A cured part is not yet a finished one. It still has to come off its tool, be cut to its final edge and, often, be joined to something else.
The last stages before a part leaves.Where it gets its final shape.
The laminate comes out of cure with excess material around its edges. Holes, cut-outs and mounting faces have to be added, and many parts are assemblies, built from several cured pieces bonded together.
Keeping those stages apart matters. Trimming carbon produces fine dust, and dust is the last thing you want on a surface about to be bonded, or anywhere near a lay-up in progress.
The cured part is taken off its mould in the release room. Care here protects both the part and the tool, which may be needed again.
Excess laminate is cut back to the finished edge, and holes and cut-outs are added.
A bonded joint is only as good as the surfaces it joins. Faces are abraded and cleaned so the adhesive grips the laminate itself, not a film of release agent or dust.
Parts are held in position while the adhesive cures, often in a fixture made for the job. Assemblies bigger than the 1.5 by 3 metre autoclave are built this way, as cured sections bonded together.
Release, trim and assembly each have a room of their own, separate from the cleanroom.
Anywhere a part has to fit precisely against something else.
About trimming, bonding and assembly specifically. The general ones are answered on the homepage.
It depends on the part: its size, its shape and what it has to fit against. Send us the drawing or tell us what it mates with, and we will tell you what is realistic.
A well-made bonded joint can be very strong, but its strength depends on how the joint is designed and how the surfaces are prepared. Where a joint sits and how load passes through it are decided at the design stage.
A drawing, a photograph, or just a description. Whatever you have is enough to get a price, and we reply to most enquiries the same working day.