Wrapped air rifle parts

[Bajahunter]

Hello Guys,
What parts of your air rifles have you wrapped? Besides camo wraps, what else are you wrapping them with?
A few days ago I wrapped the shroud of my FX Crown with a "carbon fiber" design as I can't afford the real one yet. 

 

[bigheadted]

i wrapped mine with cheap camo tape !!

function over form for me and cheap or low low cost is my favorite !!



That carbon fiber looks great though !!

 

[sonny]

looks awesome!

 

[JCD]

That looks good in cf. I have a roll of cf wrap and some camo tape..... just cant ever convince myself to actually apply it to anything. Prob because I roll through airguns too fast.

 

[Papy_Yosh]

Nice looking wrap job you have there. No wrapping for me yet.

 

[Bigredhunter]

Here's mine Medical self stick tape

 

[DuncanHynes]

Ernest Rowe had done work to my MKI .22 and heated the shroud up. He said that caused too much discolor to his liking so wrapped it with carbon fiber tape. Win-Win.



Trigger is 9 oz and he replaced the shoddy 1st gen rod connectors to delrin.

 

[DirtyDovi]

I've been wrapping random things with 3M's high end 'carbon fiber' wrap for years.. 
In the auto industry, people just wanted it for the looks.. I installed tons of it on cars/trucks/bikes/etc.

Personally, I used to build a lot with CF, so I'd keep a roll of 'CF' wrap around just to compliment other stuff.. 
That said, the 3M brand is thick, and it also offers a lot of protection.. Like the other high end self-healing vinyl.. 
It can also be removed and reapplied relatively easily - as long is it is not heat-cured - Then it's more of a 1 time use. 

Anyways.. I still have things that were used daily, bumped around, etc. and after years, if unwrapped would still look new.

Personally - I recommend the stuff - if not just for looks but for protecting investments.

Just my $0.02 

 

Sam -

 

[ptthere]

Here is a picture of a 100% real carbon fiber tube that I bought a few weeks ago:

(EDIT: This thing is INSANELY light and rigid as hell.)

Prices for real CF have been dropping for years. This one is 3K CF, very strong. It is 15mm ID, 19mm OD, and 500mm long (just under 20". Through-and-through, it is 100% CF layered composite. And it was $20 total shipped to my door.

I measured the dimensions when it arrived. It is true to almost perfect 15mm ID which is what I wanted. Thinner-walled pieces are more common and can be had for less money for the same length.

I bought this for a barrel shroud project that I ended up changing direction on. I am still going to use it, but I am waiting to do anything with it until my other items show up so I know what my OAL is.

I am interested in the wraps to match the raw matte finish of this piece with the mod that I have arriving soon. Unfortunately, it is hard to anticipate what the wrap pattern looks like in-person when looking at it on the net. Sometimes I wish Amazon had a virtual store lol.

EDIT: Important safety tip: If machining/sanding/drilling, wear gloves and a face mask or other respiratory device. If you breathe this CF dust in, it will stay for... well, maybe forever. If you do buy a true CF tube/sleeve, and you have to machine it in any way, be prepared to nuke some tooling. If you try to cut or drill too hard, you can fracture it and not leave a clean cut or hole. Conversely, even going slow, you can leave a very clean hole, but even with a sharp titanium-nitride bit, after about 8 holes the bit will be nuked. The carbon fiber is so hard and abrasive it will tear through that coating on the bit (even on thin pieces) and dull the poop out of the drill bit fast.

 

[DirtyDovi]

Great safety info above!
Yup, CF can be some nasty stuff if inhaled [because carbon doesn't break down - it just settles and stays put]
and, splinters and deposits in the eyes / skin/ etc. is also never fun..

Keeping it taped, keeping it wet, and keeping the area clean and well ventilated is a very wise decision.. 
Some of us even use suction / vacuum very close to the project to remove as much debris / dust as possible..

Anyways.. I used to build and mod a lot of radio controlled multirotors, frames, arms, gimbals, etc. out of CF.. 

Here's a Sky Hero Little Spyder - 3K plate and 3K matte tubes [arms/legs]

I had to build a mounting plate for the retractable landing-gear, 
and I ran out of CF plate, so, I fab'd the mount out of aluminum, and wrapped it..

This is the wrapped plate - using 3M 1080 CF vinyl: 

I used to have to special order this stuff, and now it's available on Amazon. Nice..

https://www.amazon.com/3M-CFS12-BLACK-CARBON-FIBER/dp/B01N3YIGRY?th=1 

 

The tube to the left is actual 3K CF matte / semi-gloss

 
^^^ I had to bump up the exposure 
to try to get all of the "CF" to be visible w/o shadows 

The difference - Not much.. 
The 3M stuff is 3D, so looks pretty 'real', and the finish is very nice..
Of the types I've used - by itself, It's the only one I still swear by. 

I've actually top coated it in the past using Buldog adhesion promotor and PPG Clear, 
then used a flatening agent to dull down the gloss to a nice matte finish, but, that's overkill..
And for customers - Not myself..

1 last shot of the wrapped mounting plate next to the actual cf components: 

In that shot - again.. adjusted exposure, 
It looks like the wrap is a bit 'darker' than the authentic cf.. 
IMO that's not always the case and not always noticeable 

 

Sam -

 

[ptthere]

DirtyDovi, that's some real snazzy work there, that wrap really does look like the real deal.