- Member DIN
- S128
(continued)
Steps for Fiberglassing (post 2 of 3)
Please understand that Fiberglass Resin does not contain Fiberglass.. You have to buy fiberglass separate.
3. LAYING FIBERGLASS
a. Get your materials ready. There are two main kinds of fiberglass, cloth and mat. Cloth contours to tight spaces better and is more expensive. Mat is great for large flat areas. I use cloth, both are pictured. Cut out various sizes and shapes of the fiberglass so that you can quickly lay them down.
b. Be safe! Gloves are very important as fiberglass can leave micro cuts and results in irritated skin. Keep extra gloves easily accessible. Long sleeves are preferred along with glasses and a respirator.
c. If your piece is pretty strong go ahead and remove the support beams. If you can work around them then you might as well keep them in to ensure better shape once it is done hardening the fiberglass.
d. Spray adhesive from a craft store can save you a lot of frustration. The spray will help hold the material down so that you can cover the entire interior in fiberglass. If the next piece overlaps you'll need to spray more adhesive. You will want the fiberglass to be completely glued down. If you're having trouble with the fiberglass sticking to your hands just change out your gloves.
e. Lay the fiberglass so that it contours to the piece. You do not want gaps between the pep and the fiberglass. Also try to get each piece as close together as possible. Overlapping is better than barren spots. Also be aware of high stress areas and joints of the pep, be sure to lay big or long pieces in these areas.
f. Check to make sure you got fiberglass on all the interior surface and take a minute to clean up the piece. It is a lot easier to cut the edges of the fiberglass now than it will be once they are hardened.
g. A problem I've had in the past is that once I douse the piece to soak the fiberglass in resin..the fiberglass starts to move around. The adhesive spray starts to dissolve and I'm left with frustrating situation. Here is my solution to that: I like to sprinkle a little resin into the piece.. like 1oz or less for the piece shown here. Once it hardens it will be like little thumb tacks holding my fiberglass pieces down.
Let this dry for 1 hour. You will thank me later.
h. Once you are ready go ahead and mix up a lot of resin. 4oz for a medium piece and 8oz for a large piece. Pour the resin in trying to get as much surface area hit by the pouring liquid. Once it starts to pool up then you can take a brush to move it around. The goal is that every single inch of that fiberglass gets soaked in resin. If the resin stops pooling and you still have fiberglass that is dry like cloth then mix up some more resin. You can't have too much here. Every bit you add with just strengthen it.
Let it dry for 24 hours and make sure it is not resting in a way that the resin will seep out and pool or you may have just resined your piece to your table.
*The resin hardening can create gas fumes. This process may result in bubbles forming under the fiberglass. You do not want bubbles! Take your paint brush and poke these bubbles down before they harden.
*You can take this opportunity to modify your pieces to your needs. Here I've left support beams that will actually be fiberglassed overtop later creating a pocket for my cell phone.
Here is another tube I made out of plastic binder material that I will fiberglass to create a place to store and hide my water bottle.
(once all your stuff dries it is going to cut you when you try to handle it. The next post will be how to make it easier to handle and prep for bondo)
Steps for Fiberglassing (post 2 of 3)
Please understand that Fiberglass Resin does not contain Fiberglass.. You have to buy fiberglass separate.
3. LAYING FIBERGLASS
a. Get your materials ready. There are two main kinds of fiberglass, cloth and mat. Cloth contours to tight spaces better and is more expensive. Mat is great for large flat areas. I use cloth, both are pictured. Cut out various sizes and shapes of the fiberglass so that you can quickly lay them down.
b. Be safe! Gloves are very important as fiberglass can leave micro cuts and results in irritated skin. Keep extra gloves easily accessible. Long sleeves are preferred along with glasses and a respirator.
c. If your piece is pretty strong go ahead and remove the support beams. If you can work around them then you might as well keep them in to ensure better shape once it is done hardening the fiberglass.
d. Spray adhesive from a craft store can save you a lot of frustration. The spray will help hold the material down so that you can cover the entire interior in fiberglass. If the next piece overlaps you'll need to spray more adhesive. You will want the fiberglass to be completely glued down. If you're having trouble with the fiberglass sticking to your hands just change out your gloves.
e. Lay the fiberglass so that it contours to the piece. You do not want gaps between the pep and the fiberglass. Also try to get each piece as close together as possible. Overlapping is better than barren spots. Also be aware of high stress areas and joints of the pep, be sure to lay big or long pieces in these areas.
f. Check to make sure you got fiberglass on all the interior surface and take a minute to clean up the piece. It is a lot easier to cut the edges of the fiberglass now than it will be once they are hardened.
g. A problem I've had in the past is that once I douse the piece to soak the fiberglass in resin..the fiberglass starts to move around. The adhesive spray starts to dissolve and I'm left with frustrating situation. Here is my solution to that: I like to sprinkle a little resin into the piece.. like 1oz or less for the piece shown here. Once it hardens it will be like little thumb tacks holding my fiberglass pieces down.
Let this dry for 1 hour. You will thank me later.
h. Once you are ready go ahead and mix up a lot of resin. 4oz for a medium piece and 8oz for a large piece. Pour the resin in trying to get as much surface area hit by the pouring liquid. Once it starts to pool up then you can take a brush to move it around. The goal is that every single inch of that fiberglass gets soaked in resin. If the resin stops pooling and you still have fiberglass that is dry like cloth then mix up some more resin. You can't have too much here. Every bit you add with just strengthen it.
Let it dry for 24 hours and make sure it is not resting in a way that the resin will seep out and pool or you may have just resined your piece to your table.
*The resin hardening can create gas fumes. This process may result in bubbles forming under the fiberglass. You do not want bubbles! Take your paint brush and poke these bubbles down before they harden.
*You can take this opportunity to modify your pieces to your needs. Here I've left support beams that will actually be fiberglassed overtop later creating a pocket for my cell phone.
Here is another tube I made out of plastic binder material that I will fiberglass to create a place to store and hide my water bottle.
(once all your stuff dries it is going to cut you when you try to handle it. The next post will be how to make it easier to handle and prep for bondo)
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