Fiberglassing

[LowNotSlow]

Just ordered 10yards of 50", 2 ounce chop mat for my custom enclosure.

Anybody have any experience to impart on me? I'm used to working with things of this nature but I've never fiberglassed.

Any resin suggestions? I know I should use a polyester resin. I may or may not use carbon fiber as a final skin over the fiberglass, though there's a global shortage of the stuff which is making carpet look better and better.

I will of course provide a DIY.

 

[Matt.]

the shortage of cf is bs. But fiberglassing is easy, just take your time, and sand sand sand.

 

[AutoFanatik]

lol global shortage of cf? hahahahahahaha sounds funny i dont know why

 

[LowNotSlow]

the shortage of cf is bs. But fiberglassing is easy, just take your time, and sand sand sand.

I know. The shortage certainly did effect the amount of the stuff on my bicycle made from it so who knows. I've been to three different companies and they all say the same thing, global shortage.

 

[EG-Owns you]

ya some airplane company bought it all for some hightec s**t thats what i read dont know if its ture or not

 

[cujo613]

If you are going to tub your trunk the chop mat will work good for the base. You will need a releasing agent like turtle wax and tape the edges. If you are going for a full fiberglass enclosure the chop mat is not the stuff you wanted to go with. Hard to shape and it never wants to stay in place for the covering. For covering use a t shirt like material, or even cut a t shirt up if it will cover the top

 

[Beelzebubba]

ya some airplane company bought it all for some hightec s**t thats what i read dont know if its ture or not

well it wasn't Beechcraft....


They gave up on the Starship a few years ago.

 

[Grafix Ink.]

the shortage of cf is bs.

is it? not realy.. the cost is surely sky high nw compaired to 6 months ago...
i forget who but soemoen bought a huge amount of them and is now selling them back at a discusting price

 

[LowNotSlow]

************** Important Notice *******************
Due to the worldwide carbon fiber shortage we are out of stock of most of our carbon cloths. Please see each item's description for status or quantity limits.


We forsee a high probability of running out of all carbon cloths. Supplies are so scarce that it is very likely anyone requiring carbon fiber cloth will need to convert to fiberglass or S2 fiberglass(s-glass) to continue manufacturing.

We will keep our website updated as availability changes, unfortunately these shortages
are far beyond any control either we or any other distributor has.
Thank you for your understanding.
Click on this link for websites and articles pertaining to the shortages.

Most Commonly Asked Question:
Q. When will you be getting in more of this cloth?
A. Unfortunately we do not know. The weavers of the cloth are unable to secure the raw carbon tow used to make the cloths due to high aerospace and defense demands as well as scattered stockpiling by end users of material which makes the shortage even more severe.

 

[_Ben_W]

Just ordered 10yards of 50", 2 ounce chop mat for my custom enclosure.

Anybody have any experience to impart on me? I'm used to working with things of this nature but I've never fiberglassed.

Any resin suggestions? I know I should use a polyester resin. I may or may not use carbon fiber as a final skin over the fiberglass, though there's a global shortage of the stuff which is making carpet look better and better.

I will of course provide a DIY.

I have been completely happy with evercoats products. I have made a few enclosures with their resin and rage xtreme body filler.http://www.evercoat.com/products.aspx
Just make sure to be patient and pay attention to detail, you will be much happier with the end product if you take your time. If you want to cover your enclosure with something out of the ordinary, go to a local fabric store and find something you are interested in. If you insist on the carbonfiber look, there are a few companies that make vinyl that looks close to carbonfiberhttp://www.instylegraphics.com/index.asp?

 

[X-aCuTiOnA]

I have been completely happy with evercoats products. I have made a few enclosures with their resin and rage xtreme body filler.http://www.evercoat.com/products.aspx
Just make sure to be patient and pay attention to detail, you will be much happier with the end product if you take your time. If you want to cover your enclosure with something out of the ordinary, go to a local fabric store and find something you are interested in. If you insist on the carbonfiber look, there are a few companies that make vinyl that looks close to carbonfiberhttp://www.instylegraphics.com/index.asp?

WTF. That CF looks like ass. I can hand draw CF better then that!

 

[_Ben_W]

true, Just a suggestion

 

[kilas4doorsleep]

If you are going to tub your trunk the chop mat will work good for the base. You will need a releasing agent like turtle wax and tape the edges. If you are going for a full fiberglass enclosure the chop mat is not the stuff you wanted to go with. Hard to shape and it never wants to stay in place for the covering. For covering use a t shirt like material, or even cut a t shirt up if it will cover the top

fleece works perfectly for that kind of job. i use it for all of my fiberglass boxes and never had a poblem. when soaked in fiberglass it is super strong dont have to worry bout the box cracking.

 

[LowNotSlow]

Got the fiberglass in last week. Wow it's a lot. I'll have extra for sure.

Just need to get some resin now.

the enclosure is going to be carpeted. I want it all to look OEM.

 

[kzoobaggs]

to be honest w/ you any resin will work you can go to a meijer or walmart and pick up a gallon jug of resin and you will be able to use it. Just remember that the more hardner you use the faster the resin will setup on you and you want to make sure that you have enough time to manipulate the resin. If you are making a box w/ a lot of curves or something it might be easier to have some kind of cloth to stretch over the frame of the enclosure first. Thin fleece or a t shirt even will work well.