Carbon Fibre Veneer Sheet 0.25mm

This carbon veneer, although very flexible for a rigid cured composite, can only be bent around curves in one direction and thus would not be suitable to skin a complex curved part. However, we do offer kits for carbon skinning where using the raw fabric and resins, you can skin over complex shapes. You can see our range of skinning kits here: XCR Carbon Fibre Skinning Starter Kit. You will also find at the link a tutorial video that takes you through the process from start to finish.

Whether or not cut edges would benefit from sealing really comes down to the application and environment where the sheet will be used, specifically, we're really talking about prolonged or permanent exposure to liquids like water, chemicals, oil etc. In an application where the cut edge of the sheet is going to be regularly or permanently exposed to liquids then it would be beneficial to seal the edge to prevent water ingress which, over enough time, can travel down the fibres and cause delamination.

Based on the above, if edge sealing is deemed advantageous then it's best done using some epoxy resin which should be mixed (according to its accompanying instructions) and either be brushed or smeared on the cut edge, or the cut edge dipped in it. Although it's by no means critical, a particularly suitable resin would be our XCR Epoxy Coating Resin.

Good question! The 0.25mm sheet is thin enough to be cut with scissors/shears but they do need to be sharp and provide a reasonable amount of leverage and providing this is the case, you wouldn't expect to see any noticeable cracking or chipping. Alternatives to scissors or shears would be a hacksaw (a metal blade with fine teeth or a gritted blade, like one you'd use for tile cutting would work well) or you can use things like a rotary cutting disk in a tool like a Dremel, but all of these are probably overkill for the 0.25mm sheet. In all cases, the edge can be smoothed and refined very quickly and easily using a bit of abrasive paper.

Compared to a properly bonded surface, the 3M adhesive would not be as strong. Most structural adhesives are stronger than the carbon itself, which for cosmetic applications is stronger than necessary. Hence the 3M adhesive offers an easy and convenient method of application for most cosmetic uses.

The sheet has a high level of UV resistance, but in common with all epoxy based composites, is not fully UV stable. It depends on the environment and UV exposure but eventually the sheet will show yellowing. You can spray it with a UV stable lacquer to get more protection should you wish.

The radius depends how it is being loaded, however, in practice, a radius less than around 30mm is likely to lead to the carbon fibre cracking and failing.

The 3M backing has a thickness of 0.13mm. 

The sheet cannot be bent with heat. The epoxy resin is a thermoset resin so is unable to be softened with heat.