first time fiberglassing...opinions?
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From: albany, ny
first time fiberglassing...opinions?
I'd been reading up on fiberglassing and noticing alot of people asking questions about it and curious how to get started. a buddy and I got to talking one day and neither of us had ever really toyed with fiberglass. So we figured it'd be worth a shot to try some stuff out. I just so happened to be in the begining stages of getting together my sound system for the Z - so I volunteered my trunk as the experiment piece to learn fiberglass. So we built me a sub box out of fiberglass.
First - Fiberglass is not hard. It may take some practice to get things right (naturally this being our first attempt at fiberglass - it could have been better but....) but it really is a very straight forward process.
Materials you'll need - you can get everything at your local home depot, boat shop (normally), or possible autozone/autoparts store. Home Depot definitely has everything.
- Fiberglass resin - This normally is $10-$15 per container. The container SHOULD contain a small tube of hardner. That won't be enough. So buy extra hardner for each container of resin.
- Fiberglass Mat's or sheets - $4-$5 and you get about 1 square yard of it.
- paint brushes - 2" brushes work well. Buy the cheap ones, and get one brush for each layer you think you'll need. The resin hardens quickly, and will make the paintbrush a solid object in no time.
- Alot of masking tape and tin foil.
- We used plastic cups to mix the resin in, but the resin actually ate away at the cups (you'll see in the pictures). So i'm thinking using something disposable, but more durable than plastic cups.
- Masks - you'll be thankfull you have these. The resin is VERY potent.
- Bondo/putty - you'll use this to fill in the gaps, holes, and to smooth out the service.
In the pictures, you'll see what we used semi large sheets of the mat - it is better to use smaller pieces. You can shape them easier, and it will create less air pockets and bubbles, and make for a sturdier design, more air tight, better looking, and smoother service.
Our First Experience: http://www.maximalperformance.net/pi...***/index.html
It may not look like much just yet, but give it a couple weeks until the remainder of the box/amp/wiring is done, and it's all painted and carpeted. The box is air tight - pressure tested - weighs about 5 lbs - and fits perfectly into the area that I wanted it in. If the box were made entirely out of wood, it would weigh 4-5x's as much, would have to be otherwise fastened into place to prevent the box from shifting, and possibly would have cost more.
After your first time fiberglassing, you'll realize how much extra of the **** you didn't need you bought, and how much less of the stuff you did need, you didn't buy. All in all, the box took us about 8 total hours to build (includes time for drying), and probably $60-$70 in materials.
The website we used for help (VERY HELPFULL): http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/
safety note: always wear rubber gloves when working with the fiberglass, always wear a mask/resperator, and you should wear safety goggles as well. I found out about the goggles the hardway while mixing hardner in with the resin, an air pocket was created and popped. I got resin and hardner mixture in my eye. It was less than pleasant....
Matt
First - Fiberglass is not hard. It may take some practice to get things right (naturally this being our first attempt at fiberglass - it could have been better but....) but it really is a very straight forward process.
Materials you'll need - you can get everything at your local home depot, boat shop (normally), or possible autozone/autoparts store. Home Depot definitely has everything.
- Fiberglass resin - This normally is $10-$15 per container. The container SHOULD contain a small tube of hardner. That won't be enough. So buy extra hardner for each container of resin.
- Fiberglass Mat's or sheets - $4-$5 and you get about 1 square yard of it.
- paint brushes - 2" brushes work well. Buy the cheap ones, and get one brush for each layer you think you'll need. The resin hardens quickly, and will make the paintbrush a solid object in no time.
- Alot of masking tape and tin foil.
- We used plastic cups to mix the resin in, but the resin actually ate away at the cups (you'll see in the pictures). So i'm thinking using something disposable, but more durable than plastic cups.
- Masks - you'll be thankfull you have these. The resin is VERY potent.
- Bondo/putty - you'll use this to fill in the gaps, holes, and to smooth out the service.
In the pictures, you'll see what we used semi large sheets of the mat - it is better to use smaller pieces. You can shape them easier, and it will create less air pockets and bubbles, and make for a sturdier design, more air tight, better looking, and smoother service.
Our First Experience: http://www.maximalperformance.net/pi...***/index.html
It may not look like much just yet, but give it a couple weeks until the remainder of the box/amp/wiring is done, and it's all painted and carpeted. The box is air tight - pressure tested - weighs about 5 lbs - and fits perfectly into the area that I wanted it in. If the box were made entirely out of wood, it would weigh 4-5x's as much, would have to be otherwise fastened into place to prevent the box from shifting, and possibly would have cost more.
After your first time fiberglassing, you'll realize how much extra of the **** you didn't need you bought, and how much less of the stuff you did need, you didn't buy. All in all, the box took us about 8 total hours to build (includes time for drying), and probably $60-$70 in materials.
The website we used for help (VERY HELPFULL): http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/
safety note: always wear rubber gloves when working with the fiberglass, always wear a mask/resperator, and you should wear safety goggles as well. I found out about the goggles the hardway while mixing hardner in with the resin, an air pocket was created and popped. I got resin and hardner mixture in my eye. It was less than pleasant....
Matt
Last edited by matt sherman; Aug 15, 2005 at 07:15 AM.
I have a few things to add.
You should mask off the car way better than you did, get a roll of plastic sheeting from the hardware store and cover that puppy up, you get resin on the carpet or paint and it'll be a nightmare.
They sell little cups for mixing resin at most hardware stores. The resin does not stick to it so once it is hardened, you can pop it out and reuse. If you thought polyester was hard on those cups, try using Epoxy resin (normally used in CF layup), those solo cups will turn into goo because of the higher setup temperatures.
Put brushes in acetone and the resin will dissolve off so you can get a few layers out of them, also keep acetone on hand for any drips or things you want to clean (just get a gallon).
Wear you respirator when sanding and sawing as well, the FG dust will do a number on your lungs and pretty much never comes out once it's in there.
Use a shop vac to clean up the glass particles when putting things away for the night. Also, it is best to set aside some old sweats and shoes to wear while working, that way for longer projects you can just change into them, work some, and change out. This is also my indication to my wife that I am not taking phone calls or anything else as I may have resin setting up and I don't want it hardening before I'm done, besides my hands get messy and I don't want to handle the phone.
Wear two layers of Latex gloves, one over the other. When you are at the clean up phase, pull off the top layer so you don't spread resin prints all over but still can handle messy stuff.
I have more on my website here http://www.hypersprite.com/auto/tech-z-006/default.asp
and what I read before I got started was here http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/
Chris
You should mask off the car way better than you did, get a roll of plastic sheeting from the hardware store and cover that puppy up, you get resin on the carpet or paint and it'll be a nightmare.
They sell little cups for mixing resin at most hardware stores. The resin does not stick to it so once it is hardened, you can pop it out and reuse. If you thought polyester was hard on those cups, try using Epoxy resin (normally used in CF layup), those solo cups will turn into goo because of the higher setup temperatures.
Put brushes in acetone and the resin will dissolve off so you can get a few layers out of them, also keep acetone on hand for any drips or things you want to clean (just get a gallon).
Wear you respirator when sanding and sawing as well, the FG dust will do a number on your lungs and pretty much never comes out once it's in there.
Use a shop vac to clean up the glass particles when putting things away for the night. Also, it is best to set aside some old sweats and shoes to wear while working, that way for longer projects you can just change into them, work some, and change out. This is also my indication to my wife that I am not taking phone calls or anything else as I may have resin setting up and I don't want it hardening before I'm done, besides my hands get messy and I don't want to handle the phone.
Wear two layers of Latex gloves, one over the other. When you are at the clean up phase, pull off the top layer so you don't spread resin prints all over but still can handle messy stuff.
I have more on my website here http://www.hypersprite.com/auto/tech-z-006/default.asp
and what I read before I got started was here http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/
Chris
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From: albany, ny
yeah we went about things a bit half assed and cheap. Your set up looks fantastic - much better than mine so far 
I'm going to guess that wasn't your first time fiberglassing?
Matt
I'm going to guess that wasn't your first time fiberglassing?
Matt
Actually it was the first real thing I made out of FG, now that I have done it though, I am coming up with all kinds of uses. Next will probably be a dash for my classic Mini.
You have a good design there in that, using the large sections of MDF make your setup much faster to build, easy to carpet and cheaper. If I had it to do over again, some sections I used the foam core for would be done in MDF. I also got a bit to complex down where the box juts out to hold up the trunk liner (even if it does not look complex) and the bottom. Glassing in there was not fun.
The only other composite thing I made before that was a single sheet (two layers thick) of Carbon Fiber using a piece of glass as a mold. Talk about coming out with a shiny surface, it's sort of cool but it was just an experiment, I never came up with a use for it.
Chris
You have a good design there in that, using the large sections of MDF make your setup much faster to build, easy to carpet and cheaper. If I had it to do over again, some sections I used the foam core for would be done in MDF. I also got a bit to complex down where the box juts out to hold up the trunk liner (even if it does not look complex) and the bottom. Glassing in there was not fun.
The only other composite thing I made before that was a single sheet (two layers thick) of Carbon Fiber using a piece of glass as a mold. Talk about coming out with a shiny surface, it's sort of cool but it was just an experiment, I never came up with a use for it.
Chris
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Joined: Jun 2005
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From: albany, ny
Originally Posted by HyperSprite
Actually it was the first real thing I made out of FG, now that I have done it though, I am coming up with all kinds of uses. Next will probably be a dash for my classic Mini.
You have a good design there in that, using the large sections of MDF make your setup much faster to build, easy to carpet and cheaper. If I had it to do over again, some sections I used the foam core for would be done in MDF. I also got a bit to complex down where the box juts out to hold up the trunk liner (even if it does not look complex) and the bottom. Glassing in there was not fun.
The only other composite thing I made before that was a single sheet (two layers thick) of Carbon Fiber using a piece of glass as a mold. Talk about coming out with a shiny surface, it's sort of cool but it was just an experiment, I never came up with a use for it.
Chris
You have a good design there in that, using the large sections of MDF make your setup much faster to build, easy to carpet and cheaper. If I had it to do over again, some sections I used the foam core for would be done in MDF. I also got a bit to complex down where the box juts out to hold up the trunk liner (even if it does not look complex) and the bottom. Glassing in there was not fun.
The only other composite thing I made before that was a single sheet (two layers thick) of Carbon Fiber using a piece of glass as a mold. Talk about coming out with a shiny surface, it's sort of cool but it was just an experiment, I never came up with a use for it.
Chris
after a few more projects with fiberglass, to get it down and really become comfortable with it, Carbon Fiber is the next project i'd like to tackle. I have a lot of ideas for custom shaped objects, and fiberglass/carbon fiber and very form fitting, so it only makes sense to use these materials for the projects.
Matt
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