The brushless serpent 1/8th onroad project!

[Mod Man]

Serum,

I spy the textured CF. That is trademark Graphite Elegence. I used to get CF from them back in the day. I think I have ordered 3oo SQ feet from them. The strongest and most rigid CF I have ever had (and I have gone through MANY thousands of square feet of CF). Glad to see others find them as well.

[jhautz]

Originally Posted by Mod Man

Serum,

I spy the textured CF. That is trademark Graphite Elegence. I used to get CF from them back in the day. I think I have ordered 3oo SQ feet from them. The strongest and most rigid CF I have ever had (and I have gone through MANY thousands of square feet of CF). Glad to see others find them as well.

I have ordered quite a bit of CF from them is well. They offered an excellent product for a very fair price and I wish I could get more. The CF angle stock they sold was a great product and its hard to find anywhere else.

I wish they were still selling. It appears they are out of business now. They went "on vacation" back on March of 07 and haven't been back since. Do you happen to know if they are ever going to come back?

[Serum]

Cool to see this thread is still active;

too bad Graphite Elegance is out of business (at least, that's what it seems like) they had tough as nails carbon fibre. A pain to machine, but a dream in terms of strength indeed. That angle is a one of a kind.

where do you use all that CF for modman? any change you can fire up the graphite elegance business again?

[Mod Man]

I manufacture high end RC helis and upgrades for other helis (side business).

Now I order from DA Graphite. Dave is a great guy. His CF looks alot nicer than Graphite Elegance, but is a small bit softer. Graphite Elegence uses surplus graphite from Boeing corporation (the owner of Graphite Elegence works for Boeing and buys it from them). So it is industrial strength, purely structural, all woven CF. DA Graphite makes very high gloss finish CF that is woven on the surface for a high gloss finish. It is still very good CF (and very flat), but a tiny bit more flexible than the Boeing CF.

If I am thinking correctly, a 18X24 inch panel of 3mm thick CF is $150 or so from DA. 2mm is roughly $120 for the same 3 square feet. Their prices may have shifted a touch. But, I seem to remember that is roughly their pricing.

You could also contact Kinetic Composites Inc (KCI). Their prices are by far the lowest out there, but their customer service SUCKS! and their wait time is huge, like 8 weeks or some insane thing. I used to order from them if I needed a large amount of CF and was willing to wait. But, it is almost not worth the hassle when you could go with Dave from DA. He is a really great guy.

Oh, do not EVER order from Dragon Plate. Holy cow their prices are insane! Its like $50 for a 4X8 inch piece! Boy, someone is making a killing on their CF!

Sorry for the long winded post. But, I get passionate about CF!

[Mod Man]

Originally Posted by jhautz

I have ordered quite a bit of CF from them is well. They offered an excellent product for a very fair price and I wish I could get more. The CF angle stock they sold was a great product and its hard to find anywhere else.

I wish they were still selling. It appears they are out of business now. They went "on vacation" back on March of 07 and haven't been back since. Do you happen to know if they are ever going to come back?

Hey, I am up in McHenry. Where are you located? Do you ever shop at Venture Hobbies?

[Serum]

You think you can hook us up with DA graphite?

Their prices sound fair to me; are they able to make L profiles too?

[Mod Man]

http://www.da-graphite.com/company.html

Dave is willing to try new things. He makes a custom 7mm thick CF/plywood laminate panel to my specs for me. He may be willing to do an L channel.

[Mod Man]

Oh, word to the wise, do NOT call Dave. Contact him via email only. If you call, he will literally talk your ear off! You will not be able to get off the phone with him.

[jhautz]

Originally Posted by Mod Man

Hey, I am up in McHenry. Where are you located? Do you ever shop at Venture Hobbies?

I live down in the Loop in Chicago, but Ventrure Hobbies is located somewhat near my office and I do gt there ocationally. Although I tend to get to Al's in Elmhurst more often.

Do you know of anywhere else that ells the CF angles. I found some at www.robotcombat.com but I am looking for 2" wide legs at least on one side. Plus when I order from them they forever to ship. And like you said, I dont think their CF is as good as the stuff from Graphiteelegance was.

COme spring we shoud get together and do some running. I'd love to see some of your projects. Especially that high speed car of yours.

[Mod Man]

Sounds cool.

Hmm, DA might do the angles. But, I am not sure. If he knew there was a good market for them, he would do it. Heck, I can email him and ask. I know him pretty well. I would even be willing to stock it with the rest of my inventory if he is willing to make it. Then I could sell it in small pieces if needed.

Sure we could get together some time. I have a number of projects going on (brushless hydro, crawler, a couple 1/10 scale cars, my top speed car, a recumbent E-bike, a one off TXT axle truck and a couple helis). However, there are never more than two or three that are together and runnng at any one time.

Oh, I am also constantly upgrading my shop. I am upgrading my CNC to 4 axis along with a new computer and new software. I am in the process of installing a trunion table for 5 axis on my manual Taig mill, and I am making my own heads for my mills. My CNC currently boasts a AXI outrunner driven by a 24 volt power supply through an HV110 controlled by a Astro Flight servo tester.

Waayyyy too many projects!

[Mod Man]

I sent an email to Dave asking for 2.5mm thick CF angle that is 2 inches wide.

I will let you know what he says.

[jhautz]

That would be awesome if you could get it. I typically only need 2-3ft at a time when I buy it which makes it even more difficult to find. I did find a couple places that were willing to make it for me but the minimum orders thay wanted was always way more than I could use and made it so expensive I couldnt justify buying it.

[Mod Man]

DA just got back to me. They said they are willing to do it. But, they need to make a tool for it. So, they asked how much I wanted to start with. I told them that 2 foot lengths would be good but even 1 foot lengths would be acceptable. I told them I would start with 10 to 20 feet of it depending on cost per foot.

If they get back to me and want to do it, but need a larger minimum order, who would like some? I could pay them for the order in full. Then I could take each person at their word as to how much they want and sell them pieces out of my own inventory.

How does that sound? Who would want some?

Maybe I should start a new thread on this?

Let me know.

[jhautz]

I'm in for 3 feet or so, provided the cost is semi reasonable. Let me know the cost via PM when you know what it is.

What size are you looking at. a 2x2? 2x1 is also a good versatile size.

[jhautz]

You should for sure start an thread on this rather than cloging up this thread with CF talk.