How Maxton Design splitters are made

Whatever the material, every part we make starts with a car, not with someone else’s product. The car arrives in Wojnicz and a specialist scans the body with a 3D laser scanner. The device reads light reflected off the bodywork and builds a highly detailed digital model from it. Nothing gets unbolted and nothing gets drilled. That model is what our designer works on. The task sounds simple, but it isn’t: the part has to sit against the body to the millimetre and, at the same time, look as if the car manufacturer had designed it.

From this point on, the paths split.

Maxton has been around since 2006 and started out with bumpers and spoilers made of fibreglass laminate. The breakthrough came with the switch to ABS plastic. It is lighter than laminate, easier to work with and allows for far more precise shapes. On top of that, it is durable, flexible and weather-resistant, with a surface layer that protects it from UV radiation.

Production starts with the mould. CNC milling machines cut it straight from the 3D design, and a single mould takes around 24 hours of machine time. Then people take over and refine the mould by hand, because any imperfection left on it would show up on every part made from it. Next comes thermoforming. We heat an ABS sheet with hot air until it softens, lay it over the mould and draw the air out from underneath. The vacuum pulls the plastic tight against the mould, so it takes on its shape to the millimetre.

The first piece from a new mould doesn’t go to a customer – it goes on a car. We fit the prototype set to the very car we scanned earlier. Our fitters check every gap and every mounting point. If anything isn’t sitting perfectly, we adjust the mould or the cutting program, and only then do we start series production.

In series production we use the finished, fine-tuned mould and then hand-finish every product so that its outline, thickness and look are exactly right. The final touches are done by our team, because a machine won’t catch everything an experienced eye will. Before shipping, every part goes through quality control, gets a protective film for transport and goes into the box together with a dedicated mounting kit. That’s how our ABS splitter collections are made. Each one has its own small differences in the process, but the foundation is the same. You can see the result in our collection of ABS parts.

Carbon is a completely different discipline. So instead of bolting it onto our existing production, we created the Carbon Division – a separate department with its own machines and specialists. Here, too, we start with a scan and a design, but after that everything moves at a different pace.

CNC milling machines produce the moulds, which we then cover with carbon fibre and cure in a special oven. Only a mould prepared this way is ready to produce the parts that follow. Sounds like a lot of work before the first piece? It is. In carbon, the mould decides everything, from fitment to surface smoothness, so there is no room for shortcuts at this stage.

We work with prepreg – carbon fibre fabric that comes pre-impregnated with resin. This keeps the fibre-to-resin ratio constant and predictable, and the finished part is strong while weighing very little. A plotter cuts the shapes from prepreg sheets straight from the digital model, each piece exactly where it should be.

Then comes a stage that can’t be automated. The cut pieces have to be laid into the mould, layer by layer. It takes enormous precision and a feel for the material, because it determines both the strength of the part and how the visible weave will look. Once everything is in place, we cover the part with film fitted with a pressure valve and connect the hoses. Prepared like this, the package goes into the autoclave.

The autoclave is the heart of carbon production. Inside, the temperature reaches 120°C and the pressure 6 bar. For comparison, that’s more than twice the pressure in your car’s tyres. Under these conditions the resin flows through the entire structure, the layers bond into a single whole, and any air that could weaken the part is forced out. Depending on what it is, a part spends anywhere from several to several dozen hours in the autoclave.

This is exactly the step that sets autoclave carbon apart from cheaper alternatives, where a thin layer of fibre is applied over plastic purely for looks. With us, the pattern on the surface isn’t a sticker or a wrap. It’s the structure itself.

Once it comes out of the autoclave, we remove the film and take the part out of the mould. Now human hands come back into play. Every piece is sanded, lacquered and polished by hand until the surface is mirror-smooth and the weave is clean and even. Only then is the part ready to go on a car.

There’s no wrong answer here, only the question of what you expect. ABS is flexible, handles everyday driving and the occasional run-in with a kerb, and comes in a huge range of models and versions. Carbon is for those who want the lowest possible weight, stiffness and a raw, technical look straight from motorsport. The first is a great way to give your car character. The second takes it to the highest level.