Guest Anonymous Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 I am thinking of making a 2x4 or 4x4 wood box about 1/4 inch lipped to do my own FRP layup, in order to get panels rather than buy them. I plan to use formica as lining and wax as release agent. I would use chop fibers and poly resin. Anyone do this? I wonder how I can machine the lip to be level all around so the layup would be exactly the same thickness. I also wonder about ratio of chop to resin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Ferd... maybe some re-phrasing is in order>> What is "panels" ? Your 2X4 and 4X4 is that in inches or feet. All I can figure out that you want to lay up some fiberglass. There is some wax called "green wax" made for a parting agent for fiberglass molds. Also for the first time around there is parting film that would help.We get our gelcoat,wax and parting film from a professional fiberglass shop and it works.People use cooking "Pam" and WD 40. Gel coat would be in order as a top coat rather than raw fiberglass resin.I am having very good luck with electro coated galvanized roll roofing sheathing from Home Depot as a mold medium since fiberglass or about anything else will not stick to it. I recently used a bent 90 degree angle of sheathing on a dash as a parting line on a 2 part mold and had excelant service from it. Used with a little plumbers putty (clay) to fill the gap between sheathing and the dash. 6 months ago I knew nothing about fiberglass and just finished a major project with a = fiberglass top for a Vello Rossa with Nezzie 76 and currently working on a mold for a fiberglass custom dash that requires a two part mold. I have a long running thread in the Body kit section about this top project for a Vello Rossa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS1370 Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Ferd, There is a book called "Race Car Composites" which is oriented to the DIY composite builder. Goes into detail about mold construction, the variety of composites including aramid and carbon, epoxy and poleyester resins, vacume bagging etc. The book is written in plain english. If you use wax as a release compound make sure it does not contain silicone. If you want flat smooth panels, how about using plate glass to lay it up on. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS1370 Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Correction to above post. The book is called "Competition Car Composites" by Simon McBeath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 By panels I mean that I can make a layup of 4x4 feet, lets say by a 3/16 or 1/4 thick. Then I can cut to size and make parts such as "panels" for a box that houses components, or dash board panel for mounting guages (I have a custom aluminum dash on my 280), or whatever. I have read the posts by most of the hybrid members but I dont think anyone has done any 'panel layups' per se, then cut up this 'layup' for projects. I also want to make some FRP enclosures for my boat. I agree that a gelcoat outside layer looks better but not sure how to apply, I guess you just pour on. Not for custom car body parts like scoops, but I think a panel layup might be something i can use for various things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 Hitch, thanks for the book reference, sounds really good. And TomahawkZ I never looked in the body kit section ( dont know why ) but I will check out your threads for the Vela Rosa. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 Okay, when you go to buy your mold release stuff, you want to buy mold release wax and PVA Mold Release which is a brush on, watersoluble liquid. You should be able to get these things through any good fiberglass supply place or boat repair shop. Apply the wax, then spray on the PVA. As for the resin, get marine grade polyester or epoxy. Don't waste your time with cheap dept. store Bondo brand stuff. For glass, use 2 layers of 1 1/2oz. mat or 3-4 layers of 7-8 oz. bi- directional cloth. If you use the mold release stuff outlined above, you can use almost any flat surfaced material to do your layups and come out okay. Practice first on small peices and use only enough resin to wet it out. You don't want it pooling but at the same time, you want to add enough resin to wet it out well. Also, follow the mixing instructions for the resin. Never mix hot batches either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 Some people use chopped fibers when they need to do bonding of panels or as a filler material. Like for example, if your new fender flares didn't match your body too well but you didn't want to bond them on, you could use this stuff to fill in the gaps after you put PVA on the area of the fender. Another good mold release device is good old clear 3M packaging tape with a coat of PVA. You would use this when you where worried about hurting the finish of the area(like paint on a fender), you were doing a fill or lay up on. The tape glue comes off with WD-40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 Hand shread your fiberglass mat material and you will have somehing close to chopped fibers.Just about 90% of all the aftermarket automotive fiberglass parts that I have seen were made from "chopped fiber" gunned right out of a chopper gun with the polyester resin. Hand laid "shreaded" fiberglass mat forms, sticks and packs better to corners and curves while mat and cloth will wiggle all over the place with a habit of trying to defy gravity by standing up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 Thanks this clarifies. What about using chopped fibers. I own a boat so I am more used to cloth and mat etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 I have used a chopper gun and they are nice items to use as they mix the resin and spray the glass peices at the same time. This is done through pumps and a paddle wheel looking cutter that cuts a long strand of glass thread pulled from a huge roll. It's also expensive and messy as hell plus, you still have to roll it out with a roller to get the air bubbles out. It's good for mass production purposes. You can get the same results from mat cloth if you roll it out. First, wet out the area you want to glass with resin, then, add the mat that is cut out 1/4" or so oversize. At this point, pour a little resin on it and squigee it around using cut cardboard as your squigee. After it is wet out, use your roller(one that is made for rolling out fiberglass)to chase down your air bubbles. If you add too much resin, you can squigee some of it back off, or if it's too dry, you can add a little more. The results will look better than a chopper gun and rolled out mat will conform to all the nooks and crannies too. Cleanup is another issue. Use Actone to clean your rollor or bushes. Both can last a long time if you clean them up. I use the cheap wood handle type with horse hair. They work the best. Safety.....NUMBER ONE! Always wear gloves and work in a well ventalated area. And ALWAYS wear eye protection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 24, 2003 Share Posted January 24, 2003 Thanks gentlemen.. this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Want aZ Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 My dad ws president of the fiberglass manufacturing association for several years. if you have any questions he could probably answer them, pretty sure he has an e-mail, as he is still involved to a limited extent with my brothers company, Acadian Fiberglass, he could probably answer any questions as well, just do a search in google. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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