Fiberglass

[silverscottsk10]

I can bondo and I can weld but fiberglass is new to me, how difficult is it?

 

[skysurfer]

My thoughts on the subject from another thread:

I've done a lot of fiberglass work, surfed for twenty years so repairs were necessary. Also worked in a shop that made custom bodies and fairings for motorcycles. It's not difficult to do but can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. The fumes are toxic, plus the sanding dust makes you itch like mad and never comes out of nylon clothing so you end up tossing any clothes it gets into. If you mix a hot batch of resin it can create enough heat to burst into flame so it's best to watch the parts set up.

When I was learning how to laminate I asked the guy teaching me if there was some sort of laminators union. He said "Nah, nobody in this business lives long enough to start one."

 

[firebane]

1) Itchy as hell
2) Hard on the body in all shapes and forms

Regarding working with it... absolute pain in the ass and requires a ton of patience.

 

[MadOgre]

I dunno. I always thought it was super simple!

Work in well ventilated place with proper respirator.

Be prepared. Know what you want to do in advance and have everything ready cause you only get one chance. But you do have a bit of time its not like 5 min epoxy lol.

All your fabric should be cut to size and pre fit tested before even mixing up any resin.

Then just take your time and keep it where you want it until it sets. The worst piece is always the first piece.

 

[silverscottsk10]

How long would it take to set?
Roughly

 

[firebane]

Depends on how you mix your resin.

 

[silverscottsk10]

So I will practice then before I attempt an actual mold lol

 

[firebane]

So I will practice then before I attempt an actual mold lol

Molds take a lot of work. You need cloth, matt, wax amongst tools like rollers and brushes. Containers to mix stuff in etc.

Mix too much catalyst into your resin and you'll have a smoking pot of resin really fast.

 

[silverscottsk10]

Well it wont be a "mold" per say, but probably a metal model
I can see how I want to do it but I can't explain it

 

[MadOgre]

Well it wont be a "mold" per say, but probably a metal model
I can see how I want to do it but I can't explain it

make sure you separate the fiberglass from the metal via wax or something cause fiberglass adheres extremely well to metal!