I am tryng to cast some carbon fiber blanks for the virage kit. Using 0.5 inch carbon/fiberglass biaxial sleeves from Soller Composites. My problem is getting the carbon fiber tight enough at the ends so it doesn't come through when I turn down to the bushings. Any suggestions?
Welcome to the site Pam. Glad you found us and hope you stick around and join in.
I will show you what I use to do my casting of various blanks and I also do carbon fiber this way. I made a little stand so that I can prep multiple blanks for casting. I use Silmar41 as my casting resin and have had great success with it. I use this same resin to adhere the material to the tubes. Then I use the small tie-wraps or zip ties to secure to some rods I cut. I got the rod from Home Depot. All this is is a length of that fiberglass lanscaping markers. Some times they come with reflectors on them but you can also buy them without. I cut them up into the lengths I need to fit on my rack. I use some car wax to wax them so that the resin does not stick too well. Usually a slight twist and they snap right off when I get to trim them.
The zip ties also came from Home Depot in the electric department. I then put these on the rack as you see them and then add a few coats of resin just to avoid any bubbles latter on when I cast them. I keep rotating them for a few minutes so as to avoid any drips forming.
The next day I cut the tie wraps and take the blank off the rods. Now I use a sharp pair of tin snips and cut fairly close to the tube ends. You can see a tub resting on top of the rack that is ready for casting, all trimmed back.
I then set up my casting area and cast a whole bunch at one time.
Here is a couple copper braiding blanks cast and trimmed. Also here is a photo of the rack I made and use. Hope something in here helps and if not others will be along and jump in too. Good luck. Casting is fun.