museum piece", as it was one of my first serious carbon efforts. I was 18 at the time it was made.

Magura


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## TigWorld (Feb 8, 2010)

Nice fork!

If you haven't seen it already, there is a great tutorial here for making mylar bladders for in mold inflation - 




Very handy if you're going to do a mold/monocoque or tubes without foam core.


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## forwardcomponents (Dec 2, 2008)

Most of the home made frames I have seen online use a core with fiber wrapped around it and compressed from the outside. I prefer the cavity mold method, where the fibers are placed in a negative mold and pressurized from within by a bladder. The process seems more complicated at first because of the molds. In reality, negative molds are not that difficult or expensive to produce. And the benefit of this process is that once you have a mold you can make several frames out of it. There are excellent online tutorials on mold building that could be applied to frame building. Freemansupply has an excellent online library for novice moldmakers.http://www.freemansupply.com/video.htm

There is a helpful website for composites experimenters called www.compositescentral.net. You can find a lot of good information there about bladder molding techniques and materials, and other aspects of composites building.

I am working on a custom saddle with a shortened nose. I built a positive mold out of plaster of Paris. From that I vacuum formed a negative mold. The negative mold was then used to make the saddle using a vacuum bagging process. The whole process was very inexpensive and straightforward. I have since developed a mold that will allow me to cure the composite layup at very high pressure, up to 100 psi. That will compact the fibers and eliminate any voids in the resin, producing a very strong and light shell. I will document the process in a separate thread when I get it finished, as some of the techniques can be applied to framebuilding.

Here is the prototype shell, done in fiberglass just to test out the procedure.


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## forwardcomponents (Dec 2, 2008)

TigWorld said:


> Nice fork!
> 
> If you haven't seen it already, there is a great tutorial here for making mylar bladders for in mold inflation -
> 
> ...


Nice work on the frame tubes!

I know that rolling your own tubes from cloth has it's advantages. You can also get composite sleeves in a variety of sizes and styles, which eliminate overlap and alignment issues.


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## shirk (Mar 24, 2004)

Found this over on Compositescentral. https://www.compositescentral.com/showthread.php?t=6120


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## Mr.Magura (Aug 11, 2010)

forwardcomponents said:


> Most of the home made frames I have seen online use a core with fiber wrapped around it and compressed from the outside. I prefer the cavity mold method, where the fibers are placed in a negative mold and pressurized from within by a bladder. The process seems more complicated at first because of the molds. In reality, negative molds are not that difficult or expensive to produce. And the benefit of this process is that once you have a mold you can make several frames out of it. There are excellent online tutorials on mold building that could be applied to frame building. Freemansupply has an excellent online library for novice moldmakers.http://www.freemansupply.com/video.htm
> 
> There is a helpful website for composites experimenters called www.compositescentral.net. You can find a lot of good information there about bladder molding techniques and materials, and other aspects of composites building.
> 
> ...


How is your seat project coming along?

Thanks for the link to Compositescentral. I joined them right away, tough it seems a bit silent there.

Magura


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