Carbon Fiber

Do not know if this is the right section, so just wondering if anyone has suggestions for adhesion on carbon fiber. My problem, of course, is this is a Military job for CARC paint and three camera housings are being changed from aluminum to carbon fiber, and CARC specifications have no prep instructions to certify the paint.
 
If painting scuff like you would fiberglass and epoxy for your base.

If just clearing gray scuff pad is fine.
Clean well with 700 and after you dry it let set for a couple of hours.

Other optiin for just clear is we have a manufacturer that cleans with 700 and then 710, lets set overnight and clears with universal the next day with no sanding.
These parts are used on new cars costing 200000 to 700000 thousand dollars.
 
If painting scuff like you would fiberglass and epoxy for your base.

If just clearing gray scuff pad is fine.
Clean well with 700 and after you dry it let set for a couple of hours.

Other optiin for just clear is we have a manufacturer that cleans with 700 and then 710, lets set overnight and clears with universal the next day with no sanding.
These parts are used on new cars costing 200000 to 700000 thousand dollars.

The raw part he showed me a picture of was extremely glossy, so,deglossing is clearly step one. It is a camera tube, so probably 32 inches long, 10" diameter with a bulge on the front to house the bigger million dollar thermal camera that ends up inside. The sunshield for it will be a half circle, probably 12" arch to cover the bulge part and keep the sun from beating on the electronics. So DA is gonna be ugly, probably just be red scotchbrite until the gloss is done.

I know carbon fiber is more of a rubber band racer deal (import hondas with tight rubber band turbos) and really not what I am reading here, just looking for some kind of idea. I was really surprised how much of a solvent smell the waterborne wax and grease remover had when I finally ordered the gallon.

Painting to military spec and certifying means follow the standards written on the spec. I already told them, I will write what I did, but I cannot certify carbon fiber if there is no part of the specification that gives cleaning requirements like it does for steel, aluminum and even wood.

Its like you telling a customer if you did not scuff the bare steel with 80 grit on a DA, dont come back to me and tell me my epoxy was bad. So I can use the right stuff, whether or not that epoxy is made for carbon fiber. We have 2 we have to use, one works fine over phosphated steel and iridite, but will peel over anodize, where the second will stick to anodize, but just too tough to work with for everything else.
 
Military stuff is all about paperwork. My company usually stays away from dealing with them.
Carbon fiber most often has a clear epoxy as the resin used to impregnate it, though I hear from a supplier surfboard resin can also be acceptable. That being said, clearcoating the average carbon fiber premade products would be really no different than recoating anything clearcoated. Could scuff with 600 to 1000 or scotchbrites, just as with automotive clear. Many people doing their own carbon fiber(usually overlays) will stop with coating & sanding epoxy when it's near decent smooth & finish out with automotive clear for ease.
A side note here, It's on my eventual to do list to try real carbon fiber overlays on few automotive parts & finish out in clear & or possibly clearcoat cf vinyl wrap as a sample for realism & also try faux painting a cf look & clear over.
 
"Military stuff is all about paperwork. My company usually stays away from dealing with them "
Jcustomz:

LOL you got that right, this was an S&W deal years ago to keep other people out.
We sell 4 or 5 bases for years and every-time they get a new buyer (about once a year) at each of these places, I get a call we need a spec sheet!
My response is the same, this is not my main business and the sheets are totally useless and i don't have time, so don't buy it!
The spec's say nothing and are nothing but a crock of s+++.
 
The difference for me is I understand the paper pushers not understanding what CARC means other than if I do not have paperwork I cannot receive the order. To me, it is all about our troops. When a pan and tilt or tripod we paint is hit with a chemical agent, they are decontaminated with a chlorine solution. CARC coatings are only special because they provide some camouflage, but they completely dissipate the cleanup process so nothing lingers. So a unit gets hit, decontaminated, put on a shelf, its not the guy that was there when the attack happened, the guy who decontaminated it, but the poor schmuck that picks it up after it has been stored for months that I am trying to protect to the best of my abilities, and that means the paint is not flaking off where the chemical agent gets under.....

Most car guys invest money in carbon fiber, all they want is clear to show they put big money in the part. Others start with the epoxy and then pack on 2k type primers to be able to block it smooth so you cant tell its carbon fiber. So I am guessing that is the approach I will be using, just gotta start with a way to make sure it sticks..
 
OK, so I am not worried about sticking to the carbon fiber, just the epoxy in the last flow coat. I guess when guys get their shiny carbon fiber hoods and you tell them you need to clear coat them or its just gonna cloud up is a tough sell until it clouds up.

There is a fine line that shops have when we are asked to do something we are not supposed to do. It is a little different than the knowing better part.
 
I'm not a clear epoxy expert to know what's available out there with uv resistance that may not have been available previously. Some epoxys just absolutely turn to gum in sunlight.
Have you tried contacting fiberglast or any other suppliers yet for advise.
 
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