3 ms·

I haven't really seen this to be the case personally. For a 1/32 thickness 12" x 12" sheet of carbon fiber, it is 35 dollars. This is actually this company's c

I haven't really seen this to be the case personally. For a 1/32 thickness 12" x 12" sheet of carbon fiber, it is 35 dollars. This is actually this company's cheapest carbon fiber sheet too at that size. I have seen other companies charge more iirc. https://dragonplate.com/EconomyPlate-Solid-Carbon-Fiber-Sheet-1_32-x-12-x-12 https://dragonplate.com/EconomyPlate-Solid-Carbon-Fiber-Shee... Same sheet size / thickness for aluminum is 16 dollars (although I saw a shadier website selling for 12 dollars). https://www.mcmaster.com/aluminum-sheets/aluminum/multipurpose-6061-aluminum-sheets-and-bars-7/ https://www.mcmaster.com/aluminum-sheets/aluminum/multipurpo... Now for cubesat grade stuff you might want something better than what I linked, but still its a good illustration of the price difference. That is over half the price. I think the prices are maybe closer than in the past, but there is still a significant difference.

Ephil012 4y ago
I should note though that due to the strength differences this analysis may not be complete. Technically carbon fiber is stronger so you can get away with a thinner sheet while having similar strength. Using a thinner sheet might save on carbon fiber costs. However, I still believe this analysis illustrates the significant cost difference.
walrus01 4y ago
carbon fiber doesn't come in big billet chunks that you can cnc machine into any shape you want. you either need to fabricate something from pieces of carbon fiber plate (which is available in up to 1cm thicknesses) held together with adhesives and fasteners, or custom-form a carbon fiber piece from your own custom mold, such as if making a carbon fiber road bicycle frame, which has huge upfront costs and is only economical if you intend to sell thousands of units.
- Ephil012 4y ago
  Yeah that is true as well. I talked about this a bit in another comment I made about how much easier aluminum is to work with. The thing is even for the raw sheets it’s still very pricey compared to aluminum which is pretty good at illustrating the price difference. Once you look at molding them into the shape you want the price only goes up.
nl 4y ago
Say it's maybe $200 for carbon fibre vs $50 for Al (the difference isn't that great but being generous). Either way the raw material price is going to be dwarfed by the labour cost building the enclosure, which are also immaterial in your $50-100k budget.

Ephil012 4y ago

I should note though that due to the strength differences this analysis may not be complete. Technically carbon fiber is stronger so you can get away with a thinner sheet while having similar strength. Using a thinner sheet might save on carbon fiber costs. However, I still believe this analysis illustrates the significant cost difference.

walrus01 4y ago

carbon fiber doesn't come in big billet chunks that you can cnc machine into any shape you want. you either need to fabricate something from pieces of carbon fiber plate (which is available in up to 1cm thicknesses) held together with adhesives and fasteners, or custom-form a carbon fiber piece from your own custom mold, such as if making a carbon fiber road bicycle frame, which has huge upfront costs and is only economical if you intend to sell thousands of units.

Ephil012 4y ago
Yeah that is true as well. I talked about this a bit in another comment I made about how much easier aluminum is to work with. The thing is even for the raw sheets it’s still very pricey compared to aluminum which is pretty good at illustrating the price difference. Once you look at molding them into the shape you want the price only goes up.

nl 4y ago

Say it's maybe $200 for carbon fibre vs $50 for Al (the difference isn't that great but being generous). Either way the raw material price is going to be dwarfed by the labour cost building the enclosure, which are also immaterial in your $50-100k budget.