Hobbies And Interests
Industrial Looms
Most looms can be used to create functional carbon fiber, from a hand loom to an early American industrial loom to a modern computer numeric control weaving machine. However, the purpose of the carbon fiber weave is very different than other textiles, so whatever loom is used will need to be setup or chosen based on the desired weave, not the material being woven.
Weave Utility
Textile weaves are meant to be worn. They're meant to be stretched, pulled, chaffed and washed. Carbon fiber weaves just need to align the fibers' strength long enough for the weave to be cast in resin. After the weave is cast, there are fewer considerations of how fibers were aligned; the weave will affect the strength properties of the composite pieces, but the fibers will remain static.
CNC Looms
Computer numeric control or CNC technology feeds digital coordinates, often from drafting software, to machines, often to form things in two or three dimensions. CNC guidance began with machine work such as lathes, but it has spread to the textile industry, including industrial sewing and weaving machines. Mechanical looms still work every bit as well as they once did, but modern machines are capable of changing the machine setup for a new weave very quickly.
Automated Braiding
Lexus captured the attention of far more than just auto enthusiasts with their automatic braiding machine used to make a portion of their first genuine supercar, the LFA. The device Fast Company calls a "rotary weaver" almost resembles the intake blades of a turbine jet, or perhaps the spokes of a wheel. In fact, it is a loom. Only this loom is built inside a cylinder and it doesn't just weave a textile, it fabricates a car part. The new technology is more than a new step for auto makers; it's a shift in the composite manufacturing industry. Lexus' automated braiding machine is so unique, it may well evolve into a machine of its own name.