Wondering if anyone can help with this idea...Trying to figure out a way to make a face plate for a box but want it to be clear. will resin and hardner in a mold be able to be strong enough to hold the subs. They are jl w0's so they are fairly light....I want to make the mold out of thick foam (in reverse) and then pour the mixture into the mold. does anyone know if this would work
I guess it depends on what you mean by "clear".
If you just use resin and hardner, it still won't be clear like glass, it will have a tinge to it, and if it has any curves, it will bend the light, so it wont be easy to see through. Not to mention, the cloth is what adds the stability to structure, if you just use resin and catalyst, I have a feeling it will just crack and splinter.
Even with the cloth, you will probably find just about the same transperancy of straight resin.
If you want a curved completely transperent front to the box, I would say, good luck, go pay to get a custom plexi glass piece done. If you want a flat completely transperent front to the box then just use straight 3/4 " plexi.
If you are not looking for completely transperent, but just want light to show through or somthing like that, a person on another forum I belong to had a cool setup in his Fiero. He built in a custom box behind his seats, and used fiberglass and MDF for his front plate. In the MDF he cut out a custom design. He laid a first layer of fiberglass over top of the front plate with the cut out, and added a little but of blue talcon powder (or some sort of paint... maybe transperant paper, I am not sure) then put the other layers over top of that. When he painted the box, he put masking over where he cut out the MDF.. and painted everything else. He also put a light inside the box. Because he cut out the MDF, and left the paint off of that area, the light shines through and makes the cut out glow. In the day time, it still looks good, because the powder/paint with the fiberglass adds an almost marble pattern. It looks awesome. The best way to find out for yourself, is spend the time and do small test boxes to start with.
Yes they have a resin that is clear that you could try to do that with, I am just not sure if it would be strong enough. You may be able to do it if you make it really thick. Go to https://www.shopmaninc.com/polyesters.html just scroll down, it says the color that it is and everything.
Matt
what about neatly bracked and screwed thick perspex sheets, i made a computer case out of the stuff, if your gentle enough with a silicon gun you could seal it well and hardly see the silicon