Carbonfiberskin.tk offers a pre-cut, sharp-looking carbon fiber skin for the HTC EVO 4G?s back cover for $25. Not a bad deal, but they also offer a ?DIY? option for a mere $5- that looks like it would fit a lot of things nicely! The question is ?How easy is it to install and customize?? I ordered one in just to answer this burning question.
The company offers free S&H for either options, so I plunked down my $5 and got a plain business letter-sized envelope in the mail a few days later with a 5? x 3.5? chunk of self-adhesive black ?basketweave? pattern carbon fiber vinyl. It feels great to the touch, but feels more like a textured shelf paper than what I would expect real carbon fiber to feel like. There were no directions enclosed, but they are on the site.
Rough-trimmed skin and EVO battery cover
The site directions are not illustrated, and perhaps not as clear as they could be in a few places. The overall process is not hard- peel the backing, stick it to a clean battery cover, heat gently with a hair dryer, smooth into place, cut off excess with a new, sharp-tipped Xacto knife, sit back and admire.
Of course, there are a few minor roadblocks in the real world. The untrimmed cover is bigger than you really need so you can trim off almost 3/4? from the end- and I suggest you use this little chunk for practice if you are unsure of your mad skillz. I made a minor tactical error in trying to have as little excess as I could on two sides- it is best to leave a little bit of a margin all the way around.
Battery cover laying on skin
Heating and smoothing was easy- my industrial hot air gun did it nicely but I am sure your puny little civilian hair dryers would work as well. The back conformed nicely to the mild contours of the EVO. I let it cool a bit then started the trimming.
Stuck in place, before heating
My new Xacto blade was sharp enough that if I was not careful, I was shaving plastic off the battery door, but several techniques quickly developed. I was able to stick the blade tip in my cutting mat and slide the cover along it, almost like using a band saw. Using it like a whittling knife to carefully slice off little bits took care of the few imperfect cuts I made.
Trimmed and holes cut out- you can see the roughness of the speaker holes.
Cutting out the interior holes was easy, especially since I could access them from the back. The speaker holes, however, are a pain. The site suggests poking them with a needle and warms they often close up from the heat and pressure of your pocket. Poking them from the inside left a rough patch on the cover. Poking them from the inside a little and then using a bigger pin from the outside helped a bit- but the adhesive sticks to the needle and smears. A small application of heat smooths the cover again, but closes up most of the holes. I tried a hot needle and it only worked a little better. You may choose to just use a template and cut a circle around the speaker holes and peel the carbon fiber covering off.
Elapsed time- something under 10 minutes of actual work, a little more time experimenting with various techniques. Satisfaction rating- a lot higher than I?ve had with a lot of pre-cut things that are so frustrating to align perfectly. Durability- time will tell, but it feels good so far.
Finished!
Could you do it on other devices? I think so, as long as there is not a lot of contour and you can get to where you need to make cut-outs. I?d like to try it on my laptop?s lid and around the keyboard if I could get the film at a good price. I assume it will not conform around the lip of the lid, but it should work on the flattish areas nicely.
Product Information
| Price: | $5.00 |
| Manufacturer: | Carbonfiberskin |
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