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Carbon Fibering - Your Options: Films, Fabrics and the Real Deal

If you would like to give something the aesthetic appeal of carbon fiber you have quite a few options these days. In the past, your only real option was to use actual carbon which, frankly, can be quite hard to work with if all you want to do is give the look and feel.

I'm going to show you the differences in the materials and discuss briefly how you might go about using them for small hobby projects.

Option 1 - 3M Carbon Fiber Vinyl

Carbon 3M Vinyl

This stuff is lightyears beyond the vinyl of a few years ago. Back then, I purchased some "carbon fiber look" film and it was pretty pathetic. Just alternating gray/black squares with no dimension of reality. The latest stuff from 3M though is actually quite impressive. This time around the film has actual dimensions to the "weave" and while it is still a single surface, you can see how the light catches in the pattern and it looks quite good.

Probably the biggest difference is that the 3M looks "dry" so it has a different visual quality than the normal carbon fiber you see on cars and such. The 3M doesn't have the seamless gloss finish so it looks altogether different, but I think that it's very appealing.

Installation is pretty easy, provided you aren't trying to wrap a super complex and curvy shape. Basically, all you need to do is take your object, make sure it's clean, and then cut a piece of the vinyl to size. Peel off the backing and you have a nice adhesive surface to work with, similar to scotch tape stickiness. One advantage is that the adhesive is not so strong that you can't remove the film, so if you botch it you can pretty easily pull the film right off. You can also use a hairdryer to heat the film which makes it very pliable and much easier to conform to a curve. I'd highly recommend that for any curvy surface, you plan on using heat.

Here's an example of how I used the film to wrap part of my car trim. This is a pretty curvy surface, but with a little time and heat it wrapped quite well.

Carbon Film

Option 2 - Carbon Fiber "Fabric"

Carbon "Fabric"

This stuff is pretty new. In fact, I really hadn't heard about until very recently and ordered myself some last week.

Basically it is a thin synthetic fabric backing (the solid black part) with an equally thin carbon pattern layer incorporated into it. It looks quite convincing and has some stretch to it, which will aid in the installation process. To my eye, the color I got (I believe it was described as Glossy Charcoal) looks quite close to the real thing. I think that it is slightly more realistic than the 3M vinyl but similarly does not have the seamless gloss so it still falls a bit short.

Installation methods would be similar to the vinyl product, but you'll have to supply the adhesive by using a high quality spray adhesive. The overall steps would be similar: prepare the surface, cut fabric to the rough size, spray several light coatings of adhesive and apply the fabric, stretching and smoothing as you go. This site had a good visual walkthrough of the process.

I've not used this yet for a real project, but from what I can see I think it would work quite well and could be slightly easier to work with in some respects compared to the vinyl. I think that the stretchiness would allow for a good wrap over a curved surface without the added complication of always have to juggle a hair dryer while stretching. One advantage the vinyl would have is wearability. I think that this fabric would not hold up quite as well to getting wet or being baked in the sun.

Option 3 - The Real Stuff

Real Carbon Fiber

So, here we are. Real carbon fiber. If you are trying to construct something that needs some structural strength and lightness, carbon is obviously the way to go. For use in hobby type application as an aesthetic use however, lets talk about some of the good and bad points.

Real carbon weave fabric is going to be the only real solution if you are after the classic glossy carbon look. The films and fabric simulations are pretty good, but they can't compare to the real thing if you want that depth and visual shimmer of real carbon. I won't lie to you though, real carbon is expensive to buy and really tricky to get right.

If you were just looking to cover an existing object, my suggestion would be to use it almost identically to the fabric above. At the most basic: prep, cut fabric, apply adhesive, lay down.

But, there will be some hefty additional steps in there. First would be that even a pretty tight carbon fabric is inevitably going to have some "holes" between the weave when you are done. These will small, pinhole sized holes, but you WILL be able to see the surface underneath. So, if you plan to cover a bright orange object, prepare to be putting another layer of carbon on top (which can realistically only be done with epoxy). The alternate solution is to paint the object black before applying your carbon. As you can imagine, this might add a considerable amount of work to the process depending on your project.

When you are done with the application (which I should mention will be much tricker than you might expect, as even lightweight carbon is hard to wrap sharp curves in since carbon doesn't stretch at all) you'll still need to do something to protect the surface. There's two primary choices here, either clearcoat it or use an epoxy film layer.

If you choose to paint, you'll need to do quite a lot of work. Paint is pretty thin stuff when sprayed on, so be prepared to put on a lot of layers to avoid imperfections in your surface. You'll also need to do some hand sanding in there too as you go.

Epoxy surfaces (I use West Systems epoxy in my projects) can put on a thicker layer at once and gives a very nice surface, but you have to pay close attention to things like "pot time" and curing rates or you can end up with nasty bubbles and all sorts of hassles that require more sanding and finish work. Applying sticky epoxy to really curved objects without tons of drips also can be a lot of work.

The carbon items you buy from a manufacturer are usually made with vacuum bagging process which eliminates most of those hassles and gives you that perfect gloss finish, but the average person wanting to cover an object is not going to have the tools to do that.

Comparison

Here is a pic of all 3 laid on top of each other.

Carbon All Versions

As you can see, each type has its own color cast and differences. The 3M looks a little bluer, the Fabric looks the most "normal," and the real carbon looks less dimensional because it's raw uncoated fabric. Real carbon generally needs that clearcoat to really consolidate the weave and bring the dimension out.

Of the three, the Fabric probably is the most "realistic" looking in an untreated form. It's got some dimension but has a little more richness and gloss to it than the vinyl.

Conclusion

In my opinion, if you just want to give something the look of carbon I'd go straight to the 3M film or the fabric products. Both look quite good and while I haven't 'tried it myself yet, I'd imagine that hitting it with a quality clearcoat process would get you a quite convicing simulation.

If you want to do something that is going to get hit by rain, I'd probably choose the vinyl. That has a guarantee for that type of treatment and should hold up well. The vinyl also has the advantage of being easily removable should your taste change.

For curvy things like interior panels on your car, I think that I'd try the fabric. You will just have to be ok with not being able to remove the carbon without making a big mess.

Both of those options can be purchased for a teeny fraction of what a real carbon part might cost. As en example, if I wanted to replace my car trim with a carbon version, I"d be looking at $700-1000. For about $50 and a little DIY time, I can have a visual appeal that most people will think looks just as good.

As much as I love real carbon, I can't really recommend using it for this type of project. It's just too hard to work with, requires a lot of time and products and if all you want is the look, it's not really worth it.

Bookmarks

Just a few of my most favorite sites, in no particular order.