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Are there food safe epoxies that could be used?

That is crazy. That's way more complex than I ever imagined bats could be! Seems like softball bats in some regards are considerably more technical than baseball/hardball bats 😄

Hey Dan, Welcome to Composites Community! Some of that is certainly cosmetic, but there also appears to be some structural damage. You might want to contact Louisville Slugger and see if there's anything they can do to help you out. That sure is one expensive bat, and it's at least worth asking 🙂

I totally missed this one but it's way too cool and crazy to pass up! Red Bull put together a floating skate/BMX park made out of composites suspended beneath a hot air balloon: That's big NOPE for me, but maybe some of you would give it a shot?

Welcome @Monica! Great to have you onboard and active in the community! We're working on some new ideas for the community. It'd be great to get your input!

Hey @David, welcome to Composites Community! That looks like it might be 12K 2x2 Twill which you can find here at Rock West Composites. Carbon Fiber Repair can be repaired. But getting it to look right can be next to impossible. Most of the people that do repair on carbon fiber bikes (for example), repair the CF structurally and paint over it. A repair option for you might be to repair it structurally, and do that. Another option is to rough it, and skin it with a piece of carbon fiber, or do a CF vinyl wrap over the repair. Others like @John Kimball and @Adam C might have more input/ideas. Sorry to hear you're having difficulty sourcing the parts you need!

Hey Isaiah, Much of this is going to depend on the design of the chair. You could use FEA software to get a good idea of whether or not this will hold up, but I'd put my money on yes 😄 @John Kimball may have more detailed technical input!

Good to know @Annabelle! We just want to keep everyone safe 🙂 When/if you do buy some carbon fiber please be sure to grab it somewhere reputable. Some of carbon fiber out there isn't the best quality.

It would absolutely take an extensive investment of time and financial resources@Mongo. Big names are just starting to get into composites where it makes sense. The bigger move currently lies in adhesives and bonding. As of now, composites are typically reserved for race cars, exotic sports cars, and motorcycles. Headway is certainly being made on bringing composites mainstream though!

Are you referring to bladders? Do you have a link to the video you're referring to?

Hey @brad! Welcome to Composites Community! Do the aluminum landing nets not cut it? The nets I've used are already pretty darn light! Granted, I haven't used one THAT BIG before. Carbon fiber will usually save you about half the weight. The cost goes up quite a bit though! The best thing to do first would be to ensure the cost moving to CF doesn't make it too expensive for your target market. You can get some quick approximate prices for manufacturing from places like Alibaba, then factor in domestic manufacturing and that CF is about 10x the cost of aluminum. If that all checks out, get a drawing or model over to Rock West Composites for a quote. Hope this is helpful 👍

Welcome! Great to have you here 🙂

This sounds like a super cool project! What about something like a large Instapak bag, or doing multiple small bags? I'll think on this some more, but if you were going the foam route and concerned about an exothermic reaction, you may be able to use some sort of heatproof blanket 👍

Hey @Mongo, that basically means working with your existing resources/knowhow vs acquiring outside resources/knowledge 🙂

Welcome to Composites Community @Mongo! So great to have you here 👍 Have you or do you plan on going to school for engineering? Or is this something that you plan on bootstrapping?

This looks awesome @Adam! What are you making next? 🙂

There's a pretty cool Carbon Fibey Key Holder/Organizer for just $9.99 on Amazon!

You just want to sand, paint, then polish. There's a good video below:

Hi @Riley Baker, welcome to Composites Community! I'd clearcoat over the tubing if you're going for a super high-quality finish. I'd highly recommend an automotive grade paint like this 2K Clear Coat from SprayMax. Though it's more expensive than the clearcoat you'd find at Home Depot, you're going to get much better results. You are going to want to wear a respirator with this as it's quite a bit more potent that your typical spray paint. Harbor Freight has pretty good prices on respirator masks if you need one. In fact, that reminds me that I need to pick one up myself. Here's a video overview of the SprayMax 2K Clear Coat Spray Paint: Hope this helps 👍

It'd be great to get some pictures and text detailing your process! We've got a Composite Projects section of the forum you're welcome to post in 😀

It looks as though only one of your pictures showed up. Could you try editing the post and attaching them again?

Hi @AVA, Welcome to Composites Community! I believe the best approach would be to lay all of this up at once utilizing pieces that are a bit bigger than your required dimensions. Then you can cut and plane it to your required dimensions. @Adam C might have some additional input. What are making? This sounds interesting!

Is this going to be a one-off, or something you'd like to produce for sale? To get this off the ground you're going to need a design to get your hardware, joints, tube quantities and sizes down. Sketches work, drawings/CAD files are better. As for tube type, you're more than likely going to want to go with a standard modulus square carbon fiber tube. If you're shooting for an ultra-high-end shelter, I'd use CF Nylon/PETG, CNC aluminum, or 3D printed titanium joints 😀

Hi @Matt, welcome to Composites Community! Are you trying to replace the legs of an existing shelter or create a custom product?

You can grab Carbon Fiber ❤️'s at Simply Carbon Fiber. It looks like you can get an extra heart and 25% off with code VAL25! These are super cool for keychains and would make pretty sweet dog and cat tags.