Carbon Fiber & Kevlar

Carbon Fiber Information

Health Alert
Carbon fiber dust is VERY bad to breathe. Always wear a respirator when working with carbon fiber. Keep the respirator on when cleaning your work area. Do everything possible to avoid breathing the dust. The dust will also make your skin itch. Every time we work with carbon fiber we spend the next few days digging little black splinters from our hands.
Update: Master knifemaker Tom Mayo sent us a tip. He used this trick for 25 years while sanding surfboards. He wrote; "If you want to avoid the itch, rub baby powder into your skin wherever it is exposed before you start work. This will fill the pores and keep the 'whatever' dust out."
Many thanks to Tom for the help.

Carbon Fiber Imperfections
All carbon fiber has voids and/or air bubbles. There are also surface imperfections and/or blemishes. This is especially true with marbled carbon fiber. If you cannot work with or around blemishes, bubbles, voids or imperfections, choose a different material.

LVA® Carbon Fiber

LVA (Low Void Aerospace) is the highest quality carbon fiber sheet. It has the best consistency and smallest voids. The key to the quality is how it is made.

LVA is made on a press that generates 1,800 tons of pressure (3.6 million pounds). The high pressure compresses each layer to .007" thick. Most carbon fiber sheet is made using the vacuum bagging process. The layers are stacked and a bag is put over the sheets. Vacuum is applied and atmospheric pressure of 14.7 psi presses the carbon fiber sheets together. Some manufacturers place the vacuum bag in an autoclave and apply 50-400 pounds of pressure. A high pressure press is much better at minimizing voids. The photo below shows a side view of LVA compared with carbon fiber from two other manufacturers.

The photo shows the edge of three sheets of .170” thick carbon fiber. The sheet in the middle is LVA. The top and bottom sheets were made by other companies. The density of the layers in LVA and low number of voids are easy to see.

Thunderstorm Kevlar

Thunderstorm Kevlar is layers of aramid fabric bonded with resin. Brass wires are woven through the fabric. The layers of fabric are coarse. It looks almost like burlap. The material polishes very well. Kevlar is a space age material. It is used in applications where light weight, flexibility, heat-resistance and strength are required.

Composite Samples: