Carbon Fiber Question
 

Hey there crawlerino's! I have seen alot of progects using carbon fiber and wouldn't mind starting a couple myself. All the other progects i have seen involve carbon fiber plates(chassis, servo mounts and such) yet I have not seen the stuff threaded or tapped. So the question remains.... can carbon fiber be tapped or threaded?

Drilled and tapped, yes
Threaded (like bar stock) don't know

Chuck

Thanks for the information. I am now half way there. Have you or anyone else tried to tap CF rod? say anywhere from 4-6mm.?

The CF rod
 

You can tap the rod but it is not strong enough for any side loads. The stuff is stiff but it shatters and will split if it gets hit hard. It may work fine with a much larger dia. rod. Sheets can be drilled and tapped but it also needs reinforcement , like a panel nut or blind nut. Good luck.

thanks motorman. The rod won't be seeing any side load. It's for chassis reinforcement on my micro dt. I was thinking maybe I should put a clamp on the rod when I tap it just in case it wants to split. Anyway, thanks for the input guys!

I have seen people take arrow shafts, since they are hollow, and stick threaded rod in them. That way you get the "looks..." of CF but no worries about threads pulling out. CF seems sortof harsh sounding on taps :x

CF links are generally made by gluing aluminum inserts into the rod. They're threaded for 8/32 all-thread. Running all thread through the entire tube would be really heavy.

Any taping of carbon rod usually involves gluing a aluminum band (sleeve)around the outside diamater of the rod to prevent spliting.And after the rod is taped the threaded insert is glued into the rod.This proves to be very strong. "thumbsup"

I would just glue set screws into CF arrow rod/ tube.

It depends on the type of CF tube. Arrow shaft is mostly spiral wrapped and is less likely to split. Most of the CF tubes at the LHS are unidirectional, meaning all the fibers run the length and are guarenteed to split.