this is one for the CF experts.
This is the battery cover off my cannondale e-bike, it sits on the downtube right behind the front wheel so is protecting the battery from impacts, and as the bike is about 5 years old it has done its job well and as is now battered & brittle.
There's no UK stock of these parts from Cannondale but we have managed to find one in france and is on its way. but looking to the future, if / when the new one breaks we'll be stuffed so I'm thinking about using a fibre repair kit to try and get this one back to a useable state, and possibly giving the new one a fibre skin to hopefully help it last longer.
what do you recommend?
using a glass / carbon fibre repair kit
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Re: using a glass / carbon fibre repair kit
Is it worth making a mould from the replacement, when it arrives?
And if you're feeling entrepreneurial, get a small batch made?
And if you're feeling entrepreneurial, get a small batch made?
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Re: using a glass / carbon fibre repair kit
Not a terrible shout. Loads and loads of 'proper' carbon stuff is made from carbon tools - I'd probably go as far as to say that's the default for low volume stuff.
I.e. your part is the positive, pull a negative mould off it in CF, then use that negative to knock out "a number" of positive parts. There's a bit of subtlety to it, but that's the nuts and bolts.
Regarding the OP question - the OEM part is probably a thermoplastic moulding, which is a bugger to stick to in general. So any reinforcement will probably all off sooner or later On the flip side though, thermoplastics are generally a lot of tougher than "normal" carbon fibre, so I'd not necessarily assume a carbon one would actually be any better. In fact the OEM might actually be a carbon/glass reinforced injection moulded thermoplastic anyway.
Clear as mud
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Re: using a glass / carbon fibre repair kit
As Dazzler says, fibre glass to stick to that, make a mould from the new one and make fibre glass replicas.
Honda Owner