Custom Panels via Fiberglass

I have yet to do any work creating my own forms using fiber glass, and was curious if anyone knew of a good tutorial book, or howto guide somewhere that can give me tips on doing it. 

I want to manufacture two 6.5 and tweater speaker enclosures.  Also any ideas on where to purchase supplies that is the most affordable would be apperciated.

Thanks

Craig

ok, I found some decent tutorials on the net, I think I am going to give it a whirl....worse thing that will happen, is that it will look like crap and I will redo it...practice makes perfect right.....oh well....

I think I may provide some pictures along my way during this endevor.

Craig

Hey Craig... need some help ?? Here's a site for you:   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/glassmanscustomforum

Thanks Jeff,

I actually found that site and requested to become a member of the group so I can access all of their files.  I have decided, I will continue with one more day of research, since this is my first time doing fiberglass.  In the past I used bendy-board and made my moldings that way, but its time for me to enter into the big world.  Do you know what type of fiberglass matting to use?  or what materials/tools I need to make sure I have on hand?

Thanks

Craig

You won't be alone Craig.... I too am going to build my very first fiberglass speaker pods. Most of the sites I have come across on the web have left much to the imagination. I am for the most part going into this with little expectations for my first couple tries. I too am going to be taking pics along the way so I can get ideas from others and share what worked...

yea good call,

I will continue to post infos as I learn, there is A LOT of types of fiberglass mats that you can choose from, since it is so highly used in industry.  The shape I have to do for the door panels of the car is not to complex, just a few ridges here and there.  Plus having the speakers in a better enclosure sure ought to do a lot for performance as well as imaging. 

I am going to tape it off, then draw with a felt marker the pattern I want, after that I will apply some adhesive and cut a piece of fleece to fit, (i have read in several places this is the way to go to give extra backing and thickness to a standard fiberglass matt, although, I think with a 1/8inch mat, this may not be necessary still checking into it).  After that I will put resin on and apply the mat on top of that.  After it drys I should be able to easly remove it and begin bonding it up to fit the shape I want around a frame that I will build that will hold the speaker in place.  Not sure exactly how I am going to do the mounting of the grill and what not, I imagine I will leave some sort of lip or "routed edge" to screw the homemade grill plate too (1/4" board with holes cut where the speaker is and stretched grill cloth over it).  I have to cover it with vinyl to match the interior of the car, so that may be a bit tricky, but I think it is still doable. 

What is your plan of attack?

All thoughts and considerations welcome !

Craig

Hey Craig and Jeff;

Fiberglass is an awesome resource to use when you can get the right mix and the right tools for the job. Use chopped mat for fiberglass ( try to steer away from the woven stuff too soft ). Here's a big secret for kick panels.... use alot of masking tape. Mask the area that you want to fiberglass and use about 2 layers of masking tape. Leave the plastic kick panel portion where it is and use plastic to cover the carpet so no resin will stick to it if you end up dripping some on areas other than the intended spot. After you have taped up the area that you wish to mask ( make sure you mask more than the area ) take a felt marker and trace out the area that you wish the kick panel to cover and  you take a can of spray adhesive and spray the area with a layer of glue. let it get tacky and take the chopped mat and cut into strips of about 2 " wide by 6 inches long and cover the area with chopped mat until there is no more masking showing. Now take a mixture of resin and hardener ( you will have to experiment with the amount of hardener and resin ratio ) and apply it with a paint brush and paint it on until it is totally soaked through the chopped mat. Leave until dry and make sure your in a VERY WELL VENTILATED area and use a mask !!

Next you can pop out the mold of the back side of your newly acquired kick pod. Perfect mold of the kick panel and you can now cut off the extra fiberglass that is over the felt marker line that you had on the masking tape. take off the masking tape and  you can now thicken the mold with more chopped mat and resin and do this about 3 or 4 times.

Now for the front of the pos what you want to do is make trim rings out of MDF and use blocks of wood and hot glue gun to attach the trim ring to the back side of the mold you just made to get the proper angle for the kick pods. Once this is done and the angle is set inplace you take some fleece and wrap the front of the pod all the way to the back and pull tight all the way around. Hot glue the fleece tot he back side of the fiberglass mold and now you use just resin and hardener to apply over the fleece. Soak the heck out of the fleece and wait for it to dry. Once it has dried hard, you can cut out the holes for the speakers with a utility knife and once again start the fiberglass thickening process to the fron of the pod and the inside of the box.

Use bondo and polyester primer to finish the smoothness for painting or just use bondo if you are going to vinyl or carpet the project.

wow, thank you so much

I will post pictures as I attempt this endevor.

If you think of any other hints let me know!

Craig

Actually I did, use this method when you start with the glassing of the taped section:

..................when you apply the resin dont soak it all the way through or it will melt the glue with the heat from it curing. let that layer dry then you can go through and add more once you get the thickness you need pop the piece out and resin the back.