Re: help...? Air Filter ideas needed...nothing fi
That's NOT true. You do NOT need vacuum or heat to get benefits from CF. Not sure what you mean by "not just one layer of fiberglass".
High end carbon fiber products are often produced using prepreg materials. Prepreg mean pre-impregnated, when CF or glass fibers are factory impregnated with resin and then frozen until use. After thawing, they are placed in a mold and heated to cure the resin. To obtain the best properties the curing is often done using vacuum to apply pressure and help remove airbubbles. An autoclave is often used to apply pressure and heat.
But what we are talking about here is wet layup composites, not prepreg. For wet layoup you use a liquid polyester or epoxy resin and saturate the glass or carbon fiber fabric with the resin. You can heat the resin to accelerate the cure, but it will also cure at room temperature. You can also put the stuff in a vacuum bag to apply pressure and help remove air, but it's not necessary.
With either method you can get the 'look' of CF and the added stiffness benefits. Prepreg materials will always give you the best appearance and strength properties because the materials are pre-impregnated to a higher density than you can get using a wet layup techniques. The stongest and lightest composites are produced when a least amount of resin is used to fully saturate the fabric. Vacuum and pressure is used to compress the layup an remove as much excess resin as possible while compacting the fabric.