Hey, you!
I know you came for our awesome blog post, but we have to let you in on something. Our main business is a shop that sells a ton of unique and cool lifestyle and personal accessories made with REAL carbon fiber.
If you love carbon fiber as much as we do, go explore!
When you think of carbon fiber, you normally think of plain weave and twill weave patterns as you see below:
Fibre Glast is a company that specializes in composite materials and supplies since 1957. When they contacted us to show off their new line of patterned carbon fiber fabric we were blown away by uniqueness and knew we had to share them with our readers. They have released 6 new patterns that we'll go over which are unlike anything you've seen before (aside from one of them). The patterns are created using weaving techniques in the same carbon fiber fabric that you're already used to. Before getting into each one, note that Fibre Glast has put together a little sample pack with 12"x12" sheets of each of the 6 patterns. It's just $20 and I highly recommend getting a pack to see these in person as the pictures really don't do justice. Note that all the products with the new patterns are 20% off through the end of this month (Feb 2011), head over here to check out what they have to offer.
When you get a sample pack, this is what you'll get:
So lets go through these new patterns one-by-one:
Rook
The rook, named after a chess piece, reminds you of a chessboard depending on the angle of light you're looking at. I see either the chessboard or a larger diamond grid with a smaller square inside of each other. When you see the grid, it gives off a very three-dimensional appearance, as if the blocks are almost popping out of the fabric.
Official Specs: 3k, 12x12, 5.7 oz/yd², 50" wide, .014" thick
Click here to learn more and buy some.
Grandmaster
From an aesthetic appearance, the Grandmaster is my favorite, but also the one that's not exactly new or unique. The best way to describe the Grandmaster is by picturing a normal plain weave and zooming it in. Essentially, it's a regular piece of carbon fiber with a really large weave, making for an extraordinary look. The dry fabric is fairly stiff so it will be a little harder to work with, but the effort should be worth the results.
Official Specs: 12k, 10x10, 19.2 oz/yd², 50" wide, .03" thick
Click here to learn more and buy some.
Wasp
The Wasp pattern is like taking a mixture of twill and plain weave, and then putting a honeycomb pattern within those. The pattern comes off as almost a reptile skin which would be an interesting look for the application you're using it on.
Official Specs: 3k, 12x18, 7.3 oz/yd², 50" wide, .016" thick
Click here to learn more and buy some.
Labyrinth
The labyrinth is definitely the "funkiest" off the patterns with an almost chaotic pattern that has definition. This pattern seems to be the lightest fabric of the bunch, most likely making it the easiest to work with when conforming to curves.
Official Specs: 3k, 12x12, 5.7 oz/yd², 50" wide, .014" thick
Click here to learn more and buy some.
Atomic
The atomic pattern is really defined diamonds within diamonds within diamonds. I would most like to see this one laminated as I believe it would really pop between the differences in contrast with light shifts.
Official Specs: 3k, 12x12, 5.7 oz/yd², 50" wide, .014" thick
Click here to learn more and buy some.
Roswell
At certain angles this patterns almost looks like little spaceships...or hamburgers, which fits the Roswell name well. There is a mixture of different shapes, patterns and angles, giving an extremely unique and different look that is sure to stand out amongst the crowd.
Official Specs: 3k, 12x12, 5.7 oz/yd², 50" wide, .014" thick
Click here to learn more and buy some.
There is one major problem with these patterns, nobody has really made anything with them yet! So I challenge you to get one or more of these patterns, make something out of it, and submit your pictures to us. Fibre Glast is running a promotion for 20% off any of these patterns through the end of this month (Feb 2011), so it's a great opportunity to experiment and see what you can come up with. For those of you doing consumer products like a lot of the stuff we sell here at CFG, these open up a whole new potential of uniquely styled carbon fiber products. How about you guys with cars or motorcycles you put in shows...this would be a fantastic chance to stand out of the crowd before most people have seen or even heard of patterned carbon fiber. We're certainly excited to see what you can come up with.
