Carbon fiber roll wrapping to make Carbony Celtic Winds musical instruments

2. Carbon fiber roll wrapping to make Carbony Celtic Winds musical instruments

At Real Carbon we make a lot of carbon tubes for our customer Pipe Makers Union.

We use a very common and efficient process call roll wrapping.

We asked Microsoft Copilot to describe this process:

Roll wrapping carbon fiber onto a mandrel is a precise process used to create high-strength carbon fiber tubes.

Prepare the Mandrel: Start with a metal mandrel of the correct diameter for the tube you want to create. The mandrel should be clean and smooth. Apply a high-temperature chemical release agent to ensure easy removal of the tube after curing.
Prepreg Carbon Fiber: Use prepreg carbon fiber, which is pre-impregnated with resin. This material offers precision and ease of handling. The layup can be adjusted to optimize the tube’s performance for specific uses by altering the orientation and number of layers.
Wrap the Mandrel: Wrap the prepreg carbon fiber tightly around the mandrel. Ensure the layers are applied evenly and with the desired orientation.
Apply Shrink Tape: Once the carbon fiber is wrapped, tightly wrap the reinforcement with composite shrink tape. This tape provides further consolidation and pressure during curing. Overlap the tape significantly to ensure maximum consolidation pressure.
Cure the Tube: Place the wrapped mandrel in an oven to cure the carbon fiber. The curing process solidifies the resin, forming a strong, rigid tube.
Remove the Mandrel: After curing, carefully remove the mandrel from the tube. The release agent applied earlier helps in this step.

This process is widely used in composite manufacturing to produce bespoke carbon fiber tubes with high strength and specific dimensions.