Fiberglassing Supplies Where and What

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xlexl

xlexl

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Been perusing the net gathering as much information as possible on where to get the fiberglassing supplies cheapest and what to get. Mostly just confuse myself though with different types of everything out there. So here are the questions.

-Local places(chains) that carry the material for shaping your mold. and fiberglass matt and resin

-What kinds of stuff you can use for your mold and what kinds you cant.

-What are the uses for the different types of resin

-how to decide what kind of matt to use

Hopefully I can get a warm fuzzy on this, since i'm going to have to do a hood scoop on my Fish. And have some other projects i'm thinking of doing as well. Since fiberglassing is supposedly cheap, even if it is time consuming.
 
Safety goggles (not glasses) should be the first thing on everyones list when dealing with fiberglass.

Some of that stuff will blind you if you get a drop splashed in your eye.
 
a boat supply place is your best bet for getting the supplies you need. molding resin is -you guessed it- for making molds. it has less shrinkage as it cures meaning you won't draw matt or cloth impressions through when the stuff dries; important for keeping the female surface of the mold nice and baby-*** smooth.
regular resin is probably all you'll need since your making small parts and won't (shouldn't) be using many layers of glass at a time. using too much thickness of material in one batch causes heat and shrinkage as mentioned before and produces weaker glass.
medium weight matt will serve you well for almost everything; use multiple layers if needed but avoid if possible, matt holds alot of resin which is bad for strength and weight. best to go with 1 layer of matt followed by cloth or woven roving (depending on size of project and strength required). think of matt as your primer coat and the cloth/roving as your final coat, matt provides the grip for the cloth which in turn provides the strength. use only enough resin to make sure the material is wet. make sure you use an air roller to get all the bubbles out of the matt and a squeegee for getting air and excess resin from the cloth or roving. remember, too much resin is not good.
mix your resin/catalyst warm for thin laminates (1 or 2 layers) and a little cooler for thicker lay-ups. test the drying speed on a test panel first if you can, cardboard works good for this. definately give yourself enough time to do ALL the work you want to do before the stuff starts to kick off, as long as theres even a small amount of catalyst there, it will stiil kick off, just takes a little longer.
hey, you asked!!
good luck- pauly

p.s. i'll get upclose and personal with mold-making tomorrow, my fingers are tired!
 
Thanks this us a great read and a lesson on how to do this.
 
Use vacuum bag over the mold, with peel ply.
Look at Airtech international's web site for plenty of information on mold making, supplys etc.
I think I have a PDF or video of them building a mold and a carbon car hood if I can find it.
Just dont buy from them for home projects aircraft quality is big $$$$$
 
If your buying big quantities of supplies...go to a wholesaler or "special" store that sells composite materials. I recently boat a quart of resin from a boat place for $22...went to Home Depot and it was $13. Stuff at HD was 3M which I would trust more than any other brand probably. Just a little insight...
 
Home Depot and Lowe's handle name brand resins and catalysts as well as different weights of mat. Many of the big name hardware outlets should also.

Bill S.
 
pauly v.100 said:
a boat supply place is your best bet for getting the supplies you need. molding resin is -you guessed it- for making molds. it has less shrinkage as it cures meaning you won't draw matt or cloth impressions through when the stuff dries; important for keeping the female surface of the mold nice and baby-*** smooth.
regular resin is probably all you'll need since your making small parts and won't (shouldn't) be using many layers of glass at a time. using too much thickness of material in one batch causes heat and shrinkage as mentioned before and produces weaker glass.
medium weight matt will serve you well for almost everything; use multiple layers if needed but avoid if possible, matt holds alot of resin which is bad for strength and weight. best to go with 1 layer of matt followed by cloth or woven roving (depending on size of project and strength required). think of matt as your primer coat and the cloth/roving as your final coat, matt provides the grip for the cloth which in turn provides the strength. use only enough resin to make sure the material is wet. make sure you use an air roller to get all the bubbles out of the matt and a squeegee for getting air and excess resin from the cloth or roving. remember, too much resin is not good.
mix your resin/catalyst warm for thin laminates (1 or 2 layers) and a little cooler for thicker lay-ups. test the drying speed on a test panel first if you can, cardboard works good for this. definately give yourself enough time to do ALL the work you want to do before the stuff starts to kick off, as long as theres even a small amount of catalyst there, it will stiil kick off, just takes a little longer.
hey, you asked!!
good luck- pauly

p.s. i'll get upclose and personal with mold-making tomorrow, my fingers are tired!
Click to expand...


Great read. At the discount boat store, look at epoxy, instead of fiberglass, good stuff.
 
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