Custom Fiberglass

Help me Please!!!!!!!

since its posted here i'll answer some questions you probably have.

First of all you need to get your hands in this stuff to really learn it, do not be afraid of the glass its really easy once you get some time in it, the basics are kindergarten the hard part comes in making everything look perfect and keeping air out of the mix.

Get you some cheap fiberglass such as a kit from home depot or lowes, find something in your house, maybe its a book, maybe its a cd case, maybe a peice you can get out of your car to practice with, since your basically going to be creating a mold when you build a sub box, practice taping and masking off an area, use lots and lots of tape and foil as anything but foil will not stop the resin from seeping thru, you can use a paper backing then layer the foil over it and tape it to keep it intact till the resin dries but you have to be careful if your doing anything inside your car the resin will run/drip very easily and will get anywhere you DONT want it to be and you cannot get it out short of cutting the carpet or useing acetone that may get it out if it hasnt dried and will destroy whatever you put it on.

fiberglass resin is a 2 part compound, you will have your resin then you will have your hardener do not mix these until you are 100% ready to put it on your work, precut your fiberglass mat to the shape you want to lay it as, do not be afraid to rip several small peices of glass mat and overlap them it wont hurt anything sometimes it can be stronger as long as your layers are even, with the foil backing you will see how thick your layers are each time you add a peice, mix up small amounts of resin at a time you dont need the whole bottle the first time out the goal is to mix enough for one layer which will depend on how big your peice is going to be, let the layers dry completely between coats, learn to read the glass as your going you will see little signs that your resin is about to turn, which is the point where it becomes a gel instead of a liquid it will get thicker become harder to stir and start getting warm in your cup, follow all directions exactly, usually you will have between 5-10 mins to work with your resin if you use a hot resin in winter your times should stay that way if you use a cold resin in winter it could take hours or it may not ever set, outside temp is very very important to working with glass, unless you do it in a shop and can control your temps try to do this on warm days or in summer months, also follow all directions to a t if it says mix 1 oz resin to .5 oz hardner then it needs exactly this amount or you will have problems, again it may not set if you mix it cold or if you put to much hardner it will take off and have a huge reaction causing smoke and enough heat to melt just about anything, i've seen this happen once, the resin ate the bottom out of a paint mixing cup. good luck with your projects.

J~