ALWAYS wear lung protection. Gloves (vinyl, not latex) too, both for the CF itself, and for the epoxy. Prolonged exposure to epoxy can cause all kinds of health problems, and is a cumulative allergin. You could work with it for years, then all of a sudden, any exposure will set of an allergic reaction. I know guys that manufactured CF & 'glass RC planes who cannot even get into a room with epoxy fumes now.
Vaccum bagging against a mold is the usual mode of making parts with non-prepreg CF. Get a book on 'bagging from CST or another vendor like West systems epoxies. There are also quite a few good DVD titles on doing layups & 'bagging. Model airplane hobbiests use the crap out of CF & 'glass, and have generally figured out the least PIA & expensive techniques.
In a nutshell, one does a layup consisting of alternating layers of CF, with epoxy squeegied onto each layer. The layups are placed over each other on a bias to get the most strength.
On flat parts, the layups are done on a mylar skin, then laid over the well waxed plug (Male mold) covered with a layer of something that will soak up the excess epoxy that gets vacuumed out, and then with a layer of breather cloth that allows the vacuum to be distributed across the part.
Then it is placed into a large airtight bag and drawn down with vacuum. This gives maybe 5-9 PSI across the layup, forcing it to conform to the mold.
There is also a way to do a female mold, of course. A little more complicated, but anyone with a clean garage and workbench (And vacuum bagging setup) can use both techniques, and come up with all kinds of parts like air dams, instrument bezels, whatever.
