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Topic: Lap Steel Guitar Made From Carbon Fiber 1/2 |
Brian Henry
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Posted 10 Feb 2014 4:58 pm |
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I know it's expensive, $. 600.00 for a piece of carbon fiber 30" x 8" X 1/2" but does anyone know if that thickness would flex with approximately 200 lbs pressure?
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LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN GEORGIA |
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Len Amaral
From:
Rehoboth,MA 02769
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Posted 10 Feb 2014 5:29 pm
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| The safest approach would be contacting the manufacturer for specs and details on the material. However, there are guitar necks made from this material as well as graphite and it is very stable and not subject to ambient conditions. |
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Dom Franco
From:
Beaverton, OR, 97007
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Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 10 Feb 2014 6:14 pm
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You might try Hans at Haula carbon fiber guitars. He made a few prototypes for Ben Harper & others but I don't think he ever went into full production. Don't know if this email is still good but you can try.
hans@jahr.com.au
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Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Brian Henry
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Posted 11 Feb 2014 2:55 am
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Hi Dom, I am thinking of making a lightweight lap steel and am wondering if carbon fiber 1/2" thick would flex when tuned up to e9th with 10 strings.
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LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN GEORGIA |
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George Piburn
From:
The Land of Enchantment New Mexico
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Posted 11 Feb 2014 8:28 am Do you enjoy Life?
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So far as the Deflection aspect , most likely it will not hold up for your proposed project. If you combine a perpendicular attached similar to a front skirt on a pedal steel body it will strengthen the over all deflection aspect tremendously.
Another Consideration --- Investing into a everything proof work suit and 1 micron respirator devise as well as a 1 micron air filtering set up for your work area, as well as any other precautions to prevent the debris from escaping into your living environment and that of your neighbors.
That Material is totally carcinogenic when drilled - cut - sanded - and so on. Ingestion of the tiny microscopic debris will kill you - and your family and pets - in a few years.
I worked for the loudspeaker company in the 1990's that developed the Carbon fiber Concert speakers, and assure you from experience this is true.
We looked into making steel guitar bodies in 1994 and made the wise decision to breath wood dust instead.
Basically Carbon Fiber is a light weight fiber glass with over 400 year 1/2 life. |
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Brian Henry
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Posted 11 Feb 2014 11:59 am
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Thank you George - the health danger aspect scares me. I have no intention of pursuing it.
Regards,
Brian
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LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN GEORGIA
Last edited by Brian Henry on 11 Feb 2014 2:07 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jim Pitman
From:
Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA
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Posted 11 Feb 2014 12:50 pm
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Not to rob the thread but have you considered laminated bamboo?
It is one of the stiffest natural materials.
I think you would have to split a large culm along it's radius such that you end up with many 1/4" thick x 3/4" pieces, run them through a joiner or thickness planer to give them a square cross section, rather than arced, glue them together along the broad surfaces to from a board, then run the whole thing through the thickness planer again to a final 1/2" thick dimension.
It's quite easy to measure stiffness or at least compare it to another material. Support both ends, put a wight on the top and measure the deflection with a dial caliper. It would be interesting to see how it compares to hard rock maple.
Beautiful wood laminates like spalted Walnut or whatever could be laminated over the top surface for a striking natural finish. |
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Norman Evans
From:
Tennessee
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Posted 11 Feb 2014 3:54 pm
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delete
Last edited by Norman Evans on 13 Feb 2014 3:51 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Jerome Hawkes
From:
Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 11 Feb 2014 6:14 pm
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i'd love for someone to build a carbon fiber frypan clone - that would be d@mn sweet! i mean, aluminum was the 30's version of carbon fiber...or was bakelite? 
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'65 Sho-Bud D-10 Permanent • '54 Fender Dual-8 • Clinesmith T-8 • '38 Ric Bakelite • '92 Emmons D-10 Legrande II |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 11 Feb 2014 8:58 pm
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Ken Parker builds his archtop guitars using tone woods and carbon fiber. He also built his original Fly guitars using carbon fiber. They were amazingly light--the hardware may have weighed more than the guitar itself. It is a strong and stable material and used in conjunction with wood makes a killer sounding guitar.
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Links to streaming music, websites, YouTube: Links |
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Gary Meixner
From:
New York, USA
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Posted 12 Feb 2014 10:30 am
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Carbon fiber is remarkable stuff but it is only a part of the picture when considering materials for composite construction.
Carbon fiber is made a number of different ways from different materials. The end result is a very thin, light but exceptionally strong filament. In order for it be of much use at all it must be spun into larger bundles to create usable thread. It is then often woven into fabric with a wide variety patterns and weights.
Whether it is used as a filament or as a fabric it still needs to be bonded together with some sort of resin system. These resin systems vary greatly and all have different engineering properties.
The point being, there is no generic form of carbon fiber material. Depending on the carbon, the thread size, the weave and the resin system holding it all together the properties can be quite different. What might be useful for and airplane component might be totally useless as a motorcycle fender or a guitar top.
Guys like Parker and others who have used the stuff for instruments have studied the various fibers, fabrics, and resin systems and put together a composite material that fits their unique product requirements and manufacturing capabilities.
All this being said the average guy could probably make a pretty cool guitar with readily available carbon fabric and a room temperature curing epoxy resin system. The body could be shaped from basswood, like the Parker guitars, and then carbon and epoxy laid up by hand over the wood core. This kind of work is done all the time. The end result would be a very lightweight, strong, monocot structure that might sound awesome. I use to sell this stuff and would be happy to advise anyone who wanted to experiment with building a composite steel guitar.
Very best always,
Gary Meixner |
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 12 Feb 2014 7:24 pm
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Tom Snook
From:
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA
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Posted 13 Feb 2014 6:57 am
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I wonder if Rick Aiello has any molds for his "Dust Pans" that could be used to form a CF steel?
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I wanna go back to my little grass shack........ |
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