A question about drilling/riveting carbon fiber stock

[s1900ahon]

Originally Posted by pipsqueaker

We're considering using some 1x1 carbon fiber stock this year, and we were wondering how exactly you would join pieces together. With aluminum stock we'd just drill some eighth-inch holes and gusset things together, but we've never worked with carbon fiber so we're not sure how it holds up to the stresses of riveting, drilling, etc. compared to aluminum

Safety first. Carbon fiber dust is a slew of short sharp nasties that you do not want to breath in. Use appropriate personal protective equipment.

Carbon fiber is not difficult to drill, but it does wear tools quickly. You might start with this tutorial. It gets tricky if the layup includes Kevlar.

You can rivet it, but I'd use washers on the mushroom end if it is against CF. It gets tricky if the carbon has a honeycomb core.