I have just acquired some CF "rope" from a new friend in our club. I'm also repairing a 4-star which has major cracks in the fuselage. I wanted to know whether using the CF chopped down to roughly a 1/4" length, mixed with 30' epoxy, would be a good approach to strengthening breaks which follow along the edge of a former? I would apply it as a fillet.

I'm guessing that FG cloth would make more sense over a wider flat area, yes?

Are there any guidelines to the amounts of fiber/resin for something like this too?

Is there a general how-to somewhere or a thread which speaks about various ways to repair things? Each thread in this forum that I have seen is nice for a very specific topic, but I am hoping to find something broader in scope...

Thanks!


Kenward

That's usually referred to as carbon "tow".

Chopping up fibers and mixing them with resin is not a very good way to acquire a lightweight repair. The mixture will become unusably thick and blotchy long before you get an efficient resin to fiber ratio (I've used fiberglass in a similar fashion it in the past to make large thick parts - it works well as long as light-weight isn't important). You are better off using a fine woven or mat cloth with resin to perform a repair like that.

Thanks, Jake. That makes sense.

I need some lighter cloth. Time to head to the hobby store...


Kenward