Building a Carbon Fiber Seat???

Unicycles and Equipment
1

Okay, before ppl start telling me to use the “search function”, I already tried, and can’t find what I’m looking for. All I want to know is how to build my carbon fiber seat!!! :stuck_out_tongue: I’ve got the seat base (2 of them, I’m building 2 seats), the covers, and i guess i’ll use the KH handles off my 2 old busted KH seats. I need to know

  • What bolts/nuts etc… do I use, because I feel the ones of the KH seat are too weak??? Is this true, what are ppls experiences in the past?
  • My carbon fiber seat doesn’t have any holes in it yet, it has markings, but no holes. Can I just use a normal drill set, or, as my dad wondered, should I use a diamond tipped set or something similar.
  • What should I use as padding? The stuff from my old KH seats, or a 12" bike tube, and if I use the bike tube, where should I and is there a need to put a hole to allow the valve to come out?
  • Any other tips? I’m not starting to build it till tomorrow, my budget is about $50 (AUS) if I need anything extra, so any suggestions are good suggestions! (Except for some Area 51 high-tech laser drill or something silly like that).

Thanks for any help, and if you do find an old thread that helps, then I’m sorry for wasting your times, and I’ll happily use the old information :slight_smile: :p.

2

heres a lil link to get you started. Its a pdf by the wonderful George Barnes:
http://www.gb4mfg.com/gb4/air_seat.pdf

Heres a thread from when i was going through the motions on hole drilling/filing:
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36428&highlight=kh+carbon

When drilling the holes, i followed the little dots that were already on the CF base plate. They werent perfect so things ended up ever so slightly crooked. I would recommend finding your own place to drill the holes so you know everything will be perfect.

Live and learn.:slight_smile: Good luck, man.

3

Re: Building a Carbon Fiber Seat???

“ur” <ur@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> writes:

> - What bolts/nuts etc… do I use, because I feel the ones of the KH seat
> are too weak??? Is this true, what are ppls experiences in the past?

The standard carriage bolts are strong enough to break seatposts.
George’s GB4 instructions recommend aluminum bolts which are even less
strong (for weight savings, I assume). I’m not worried about bolt
strength. Carriage bolts have rounded heads which help avoid sharp
edges near an air bladder. Either way, cover the bolt heads with tape.

So you have to choose between plain bolts, carriage bolts (which are
less likely to spin), or another solution. I like using carriage
bolts. After drilling holes, use a small square file to shape them to
fit the bolts.

> Can I just use a normal drill set

Yes. Be careful with the dust - work outside, wear gloves and avoid
breathing it.

> - What should I use as padding? The stuff from my old KH seats, or a 12"
> bike tube, and if I use the bike tube, where should I and is there a
> need to put a hole to allow the valve to come out?

That’s up to you. Getting an airseat just right takes some fiddling -
It took me four or five iterations to get a setup I am happy with.

If you choose to make an airseat, you will need a hole for the the
valve stem. Everyone seems to have their own approach to airseat
assembly. Here’s what’s inside my airseat: Glued to the seat cover
with contact cement (3M 77 spray) is a piece of soft foam from an old
Ridgerest camping pad. Under that is an approximately 1 cm thick
piece of very firm foam (Soleflex 24 from a boot fitter friend of
mine) and a 12" innertube, both stuffed in an old sock. This makes
for a firm airseat that I find more comfortable than a stock KH seat.

You might also want to search for John Childs’ airseat gallery.

Ken

4

Thanks!