Apexi350z

iTrader: (3)

I'm going to try to build a box like ONECOOLEE's, since it looks pretty simple yet effective. After went to my local Home Depot, which sells all the fiberglass materials, I saw two kinds of fiberglass. One is cloth and the other is mat. Any experts out there can tell me which one is good for building speaker box?

The only thing I can differentiate is the cloth is thicker while the mat is like a raw material?

Thanks!

Apexi350z

iTrader: (3)

Found the answer:


The mat is good for thick uncomplicated applications, and the cloth is for smaller, thinner, more intricate places (like corners or features like tweeter domes if you were making a kickpod).

bastard

The cloth is the woven looking material? I had been planning on using that as it seemed to be more liable to fit odd shapes compared to that really thick fibrous looking other stuff--the mat?

Apexi350z

iTrader: (3)

I think mat is for flat surfaces, and the cloth is for curvey areas...

Encore

I think the exact oppisite. Mat tends to come apart a little when working with it letting it mold over different shapes. Cloth stays the way it is when working with it causing it to wrinkle up over difficult shapes. Also I think mat is a stronger bond then cloth. You can tear mat, and make the sides all shreaded which makes a great bond between pieces. This is just my opinion. I could be bass ackward.

alienx

Cloth is generally pretty thin. Even a 6 ounce cloth will take many layers to build a 1/4 inch thickness. Matte, in my opinion is for exactly that. Building volume quickly.

If you were using a negative mold, I would lay a layer or two of 6 ounce cloth and then build up the inside of the box with matte.

If you are using a positive mold, you may have a hard time keeping the matte a consistent thickness as you work toward your outside layer of the box. So you may want to take your time and lay-up a lot of layers of cloth instead.

Depending on how comfortable you are working with resin, and how intricate your box is, you can mix for shorter working times and lay a few layers while the previous layer is still tacky.

Either way, you really can't do too bad of a job because you are probably going to end up sanding and filling the glass anyway.

That's my opinion anyway.

Good luck.