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carbon fiber question...

FOXROX

Turbo Monkey
Jun 23, 2007
2,120
0
hambur,nj
if i were to have a buddy of mine make a seat out of carbon fiber made from a wtb seat and put TI rails on it could i get introuble for selling them? is it worth making to save weight?
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
88,223
26,537
media blackout
well i dont really know about selling them more about getting introuble for making them
I'm still confused as to exactly what you want to do.


I don't think you could get in trouble for making them, maybe just selling them.


I could make a perfect clone of a Specialized FSR bike, and as long as I don't sell it or attempt to sell it, my understanding is that legally, they can't touch me.
 

ChrisKring

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
2,399
6
Grand Haven, MI
Assuming WTB doesn't have a patent or is not licensing someone elses patent, then yes you could make and sell it.

your not violating their trademarks because you purchased anything with the trademarked/copyrighted material on it. I do not believe that they hold any right to limit the usage of the product since you did not enter any type of limit use license when you purchased it.

Your simply taking other peoples parts and reassembling them into a different product, correct?

Also, you can not violate a patent for personal use only either. The Specialized example above is wrong. The chances of specialized enforcing their patent on an individual are low since the risk of detection are remote at best. That said, if you copied one of their patented designs and posted pictures on ridemonkey, I pretty much guarantee you will get a letter from a lawyer. I do know of several instances of that happening. Not with Specialized but with another manufacture.

Now the real question is why would you want to do that? Why not make the whole thing out of carbon? Or just buy a SDG I-Fly and be lighter.
 

FOXROX

Turbo Monkey
Jun 23, 2007
2,120
0
hambur,nj
well my buddy just started doing it, he plans to make a whole seat, but for now he is just playing around with it. i love my WTB devo seat and i think it is a perfect seat to make out of carbon... being that it is wide and still a little comfy with out padding. i would be making the rails from ti
 

Jason4

Monkey
Aug 27, 2008
338
0
Bellingham
Are you talking about making the seat out of only carbon or just replacing the plastic portion with carbon and then using the WTB padding and cover?
 

demo8razor

Monkey
Mar 31, 2008
250
0
carbon would not really be good in that application. kevlar or kevlar and an e glass would be better for a seat. carbon is stiff and light, but when it fails close to the body it is not fun.
 

ridingsupreme

Monkey
May 12, 2008
125
0
Santa Cluas lane
The only two things Carbon the I would ever put on my bike are stem spacers and a seat post.

Carbon and DH don't mix. while I'm sure to catch heat for this from techie guys I know better. Carbon blows hands down. Titanium wins :ban:
 

Sghost

Turbo Monkey
Jul 13, 2008
1,038
0
NY
Your going to use the mold/shape of a WTB seat and affix premade Ti rails to it?

Your welcome to any projects for kicks, but if you want to make money you'd be better off scrounging for the vehicle disc brake rotors.
 

demo8razor

Monkey
Mar 31, 2008
250
0
i agree that carbon and dh do not really mix well. carbon can not take a hit like aluminum can, yes it can be fixed, but not any hack can throw some epoxy on it and call it good. in a structural carbon part, different layers are situated in different ways, and that is what gives it strength, so that adds a lot more to a repair
 

FOXROX

Turbo Monkey
Jun 23, 2007
2,120
0
hambur,nj
Your going to use the mold/shape of a WTB seat and affix premade Ti rails to it?

Your welcome to any projects for kicks, but if you want to make money you'd be better off scrounging for the vehicle disc brake rotors.
i would be making the rails
 

MrPlow

Monkey
Sep 9, 2004
628
0
Toowoomba Queensland
always amazes me on how many carbon experts are out there.
But my 2c worth, change the mould slightly if you are even using one. Or are you just ripping the cover of the wtb and laying carbon over that?

My biggest concern would be mating titanium rails securely. rough them up a lot. keep em clean.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,501
1,719
Warsaw :/
The only two things Carbon the I would ever put on my bike are stem spacers and a seat post.

Carbon and DH don't mix. while I'm sure to catch heat for this from techie guys I know better. Carbon blows hands down. Titanium wins :ban:
You sire need more experiance with quality carbon parts. I know of a couple of good carbon bars that take loads of hits, same for a seat with carbon rails (or some other part) I remember weighting 90g weighed and it still lives for a lot of ppl around here. My monkey lite dh took many direct hits with rocks and trees and has some scratches and holds ok after 1.5seasons (though I will chnage it soon due to height).
If I remember correctly alutech is even selling carbon dh cranks although I can't imagine how they are holding up. Plus I think everybody will change their mind if the GT Fury will be the first gt bike since very long (or ever) that has no issues ;)
 

demo8razor

Monkey
Mar 31, 2008
250
0
yes, it can, and will not come apart when something does happen. vinylester is best, but if you are vacuum bagging or want longer work times, use epoxy with slow hardeners. kevlar is heavier though. kevlar and carbon work great together. kevlar will make the part stay together no matter what, carbon stiffens kevlar and shaves some weight. i do not do much with bike parts with kevlar and carbon or glass, but we do a lot of stuff for the military and on boats. we used to make standup jetski parts.

as time has gone on, the industries have shown fiberglass is much tougher than what was originally thought. so that is an option. but with any project like this hand laying them up you will make no money, and actually lose money per part. you can use the wtb seat as a mold, if it is plastic, that is almost a perfect mold to use as with just some pva the resins will not stick to the plastic. also to bond the rails to the composite, norton speed grip would be a good choice or lord fusor, but lord fusor takes longer to cure is white, and dries more flexible than speed grip.
 
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FOXROX

Turbo Monkey
Jun 23, 2007
2,120
0
hambur,nj
well i would be more interested in making it for my self, as i didnt realize how much carbon fiber was! so you think carbonfiber mixed with kevlar would be better?also could i make my own vacume bag? or is there something special about it ?
 

demo8razor

Monkey
Mar 31, 2008
250
0
ahh you can use any bag basically, a heavy duty trash bag, but you need a special pump which will suck air as it implies, and you also need some other stuff to absorb the extra resin the vacuum pulls from the part. for just you, i would do it just a hand lay up with minimal resin. also, since this is a seat, it is very small, that will make things harder for you, to get carbon or kevlar or even some heavier fiberglasses to make the contours that the seat probably has. can you post a picture of what you will use for a mold? and female or male mold?
 

FOXROX

Turbo Monkey
Jun 23, 2007
2,120
0
hambur,nj
ahh you can use any bag basically, a heavy duty trash bag, but you need a special pump which will suck air as it implies, and you also need some other stuff to absorb the extra resin the vacuum pulls from the part. for just you, i would do it just a hand lay up with minimal resin. also, since this is a seat, it is very small, that will make things harder for you, to get carbon or kevlar or even some heavier fiberglasses to make the contours that the seat probably has. can you post a picture of what you will use for a mold? and female or male mold?
well im thinking of just useing a seat as a mold, making another mold of both sides and bonding the two pieces of carbon togeather
 

demo8razor

Monkey
Mar 31, 2008
250
0
is the seat going to have padding? if so, then you do not need to worry about the finish of the top of it. also, instead of bonding carbon together that will have different shapes, you can do a lot of finishing work to one side if you want the natural carbon look, you can have the backside of carbon in a mold looking like it was on the smooth side of the mold with lots of clear and wet sanding.
 

MrPlow

Monkey
Sep 9, 2004
628
0
Toowoomba Queensland
Here's how I have done a seat before using a Ti Fly
carefully remove the seats covering.
Wax the plastic shell
Lay up carbon over it.
place on table with some support underneath for when you vac or it will deform.
vac.
Done.
Now you can add the covering back on if you want.