D.I.Y Carbon Fiber Interior Door Panels?

I am seeking some feedback/advice from the Hive:  I am looking at making my own carbon fiber interior door panels for my 1971 Dodge Demon pro-touring project.  Thankfully they are flat (42"x16"), have few features so they seem pretty easy to make. 

I was just wondering how carbon fiber is to work with, what gives the cleanest long cut and how do I drill a 1" hole in it, metal hole saw, Rotozip?

I plan on backing a 1/16" (1.5mil) sheet with some sort of sound mitigation (Dynamat etc.).  Is 1/16" thick enough to remain rigid enough for 42" long run without getting wavy?

https://dragonplate.com/EconomyPlate-Solid-Carbon-Fiber-Sheet-1_16-x-48-x-48   

Why carbon fiber, I think it would be cool, add a little "neat" factor and only 25% more than the re-pop factory plastic?

Thanks in advance.

I'm not a materials expert, but carbon fiber is stiff stuff. I don't think it would get wavy, the key thing is to have it thick enough to avoid cracking.

Not sure of your budget, but if you're just doing cosmetic/interior work, you may be better off buying some mat and laying resin in it yourself. A mat of fiber that big will be like $20. You can get it on Ebay or at a materials supply place.

Whatever you do, wear a respirator and don't breathe any carbon fiber dust. Try not to release it into the environment, either.

The added weight of the Dynamat is going to cancel out any weight savings of the carbon fiber, but if it's mainly for cosmetic purposes that's fine.  I'd lay it up myself as well, instead of buying premade panels.  Do it on a big piece of glass so it will be nice and flat (for that matter, you could just get a piece of something like coroplast sheet and put a single layer of the CF on top of it.)  Note that it will probably need some sort of UV resistant clear coat to prevent it from looking crappy in a few years. 

If you lay up on glass make sure to get a release agent on there. 

It’s not really important if you using weave but if for some reason you decide to use unidirectional look into layup patterns. 

As said above, make sure to wear a respirator. Both the carbon fiber and it’s associated chemicals are toxic.  

1/16" should be rigid enough for what you're trying to accomplish. I'd throw some fender washers behind the door pull though.

Cutting:

I've generally used a toothed saw to cut sheets (bandsaw etc) with a strip of tape I cut along.

When you use something like a cutoff wheel the matrix melts a bit. It works but there's a bunch more cleanup work that has to happen.

Drilling:

Drilling isn't typically an issue with steel bits. There are special bits for carbon-fiber (brad-point drill bits), if you're going to do a bunch of the same size it might be worth the couple bucks. Again, tape over where you're going to cut to help out a bit.

I wouldn't use a hole-saw for larger holes because rotates in the same plane as the carbon fiber weave. When we drilled larger holes into the aircraft firewalls for fluid fittings, we'd just generally start the hole with a bit then use a carbide burr (Christmas tree) in an unoiled (oil will contaminate raw carbon fiber) die grinder to finish the hole to size. Again, tape with the hole template (there's a theme here) it helps with seeing your marks as well.

Safety:

Wear a respirator, carbon fiber is nasty stuff.

I've made exactly one thing from carbon fiber and that's the dash in my race car.

I cut the cloth with scissors .  Use gloves.  The fibers are sharp and annoying

Use good ventilation when doing the layup.  A paint mask is probably advisable as well.  I didn't use one but all that proves is that I got away with it without obvious debilitating damage.

Once cured it can be cut or drilled with standard metal working tools.  Again gloves and a mask are important.  I did use a dust mask when cutting and drilling.  Tiny bits of carbon fiber in the lungs can't be a good thing.

I play with C/F on my boat. If you think glassfibre can be tough to work with, C/F is worse. Because it is stronger, it is also more rigid, even when on the roll. It is not going to want to do anything approaching a hard angle.

I do not know what resin you are going to use. Epoxy, like I use on my boats, does not stick well to clear packing tape. I have used it to keep it from sticking to stuff I do not want it to adhere too.

If you use a zip wheel cover every bit of skin, or else you will feel like you are getting stabbed by needles for about a week. Found that out the hard way in fsae.

If you are just interested in the look of carbon fiber 3M makes a vinyl sheeting that comes in a roll with a peel off back and 3M adhesive. They have a few different carbon fiber patterns as well as finishes.  A web search will give you several vendor choices. Evidently they use it on dashes, moldings, etc. I have seen it and it looks pretty convincing. 

And wear gloves.  Working with that stuff will cut you to pieces.

I found the best tool for cutting CF or fiberglass objects is one of those oscillating tools with a bi-metal blade in it.  It will buzz through CF or laid-up fiberglass car body like butter.   I used a honeycomb CF panel for the firewall on a Europa, and that's what I cut it with.

Dr. Hess said:

I found the best tool for cutting CF or fiberglass objects is one of those oscillating tools with a bi-metal blade in it.

See also Bone saws, basically the oscillatig blade tools. They do make some dust but dont throw it all over the place like a rotating cut-off blade wil do.

Treat carbon more like wood than metal when considering fabrication techniques and tools. You will have to hand dress the edges of panels and holes which is when you are most likely to find those nasty carbon splinters. They tend to fester under the skin and hurt like hell. Sand-paper on a simple sanding block will knock the splintered fibers off cut edges easily. You will want to have a way to dress up cut edges, as they will still be quite sharp.

CF Firewall In Situ:

I'll second the suggestion for using a sheet of glass.  It wouldn't hurt to invest in some vacuum bags as well.  It really helps make sure there are no bubbles anywhere; especially on the face where it would be seen.

For bigger panels I use a shop vac to start and then use my A/C vacuum pump to maintain.

You'll have a mess of epoxy on the edges to clean up, but you can make quick work of it with snips and a palm sander.  Then hit the edges with some polyurethane on a rag to shine it up to match the rest.