Fibre Gass Tips

[willy]

I need to make one of these covers any tips greatfully accepted....Willy

[Manky Monkey]

Brock might be the chap to speak to on that one. He's had some experience of laying up fibreglas matting. Or Wynne at JW Motorcycles, (see the Links Page on the main site). Probably easier to weld something up in 2mm steel sheet isn't it?

[willy]

manky...cheers for that,fibre glass is the way for me as i don't weld,no welder any way..willy

[brock]

I nearly replied to this when it was posted, I was waiting for a more experienced voice to chime in. In my experience , it's not a cheap option, first make a very acurate model of what you want, the plus point here is that it can be made of anything, cardboard , hardboard, tin, plastic anything that will hold it's shape under it's own weight. It has to be as good a finish as you want the finished component to be, this is the buck. Next cover it in fibreglass of suficient thickness to hold it's shape when removed from the buck, you can "cheat" by bonding in various stringers or stiffeners across any of the surfaces to help it. It will probably have to be made in more than one piece, look at the shape you're working with, any undercuts, bits where the mould wraps round the buck will need to be made so that they will seperate freely from the buck. The buck will need to be coated with release agent first or you will end up with a big hairy mess and many tears, don't ask ! Finally , reassemble your mould ( the bit you just made ) and coat it with release agent , gelcoat , and resin and mat to the desired thickness , allow to cure, remove from mould and cry.
   As an option, could you make the shape from plywood and paint it , inside and out with resin, fill and sand it to finish and use that ? probably far cheaper and less work. To make a one off 'glass moulding is quite a job and something to be proud of but definatly not the cheap or easy option.
  The opinions offered are my own , your mileage may vary. Good luck with whatever you choose 

[brock]

PS, don't let any of that put you off having a go, it can be fun, as a practical tip , tempurature does make a huge difference to the way 'glass works, put less activator in it than advised if working it at the moment as even the current mild spell will leave you with a big bucket of expensive modern art, also if you are laying up in any great thickness remember that it is isothermic ( it builds it's own heat as curing) and this can cause even a stiff mould to buckle, don't ask !
   Plenty of good books about, try EBay, I'll have a look tomorrow and see if I can find my old one's

[willy]

Brock...Thanks alot for that bro,metal it looks lol...willy

[dracken1]

a mould could be made from mdf , and lay the glass inside it. mdf has a machined type smooth surface. you can fill the corners with filler, applied with a ball bearing welded to a rod, that way you get an even radius. then wax it , gelcoat it, lay up the glass and when finished remove the mdf and throw it away.

thats the way i'm doing my hanson cab come gothic come munsters body

[brock]

   got any pictures ? I'd rather like to see that 

[BikerGran]

This man is a genius with fibreglass, I wonder if it's as easy as he makes it sound - for ordinary mortals that is!