Small voids in carbon fiber....leave 'em or fill them somehow?

[jonnymac44]

I know that it is the nature of carbon fiber to have some small voids sometimes. I finished up the handle on this knife today to 600 grit and I've got some very small but noticeable voids in the material. Does anybody have a good technique for filling these? Is it necessary? I've tried weeping super glue into them then finishing back to final grit, but I've had mixed results.

Appreciate any input....

 

[1SHOT1KILL]

Voids aside...that knife is real nice...on to the problem...have you tried using resin from CF layup to fill the holes?

 

[Alpha Knife Supply]

Voids in carbon fiber suck!

However, they are easy to fix. Use odorless superglue and accelerator to fill the voids. Odorless superglue is the key. It does not turn white when sprayed with accelerator. You can add CF dust but it is not required. If done correctly the void disappears. It should take less than 10 minutes to fill the voids shown in the photo.

1) Use compressed air to blow the dust from the void.

2) Apply a drop of superglue to the void.

3) Wait 2-3 minutes for the superglue to weep into the void.

4) Spray with accelerator.

5) Sand flush with surface.

6) If the void still exists go back to #1.

If the superglue turned white you used too much or it is not odorless.

We use this same process to fill voids in wood except we use sanding dust with the superglue.

That knife looks great Jon. :thumbup:

 

[jonnymac44]

Thanks Chuck, I'll try that. I haven't used accelerator before, so I'll have to find some.

I understand that voids are a part of using carbon fiber, but I have to say that your carbon fiber lives up to the claims. This stuff grinds very clean and has very few voids overall. I've used some from other suppliers that is like swiss cheese! I really like the stuff I got from you guys.

Thanks!

 

[DamienC]

mix up some resin with carbon fiber dust in it. Then warm it up with hair dryer till the bubbles come out. U can then use s pin or a knive tip to take a drop and put it into the pinholes u can leave that to dry or u can put a piece of clear tape over the top of it and squeeze out excess