6 Amazing Facts You Didn’t Know About Carbon Fiber

You thought you know everything about carbon fiber that you need to think again. There are more to know about carbon fiber that can definitely catch your interest and appreciation.

1. There is more than one kind of carbon fiber

Here is the real deal, carbon fiber actually has two kinds, it can either be continuous, these are a raw thread or sheet fiber and the other one which is short-tow fiber that can either be clumps of chopped or sheets, this is very-short length type of fiber.

Carbon fiber that is in continuous sheets or some they called plies are most of the time wide and they are coming wrapped around on giant spools. They are used on wider surfaces like bike frames car hoods etc.

On the other hand, short-tow fiber or chopped fiber is commonly used on narrow surfaces like pedal bodies on bikes etc.

2. Carbon fiber can be woven into a fabric

The strands of carbon fiber can be woven to produce a fabric. This is commonly used to a different office and home appliances and sometimes clothing like gloves etc. The ability to customized and use only as much carbon fiber material is the main purpose why weaving of carbon fiber is being considered by some.

3. The carbon itself is a blend

Pure carbon fiber can be a bit pricey, thus blending the carbon to different materials can make it more affordable yet can provide you with almost the same benefits as what the pure carbon fiber can give.  Carbon can be blended with different materials through different processes to keep the benefits of carbon fiber intact. Materials like plastic, glass can be blended well to carbon.

4. Carbon fiber has the potential to replace steel

Yes, it can. The characteristic of carbon fiber, 5 times stronger than steel, double the stiffness, and a whole lot lighter is what made carbon fiber a choice for race car bodies and bicycles than steel. You would never think twice knowing the advantages of carbon fiber versus steel.

5. Yes, carbon fiber can be repaired

One of the common notions is that once a carbon fiber is torn or chipped, there is no way it can be fixed, thus replacement is the only way. You may need to assess that notion again, carbon fiber just like titanium or steel frames can be fixed. There is available repair kit you can purchase in the market but it is better than you let a professional handle the fixing for you. The repair process can be cutting off the damaged area and patching them with a new material that is painted and sanded to perfectly fit and match the existing one.

6. All carbon frames are handmade

This you may be thinking otherwise. The characteristics of carbon frames can possibly make you think that they are impossible to be crafted by the hands, it is made of pure machines that are actually wrong. Carbon frames, bikes to site an example, layup are being performed and created by workers, specific areas of the bike like frames, bracket area etc., once completed, they will then pass it to the next worker assigned to finish a specific part then so on. It may seem hard, but actually, it is.

There are more to know about carbon fiber than the ones written above. The Modeling and prototyping Asia industry have been huge due to the many things that carbon fiber can provide people. It is only necessary that you take a closer look at carbon fiber benefits and see for yourself the edge of using carbon fiber than other materials available.