Skid542 Introduces - Dspin Fabrication, Custom Composites

[Northwind Composites]

Hello fellow BBS members! Before I give you my sales pitch, you should know who's talking, this is Lee - Skid542.


Now that you know who I am, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce Dspin Fabrication, a division of Axis Composite Technologies.

Axis Composite Technologies is an up and coming leader in the advanced composites industry. We have a primary focus on the aerospace market. However, we have a strong secondary focus on the recreational and automotive industry, which is handled by our Dspin Fabrication division.

The company is owned and operated by three principal officers. Two have Mechanical Engineering degrees from Washington State University and the third is an Aerospace Engineer from Virginia Tech. We have a combined 10 years of experience in advanced composites design and manufacturing, and over 15 years combined in the performance automotive world. We have design and production experience on commercial and Department of Defense programs, including specialized composite certification programs for light aircraft with the FAA.

Dspin Fabrication specializes in custom and production fabrication of composite components. We have capabilities to handle all styles and scales of projects from simple flat pattern work, to custom body panels, and anything in-between. While we do have the ability to create parts with traditional wet layup techniques, we focus on advanced pre-impregrenated fabrics which are heat cured under vacuum. This allows for superiour structural characteristics in addtion to providing increased aesthetic qualities over wet layup construction where fabric weave can shift and pull. Dspin Fabrication utilizes a variety of core materials to specifically meet the structural, weight, and cost requirements of your project.

Due to our engineering and design history, we are happy to work with clients to refine their ideas and create solutions for any problem. We can work with all the standard composite materials including fiberglass, carbon, and aramid (Kevlar) fabrics. If you have special design requirements such as flammability, high temperature, abrasion, primary structure, etc, we have the ability to address your needs. Alternatively, if you have a complete design and just need it produced - we are happy to perform build-to-print work. We do have a full machine shop to provide a complete solution to your needs.

Dspin Fabrication is dedicated to on time, cost effective, and quality production. The company is currently working to obtain ISO9001 and AS9100 quality certification. The atmosphere of "Quality First" is driven from the top down ensuring your satisfaction.


Please let me know if you have any questions about the company, upcoming projects, or general composite questions. I can be reached here on the BBS, by email, or by phone.


Thank you,


Lee Skidmore
VP / Director of Engineering
lskidmore@axiscomposites.com
(208) 290-5585




** I will be placing a duplicate thread in the Vendor forum where future announcements, Q&A, and product development information will be placed. But I know many of us do not frequent the Vendor forum and wanted to make sure everyone knows about this new opportunity. I apologize in advance for the duplicate posting.

[AWD_addict]

Any plans to make a sunroof replacement panel for a 91 sedan?

[skid542]

Holy smokes, how did I miss your post?? I apologize profusely AWD Addict. Honestly, I am very sorry and please do not think this is representative of how we run the business.

I do not have an immediate plan for a sunroof replacement for a 91 sedan. However, I am finishing a sunroof replacement for a Nissan S13 tomorrow morning. Making a sunroof replacement is pretty straight forward.

To give you an idea on cost, I can sell the S13 sunroof for $130. That's for an actual carbon fiber part made with Nomex honeycomb core and heat cured resin. This results in a stronger and lighter part. To give you some actual numbers, the S13 replacement prototype weighed 17.1 oz and the production part will weigh at least 2 ounces less - the stock glass weighs 109 oz. Additionally, the resin is specially formulated for UV protection so the part does not require a clear coat to be applied for UV protection as is the case with other manufacturers. Now the catch is the tooling cost. Axis is sponsering the S13 so we absorbed the tooling cost internally. The cost for a sunroof mold is fairly low so depending on the situation and other interest - we have a few options.

Now if you are serious about this and the price range is within your ballpark, I will be happy to discuss this further with you. There are really only two questions I need to be able to answer - are there other people interested in a sunroof and is the glass the same for all 90-94 Legacy's. Again, this is a very doable item and I will be happy to talk details if you are interested.

If you are not interested in just weight savings and want the aesthetic looks of composites, currently we stock 3K 2x2 twill weave carbon and kevlar but have access to several hybrid weaves and are happy to build to your request. Again, I will be happy to discuss this in more detail with you.

[skid542]

While I'm here in the thread, and the reason I got back on the BBS (sorry I've been away, work's taken a lot of time recently...) is that I wanted to let everyone know that in the next few days I will be posting some news regarding an opportunity for a nice composite post-facelift hood. It will have a fully integral and well blended 2.5 RS hood scoop and have the option of hood vents or no hood vents - styled similar to the stock 95+ hood vents. Pricing will be in the $500-$650 range depending on what your needs are and what the final design quotes out at. I'm still working on it but I will have some firm information by week's end.

This will be an item that will get made regardless of group buys or such. The company is absorbing the tooling cost so this will not be structured like the old David Carter hoods where I will need pre-payments. That said, if your are seriously interested I would appreciate knowing so I can continue to convince my partners that this is a tool worth my time and our cost. But as I stated in the original post, Axis does not want to be in the business of managing group buys. We will either decide the market is there, or it is not, and make our products accordingly.

Let me know if you have any questions, thoughts, requests concerning the hood design. The design will be such that it does NOT require hood pins if you do not want them - though I will be able to make you a lighter part if you decide you will be using hood pins.

Thank you,

Lee

[subaru_styles]

I'd be interested in a hood. is it gonna be carbon fiber or glass?

[Northwind Composites]

Each hood is built when it is ordered. Therefore we can really build to suit your individual needs. I will be quoting out a part that is a true carbon hood, one that is just fiberglass, and one that is fiberglass with a single layer of carbon on the top. The carbon cloth is roughly three times the cost of fiberglass per sq. ft. so a full carbon hood will be more expensive but it will also be a fair bit lighter.

I have some dyed fiberglass samples on order that we will be playing with to see if we can provide an additional lower cost option for those that want the look of the carbon but are on a tighter budget - any part made with the dyed fiberglass will be advertised and sold as such though. The manufacturer's pictures indicate this might be a viable alternative but we still need to lay some up and see how it looks first hand in a cured state.

Hopefully this answered your question. If it didn't or you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Thank you.

[bmxkelowna]

for your sunruoof deletes how do you normally attach them?
my car is sitting right now with a big hole in the roof since the sun roof had to go for the cage

[evolutionmovement]

It's too bad shipping would be such a killer as I'd be interested in a FG pre facelift hood without scoops, maybe a duct behind the radiator.

[AWD_addict]

To give you an idea on cost, I can sell the S13 sunroof for $130. That's for an actual carbon fiber part made with Nomex honeycomb core and heat cured resin. This results in a stronger and lighter part. To give you some actual numbers, the S13 replacement prototype weighed 17.1 oz and the production part will weigh at least 2 ounces less - the stock glass weighs 109 oz. Additionally, the resin is specially formulated for UV protection so the part does not require a clear coat to be applied for UV protection as is the case with other manufacturers.

That's what I'm after!

Now if you are serious about this and the price range is within your ballpark, I will be happy to discuss this further with you. There are really only two questions I need to be able to answer - are there other people interested in a sunroof and is the glass the same for all 90-94 Legacy's. Again, this is a very doable item and I will be happy to talk details if you are interested.

$130 is a reasonable ballpark price. I understand that tooling costs need to be spread over many parts. Info posted here indicates all the sedan sunroofs were the same. Wagons might be different. Maybe you could start a new thread with a poll to gauge interest?
I'm curious about the attachment method too. I don't need mine to open, but other people might want that.

[Northwind Composites]

As far as the sunroof attachment, typically we make the piece such that it is a direct replacement for the glass. The periphery is the same and the thickness is the same so it is a direct plug and play item. The parts are made with an epoxy resin, not polyester, so you can secondary bond things to the carbon without issue. I have not dug into my sunroof to fix the leak and it's been a little bit since I read the How-To thread so I'm a bit fuzzy on how our sunroofs attach. So I may be able to come up with a replacement that allows it to drop in and attach the car negating the need for the track and holding system.

BMX, do you think you could take a couple pictures of your open hole for me to look at?

I will go ahead and start a poll in the Vendors forum on the sunroof.


Steve - Making a pre-facelift hood is a little harder for me to justify. The tooling costs on the larger items are considerably higher than say the sunroof and one of the biggest reasons I can offer the post-facelift is because I want a hood for my car for marketing purposes. I can justify the tooling costs that way but would have a harder time doing so with the pre-facelift. But if you get a big tax refund that's just burning a big hole in your pockets, we could still talk .

Thanks for all the interest and questions. Keep them coming. Axis is in the business of custom work and meeting needs that other manufacturers cannot or have not addressed.

Thank you,

Lee

[Legacy777]

From the info in the parts catalog, the sunroof frame and overall setup is different between wagon & sedan. I don't know the difference, but the overall frame has a different part number between sedan & wagons.

[bmxkelowna]

ya i should be able to get some photos of everything for you tomorrow lee

[evolutionmovement]

Lee—I think the shipping cross country alone would end up being over my budget for a hood when I have a steel one for free. Too many other projects for that, but best of luck! Pricing sounds very reasonable and it sounds like a good product.

[subaru_styles]

so is it possible to get a hood without the sccop and vents molded in? like have the recess w/ mounting tabs like an oem 2.5rs hood?

[Northwind Composites]

Josh - Thank you for the information on Sedan vs Wagon. I can see the frame being different, I would assume the glass itself is also different then.

BMX - I have a few ideas for mounting a sunroof without the frame assembly but I still need a few pictures. You can email them to me at lskidmore@axiscomposites.com . Just whenever you get them taken.

Subaru Styles - The vents will be created by placing a ~1/4" 'plate' on the mold surface to create the recess for the vents. This recess would not be cutout by Axis so the buyer will have the option to use mesh or whatever other insert they wanted. They will be sized and shaped the same as the RS vents to allow people use stock hardware if they wanted. Consequently I can also create a hood without the 'plate' on the mold eliminating any recess for vents. As for creating a hood without the scoop - this can be done if it's needed. It will take a little extra prep time and may add another $20 or so to the price but it is doable.

My quote on the hood has been sliding because we got a little slammed over the weekend and start of the week. However, the hood will happen as I want one but I'll get firm pricing posted as soon as possible but preliminary ROM pricing shows it will still fall in the $500 - $650 range.


Please let me know if there are any more questions I can address.

Thank you.

[subaru_styles]

sweet!, i am definitly down for a hood that i can bolt my own GC scoop and vents in. jsut dont prefer the molded look, and rather rock 22B vents


btw can you guys trim carbon fiber? i have an APR front splitter that i need just a ittle width taken off of it? i dont want to F it up by doing it myself and have it splinter or crack

[Northwind Composites]

Fantastic then. I'm hoping to have a hood ready in the next month or two if not sooner. Auto-X season is rapidly approaching (next month) and I plan to have my hood done before season gets too far along. And we can definately do one that does not have the molded scoop or vents.


As far as triming carbon. We certainly can. I'll be honest though, if you use a high speed rotary cutting tool (die grinder, Dremel, etc.) you shouldn't have any problems with it cracking or splintering. That said, if you are uncomfortable doing it yourself and would rather us - our shop rate is currently $60 an hour and I'll charge actual time. If you only need a little taken off then it shouldn't take very long - I can trim an entire hood in less than an hour to give you a rough idea. If you want to move forward with this, please send me an email, PM, or call and I'll be happy to work out details with you.

Thank you,

Lee
lskidmore@axiscomposites.com
208-290-5585