Fiberglassing Tutorial

[scandomfo]

Well seeing how the Fiberglass tut here is kinda out dated (no offense) but I think this tut will show anything and everything on how to lay some fiberglass the right way. And REMEMBER!!!!!! Safety First!

This tut was inspired by Centerside. He was asking how I can glass so perfectly and then before I could reply to him, I thought I could just post up a tut for it.


First off you will need:

Resin

Fiberglass cloth (Highly Recommended)

Wire cutter of some sort – Particularly this one

Armor piece that is resined

This may be a different type of concept but I want you to hold your resined piece and visualize it from the inside and out. Trust me, it’ll help. Now look on the inside of your armor piece and look at that big x number square foot of fiberglass cloth. Now think how you would be able to put all of it into that piece of armor. But right now, I am mainly going to focus on this area.

First off, is to unfold it and cut a small section out.

Cut it into even smaller pieces about 1-2 inches wide by 3-4 inches long or sometimes It'll depend where you are trying to glass. Make sure it is the right size so it can fit just right.

So get your resined all mixed.

Now what you want to do is grab the cloth piece by hand, dip it into the resin and place it on the inside. Make sure you press it down with your fingertips and no air bubbles form.

Now just add more fiberglass to your piece but I recommend doing it in a pattern in which each cloth piece will lay over one another for added strength and just let it cure for the next step.

Now you guys will see why I added that wire cutter to the list. Seeing how you will have run off of fiberglass cloth piece on the side, like so:

Now you will pretty much clip the cloth edges off with the cutters. Basically just keep in line against the armor piece until it is completely flushed for a perfect cut.

And you will have something like this

I hope all of this will shed some light to you guys since cloth is obviously the best to work with
I will take any type of criticism or questions or just anything that seems wrong to you guys and needs to be fixed.

 

[box o crayons]

hmm nice never thought of dipping it directly in the resin +1 sticky

 

[scandomfo]

@Crayons

Dipping is way more easier than brushing it on there though it is somewhat messy, but you'll get use it.

 

[box o crayons]

yea now i might have to wear gloves :rolleyes

 

[scandomfo]

@Crayons

LOL YOU DON"T WEAR GLOVES???? where is the saftey!!!!

 

[protonguy]

This may be a different type of concept but I want you to hold your resined piece and visualize it from the inside and out. Trust me, it’ll help. Now look on the inside of your armor piece and look at that big x number square foot of fiberglass cloth. Now think how you would be able to put all of it into that piece of armor. But right now, I am mainly going to focus on this area.

It's like fiberglass therapy! I can imagine myself in a pair of latex gloves already...

Great tutorial by the way. Now to decide who's I wish to pursue.

I've also been told and shown to rip the fiberglass cloth instead of cutting it. That way the edges sort of weave into each other. Any thoughts on this?

 

[box o crayons]

i was taught that fiberglass is harmless

 

[scandomfo]

@protonguy

Haha I know!!! I can imagine it myself.
Ripping the fiberglass? I would figure that it would destroy the cloth like structure of it and render it useless. Unless you weave it yourself. I'd suggest that you try both methods and see what you like. It's not like I am pressuring you into it. (DO IT) jk

@Crayons

HAHa harmless my a** When I first started this, my mom didn't want me to mess with this stuff.

 

[box o crayons]

yea well my mom didnt care and my dad was raised using no gloves and no respirator. he was WRONG

 

[scandomfo]

Lol those are the things that will prevent later damage when you get older.

 

[box o crayons]

like lung cancer

 

[scandomfo]

Lol yep. I know what could go wrong but for some reason, I have a sore throat but it's not one but I think I got it from all of this but I highly doubt it. Maybe I should sleep with the window open

 

[pooper]

Love the tut soulless! Yeah, I use the same method with putting the fiberglass on the inside as well. For those reading this, it really does work great!

I've never thought about using wire cutters to cut the fiberglass hanging off the sides. I was filing it down with a metal file, which really sucks. Learned something new!

Sticky worthy my friend!

 

[box o crayons]

a metal file i just use my dremel works charms

 

[scandomfo]

@Pooper

Lol you using the file made me laugh. Yeah wire cutters come in handy for getting the edges off

 

[pooper]

LOL yeah, I meant to borrow my dad's dremel but he didn't have it. My brother borrowed it or something and he doesn't know where it went.

 

[scandomfo]

@Pooper

I think that dremels are inexpensive nowadays. But I could be wrong. At least I was lucky that my step dad got a dremel kit as a x-mas present (Which I was the first to use)

 

[centerside]

Somehow, my first post was deleted.... hmmm,

Well here's what it said, : hehe

Thanks so much posting this for eeryone Souless, I need to get the wire cutters like yours hehe

I bought a 3mx3m bag of chopped strand fiberglass, is extremely messy to work with...*sigh*

how much are woven cloth there?

 

[michaelarby]

quick question guys- what weight of fibreglass mat is the best to use? im looking at 600gsm on ebay, but wondering if that'll be too thick or unweildy to use. would i be better with 2 layers of a lighter mat? cheers

 

[centerside]

quick question guys- what weight of fibreglass mat is the best to use? im looking at 600gsm on ebay, but wondering if that'll be too thick or unweildy to use. would i be better with 2 layers of a lighter mat? cheers

I think 2 layers of lighter material is the way to go, IMO, you could cover more for less, and more lighter and thinner layers of fiberglass to weaker points of the armor.