Carbon fiber, made home cooking style

Most people believe there's an intricate process involved in making carbon fiber parts. After all, it's more expensive than aluminum, but its benefits such as lighter weight and better durability make it an ideal material for performance car applications.

But apparently, it turns out your kitchen oven isn't just meant for baking and cooking delicious food. With the right ingredients and a proper process, a Youtuber has demonstrated you can actually DIY your own carbon fiber parts for your vehicle.

Eco-Lap Studio showed how to make a carbon fiber engine cover for a BMW vehicle. Using the stock plastic engine cover, they were able to make a mold for the carbon fiber version. Afterwards they layered down carbon fiber sheets in the mold before sealing and vacuum bagging them to eliminate trapped air. That's where the kitchen oven became of good use, as it was utilized to bond the carbon fiber sheets together.

After baking the sheets, epoxy resin was used to harden the product. 12 more hours of oven baking later and voila, you have your own carbon fiber engine cover. Of course, it also involved some finishing by sanding down sharp edges and applying a clear, heat-resistant finish.

Aside from the engine cover, Eco Lap Studio's Youtube channel has done various DIY videos using dry carbon fiber. With the weekend coming, making carbon fiber parts at home sure does look like a nice thing to do, doesn't it?

 

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