A bit confused with basics with fiberglass.

Anything goes in the world of fiberglass and plastic



Settled In
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2022 3:30 pm

Country:
United Kingdom
PostPosted: Sat Mar 05, 2022 3:34 pm
Hello ! So i just thought i want to give it a try with making something of fiberglass, i want to start with simple molds / brackets

So i want to make a simple spoiler leg tahts just 1 straight piece

Is my process correct

Cut mold out of cardboard, masking tape it , first layer cover it with resin and then put fiberglass matt .
Continue with resin, fiberglass matt untill im happy with the thickness.
Last layer use some sort of body filler and then sand it so i can have smooth surface for paint .

Is that basically it ?

User avatar

Board Moderator
Posts: 6672
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: central Ohio
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 9:30 am
Just so I understand.... are you making this piece to be installed or is this going to be the piece that you want to then make further pieces from? For most "one off" parts I like to use the "lost foam" method. I quite literally carve the part out of foam, do my resin/matt layup, and then dissolve the foam. Now, if I want to make multiples of that.... you would be building something like a two piece mold so you would have side/side and then flash fiberglass them together. If you are building "in mold" parts then the process is more like mold release, gel coat, then building up your matt layers combined with some cloths.....
Making stuff out of fiberglass means a lot of different methodologies depending on what your end goal is.....
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!

User avatar

Board Moderator
Posts: 6672
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: central Ohio
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 9:34 am
Okay, so a "one off" part goes kind of like this.... Keep in mind that this is using much more exotic cloths/fiber than normal fiberglass work.... viewtopic.php?f=12&t=27971&start=130
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!



Settled In
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2022 3:30 pm

Country:
United Kingdom
PostPosted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 2:09 pm
DarrelK wrote:Just so I understand.... are you making this piece to be installed or is this going to be the piece that you want to then make further pieces from? For most "one off" parts I like to use the "lost foam" method. I quite literally carve the part out of foam, do my resin/matt layup, and then dissolve the foam. Now, if I want to make multiples of that.... you would be building something like a two piece mold so you would have side/side and then flash fiberglass them together. If you are building "in mold" parts then the process is more like mold release, gel coat, then building up your matt layers combined with some cloths.....
Making stuff out of fiberglass means a lot of different methodologies depending on what your end goal is.....

So it is actually for car spoiler brackets, so i would drill holes throughs and use bolts/nuts .

Is theres any completely dummy guide for all of this

All i understand for now is just to cardboard cut shape , them make mold , and keep doing fiberglass matt layers . And the last part that i dont understand what to do apply before using primer/spray paint ? Is it gelcoat or some sort of body fillrer

User avatar

Board Moderator
Posts: 6672
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: central Ohio
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 2:51 pm
We call those parts the "stands" on our wings here. So it might be easier to just make two of them individually. It would be better to just carve each of them out of foam and start laying up the resin and matt in layers over that. Andy, yes once you have achieved some thickness (probably 3/16 to 1/4 inch) you would indeed switch to a bondo type filler and fill them out. It is similar to how I added additional length to this truck cab.... Look here and go down about mid page....viewtopic.php?f=12&t=28871&start=30
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!



Settled In
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2022 3:30 pm

Country:
United Kingdom
PostPosted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 3:43 pm
DarrelK wrote:We call those parts the "stands" on our wings here. So it might be easier to just make two of them individually. It would be better to just carve each of them out of foam and start laying up the resin and matt in layers over that. Andy, yes once you have achieved some thickness (probably 3/16 to 1/4 inch) you would indeed switch to a bondo type filler and fill them out. It is similar to how I added additional length to this truck cab.... Look here and go down about mid page....viewtopic.php?f=12&t=28871&start=30

Thank you , what sort of foam am i looking for ? is it something like that : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125022847765

And whats really the difference when id start from 0 with just matt cmopared of using a foam ?

User avatar

Board Moderator
Posts: 6672
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: central Ohio
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 6:25 pm
Nope, wrong stuff... you want rigid construction foam like this....
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-Corni ... /207179253
It will be pink, blue, or you can even use the foil faced polyiscyanurate foam as long as you peel off the foil. So the idea with the foam is you carve it to your overall shaped and then just start laying up your resin/matt mix. I mean, I'm not saying you couldn't just lay down a plastic bag and start laying up matt to make a panel but then you had parts to assemble and glass together when done. If you just make your part out of foam, you can get the whole thing made together which wll be much stronger and easier to finish off.
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!



Settled In
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2022 3:30 pm

Country:
United Kingdom
PostPosted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 2:01 am
DarrelK wrote:Nope, wrong stuff... you want rigid construction foam like this....
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-Corni ... /207179253
It will be pink, blue, or you can even use the foil faced polyiscyanurate foam as long as you peel off the foil. So the idea with the foam is you carve it to your overall shaped and then just start laying up your resin/matt mix. I mean, I'm not saying you couldn't just lay down a plastic bag and start laying up matt to make a panel but then you had parts to assemble and glass together when done. If you just make your part out of foam, you can get the whole thing made together which wll be much stronger and easier to finish off.

Thank you , i had some fiberglass resin /matt etc left over so i tried the first way just to do matt layers , i did 2 and ran out of matting lol , so will continue in few days , then will try with foam and see if i can spot any difference. Also im wondering , how would i make a mold thats 90 degrees like this :
Image

I know i have this already with me but if i didint had where would i start ? is it with foam as you said

User avatar

Board Moderator
Posts: 6672
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: central Ohio
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 9:49 am
Honestly, that's kind of a complex shape for someone to make that has little experience in working with fiberglass. So nope, foam is probably out for you. I think doing it as a 2 part piece build up would work though. You could lay up the front flat piece making it fairly thick with 2 to 3 layers of matt. Next you could lay up the side piece flat, not doing more than maybe a layer of matt. That would allow this piece to "flex" to get your contact when you attach it to the other piece. You could just tack that piece in place with super glue and then move on to addtional matt to secure it permanently and build up the thickness as needed..,
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!



Settled In
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Mar 05, 2022 3:30 pm

Country:
United Kingdom
PostPosted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 11:15 am
DarrelK wrote:Honestly, that's kind of a complex shape for someone to make that has little experience in working with fiberglass. So nope, foam is probably out for you. I think doing it as a 2 part piece build up would work though. You could lay up the front flat piece making it fairly thick with 2 to 3 layers of matt. Next you could lay up the side piece flat, not doing more than maybe a layer of matt. That would allow this piece to "flex" to get your contact when you attach it to the other piece. You could just tack that piece in place with super glue and then move on to addtional matt to secure it permanently and build up the thickness as needed..,

Thank you so much for the help , im awaiting for some resin now to continue on my first time fiberglass " project " :D ill keep it updated how it will go .
Next

Return to Fiberglass and Plastic

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 43 guests