Laying a hull with carbon?

[360weatherbound]

I have a conoe hull and I am ready to put the carbon matting on it.

1 will it cover slight imperfections in the hull? ie slightly aggressive planer, or should I fill them first?
2 When I place it over the hull will it drape neatly enough over the bow and stern or should I plan to cut it? Perhaps a couple of v's out of either end?
3 If I do have to cut it would the sides be a better place to cut it or does it not matter. Do I need something special to cut it or is my girfreinds favorite sissors good enough.
There is going to be a deck to it, should I leave some unwetted at the shear line to wrap over or just plan to use tape? Thats 4

anything to look forward to?
Thanks

[marshmat]

Not sure what you're referring to by "carbon matting"- are you dealing with a woven cloth, a biaxial cloth.... what type of fabric are you using?

Generally speaking, it's best to keep fibres continuous, and once wet, most fabrics can stretch and distort considerably to accommodate curved shapes- you do have to make sure that the fibres remain aligned along the anticipated load paths.

Don't use any tool you care about to cut carbon. It's not as hard on your tools as Kevlar, but it will still dull any scissors or knives very quickly. Utility knife blades are great, as are large quantities of sturdy, re-sharpenable scissors.

It's pretty much impossible to leave a dry flap hanging down from a wet layup- some resin will inevitably find its way there. Trimming, then taping, works just fine for many situations.

Without knowing more about your hull and materials, it's hard to be any more specific.

[360weatherbound]

Its woven cloth and the hull is a canoe.
razor knife it is.

[Herman]

1 will it cover slight imperfections in the hull? ie slightly aggressive planer, or should I fill them first?

Fair out and putty the imperfections of the core, while you can. Otherwise you run the risk of sanding in your carbon material afterwards.

2 When I place it over the hull will it drape neatly enough over the bow and stern or should I plan to cut it? Perhaps a couple of v's out of either end?

Depends totally on the weave style of your carbon cloth or knitted material. Plain weave cloth is not drapable, twill is.
Biax 0/90, triax and quadrax are not drapable, biax +/-45 is. (although this also depends on the stitching)
If you need to cut, then make some overlaps over the bow area.

3 If I do have to cut it would the sides be a better place to cut it or does it not matter. Do I need something special to cut it or is my girfreinds favorite sissors good enough.

It is very hard to determine where to cut, without a picture.

If you want to enjoy the "facilities" your girlfriend offers, I would settle for an own set of scissors, which you will keep with your laminating equipment. Cheap scissors usually are good enough, but make sure they are sharp. Micro-serrated shears are great, but need care when re-sharpening them.

There is going to be a deck to it, should I leave some unwetted at the shear line to wrap over or just plan to use tape? Thats 4

Impregnate what you can, then tape the deck to it later. While you can, you can make a slight recess approx the thickness of the taping, along your sheer line, so when everything is taped together, things are still nice and fair, and need minimal amounts of putty and fairing.

[360weatherbound]

I am not sure what material I have. It is looks like strait vertice and horizontal weeves about a 1/16" wide. 5oz cloth.
I have the scissors, am going to leave about an inch from the hull edge, and I hope it covers those slight imperfections cause I am tired of sanding.
Thanks for the info

[Herman]

You are just about to begin sanding... Make sure you have the right equipment for sanding. A good sander, which does not make too much noise, and good quality paper.

For larger structures, I can recommend the Mika Ceros sander. Works on 22 volts through a convertor, low noise, high power due to high amps rating.

For smaller areas, a small rectangular sander will do. Also get a good dust extractor.