Where can I get this stuff in the US or Canada ?

[Darren S]

I would like to cover my panel with Carbon Fiber cloth and polish it to give it a Carbon look.

Just like this dude did in this vid : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rTWaV1imzs

Carbonmods.com is in the uk somewhere. My search has lead me nowhere. Any suggestions on where I can get this stuff ?

I have big roll of carbon cloth. Do you think I can just use some of my West System's epoxy and epoxy the carbon cloth to the aluminum panel and polish that ? or do I need some special resin to be able to shine it up, as shown in the video ?

Thanks,

Darren

[lostpilot28]

I used the "carbon fiber" vinyl...I bought it for around $20 on eBay. Looks great, plus if it ever gets damaged, it's only another $20 to fix it.

[Bushcaddy]

Darren,

I bought a 1.5MM carbon fiber panel from: http://www.robotmarketplace.com/prod...iber_main.html

They do custom sizes. I overlayed my panel with this and it looks great, check it out here: http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/s...g&target=_self

I cut it to size with a dremel. A lot easier than making your own.

[SteinAir]

When we cover a panel in Carbon, we typically use dragonplate:

http://www.dragonplate.com/

They have a whole slew of various types, finishes, etc...

Some of the other suggestions are good too. I'd tend to avoid using vinyl on the panel, it's been tried and the long term results are usually not very good.

My 2 cents as usual!

Cheers,
Stein

[Darren S]

Thanks for the awesome suggestions. Much easier than what I was thinking.

Now Don, the Robotmarketplace site has a whole bunch of options for a fella to choose from. I like your panel. Which Twill option did you choose and how did you adhere it to the aluminum panel ? also where can I get that fancy in panel mount for my Garmin 496?

Mr. Stein, the vinyl option seems the easiest of all. What detrimental happens long term ? Does it lift off the aluminum, scratch easy, fade ?

Thanks for all the excellent suggestions,

Darren

[Darren S]

Any comments on the durability of the Carbon Fiber Vinyl that I could stick over my aluminum panel ? Mr. Stein commented on the long term durability. I would like to go this way but would like to know the drawbacks. Does it peel off, fade, scratch easily, does it look cheap ?

Thanks,

Darren

[Bushcaddy]

Hi Darren,

I ordered the "Black Twill", it's sort of a dark gray/black and the color changes somewhat depending on the angle you look at it. I didn't adhere it. For the most part it's held in place by the screws that hold the various instruments/electronics. Additionally I used 11 black oxide 8/32 screws around the perimeter. To make it I covered each side in painters tape, laid it flat on a table and placed the aluminum instrument panel on top of it, upside down and traced the outline. After cutting it and matching back up to the aluminum I drew a perfect horizontal and vertical line, then took all my measurements from those two lines. The tape on both sides is very important so you can see the lines you make. It didn't take long and it came out perfect.

You can get the AirGizmo 496 mount and the AirGizmo angle mount at ACS:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/...airgizmos.html