Fun With Carbon Fiber

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Made a carbon fiber single tank backplate. Mares XR Wing doesn't fit it like I had hoped (they only have two tank slots, I wanted a single center one)

Fun project none the less, save a dive cf wrench cut outs on the side.

I really like the concept of the "save a dive wrench cut outs", that's pretty awesome and great thinking! My initial concern with that on a CF plate is whether or not the CF can tolerate actually using the slots to tighten/loosen nuts and bolts.... I'm not an engineer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express, and from my past experiences, Fiberglass and Carbon Fiber do not take forces on the Edge very well.... Maybe it could handle more abrasion and abuse if the edges were built up with extra resin, but again, I think it would still fracture, allowing water intrusion and de-lam.
 
I really like the concept of the "save a dive wrench cut outs", that's pretty awesome and great thinking! My initial concern with that on a CF plate is whether or not the CF can tolerate actually using the slots to tighten/loosen nuts and bolts.... I'm not an engineer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express, and from my past experiences, Fiberglass and Carbon Fiber do not take forces on the Edge very well.... Maybe it could handle more abrasion and abuse if the edges were built up with extra resin, but again, I think it would still fracture, allowing water intrusion and de-lam.
You're totally correct in your assertion of that not being a friendly was to apply force to carbon.

Would be a perfect application for some TiGr, but that would require doing a custom layup for the interlaminary titanium
 
You're totally correct in your assertion of that not being a friendly was to apply force to carbon.

Would be a perfect application for some TiGr, but that would require doing a custom layup for the interlaminary titanium

@mrarmyant

This idea has me wondering if I would be able to add such a feature on my SS plate when it arrives... I'm not 100% sure of it's thickness yet, but it's on the lighter side of SS plates.... (but no cut-outs). I'm thinking I could replicate the plate in Solidworks and add the cut-outs for the wrench ends and run it over to my local laser cutter.... I'm just not sure if his machine will be able to accurately index the pre-existing plate and do only the cuts..... Maybe machining could be a better option...

Although I can see some pretty major benefits of this feature, I can also imagine seeing myself (or someone else) trying to man-handle their whole backplate/wing trying to loosen a bolt... pretty funny mental image LOL. :rofl3:
But I think it would be supremely helpful in those Oh Crap situations where you need to swap a hose or something quickly... :thumb:
 
They will def wear out, and un reinforced they were totally just save a dive. They make a small desktop waterjet now. I would use something like the to cut some stainless steel peices to pop rivet around the wrench to take the load.

Regulators and such arent held on with a lot of force (measured more in in/lbs not ft/lbs) And these are save a dive wrenches, not normal use, tho in stainless steel they would likely hold up a bit better. I've tried it on just the bare cf on my ancient scuba pro reg and it worked like a champ. The side on the first stage might be a bit more of a problem. Also, if it were stainless and seen more sacrificial, I'd be willing to sacrifice that area of the backplate to save a dive after flying 30 hours to say Thailand.

If you take it to a machine shop they are for sure capable but it will likely cost more (call around, should be less than 60 and hour for about an hour and a setup fee, but if they here SCUBA or something else they will likely tell you they don't do it or it's hobbyist or some other stupid thing.

Lastly, for the manhandling, with the bp/w off of the tank the wing just folds behind it and reg slides in, its really much easier and less awkward than it would seem. If wanted I can put the mares backplate on and do a demo.

Side note make sure whatever wing you get has strap slots that match the backplate -.- dangit Mares. And your 300 dollar wing. (great wing by though, the most streamline I could find on the market) Anyway, to all the big guys out there there is a provisional on this :p

How many people need gear like this modified? I've been considering a waterjet for a while and if there is a need I might spring for one. Custom stainless triglides and other mounting points would all open up.

@mrarmyant

This idea has me wondering if I would be able to add such a feature on my SS plate when it arrives... I'm not 100% sure of it's thickness yet, but it's on the lighter side of SS plates.... (but no cut-outs). I'm thinking I could replicate the plate in Solidworks and add the cut-outs for the wrench ends and run it over to my local laser cutter.... I'm just not sure if his machine will be able to accurately index the pre-existing plate and do only the cuts..... Maybe machining could be a better option...

Although I can see some pretty major benefits of this feature, I can also imagine seeing myself (or someone else) trying to man-handle their whole backplate/wing trying to loosen a bolt... pretty funny mental image LOL. :rofl3:
But I think it would be supremely helpful in those Oh Crap situations where you need to swap a hose or something quickly... :thumb:
 
If you take it to a machine shop they are for sure capable but it will likely cost more (call around, should be less than 60 and hour for about an hour and a setup fee, but if they here SCUBA or something else they will likely tell you they don't do it or it's hobbyist or some other stupid thing.
A good way around this is to post on the rfq section at cnczone.com. Lots of machine shops with down time that want to fill their schedule with little jobs. I have gotten amazing prices on short run parts that way before.
 
Regulators and such arent held on with a lot of force (measured more in in/lbs not ft/lbs) And these are save a dive wrenches, not normal use, tho in stainless steel they would likely hold up a bit better. I've tried it on just the bare cf on my ancient scuba pro reg and it worked like a champ. The side on the first stage might be a bit more of a problem. Also, if it were stainless and seen more sacrificial, I'd be willing to sacrifice that area of the backplate to save a dive after flying 30 hours to say Thailand.
[...]
Lastly, for the manhandling, with the bp/w off of the tank the wing just folds behind it and reg slides in, its really much easier and less awkward than it would seem. If wanted I can put the mares backplate on and do a demo.

Yeah totally... For the save a dive aspect, I think it's totally rad; it's a great idea and solution. Regs, hoses, and the such are perfectly suited for this application, as they use so little torque...

The manhandling part was just tongue-in-cheek....LOL.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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