Body fillers
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Fiberglass, Fabrication, and Interiors
Forum Discription: Fiberglass Kick Panels, Subwoofer Enclosures, Plexiglas, Fabrics, Materials, Finishes, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=60518
Printed Date: May 02, 2024 at 9:54 AM
Topic: Body fillers
Posted By: Clif
Subject: Body fillers
Date Posted: August 02, 2005 at 1:15 AM
I was wondering what would work best for body fillers, i curently use bondo now, It gets the job done but it takes forever to sand, is there something els on the marken that sands better and quicker? Is there a better overall body filler out there, let me know, got a big project a head and i dont really wanna use bondo.....
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hmmm.... was that the right wire?
Replies:
Posted By: jaybong
Date Posted: August 02, 2005 at 1:28 AM
rage gold and for a topcoat 2 parts resin 4 parts rage, apropriate hardener for each. hope that helps
Posted By: realitycheck
Date Posted: August 02, 2005 at 8:56 AM
I just use rage gold, it sands like butter. Its awesome, I love that stuff its expensive but its worth the extra money. On my next project to get it ready for paint, im going to sand the fiberglass down, then paint the piece with just fiberglass resin, let it harden. Come back and do it again about 2 or 3 more times. That way I'll have just a good thick coat of resin on top of the glass work. It should self level and everything, probably will have to block sand just a little bit but should be way better than putting the rage right on top of the glass. Anyway after I coat it in resin, ill sand it just a tad to rough up the surface. Then do a small skim coat of rage sand and primer, and paint that thing.
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Learning the trade one fiberglass creation at a time!
Posted By: mloretitsch
Date Posted: August 02, 2005 at 2:15 PM
How long do you let the Bondo set before sanding?
I apply filler and wait for about 15 minutes. It will be soft enough to file (you have to get a feel for it). I go over it with a body file to rough shape right at 15 minutes or so then sand the rest out. Following that you can go to 80 grit paper. Work fast because it hardens quickly from this point.
I realize this is a body article, but look down at the picture where he uses a cheese grater body file as soon as the filler starts to setup. This might alleviate a lot of your time sanding!
Hotrod Article
-Matt
Posted By: Clif
Date Posted: August 02, 2005 at 3:12 PM
I think i might go with rage gold, i can get a gallon of it for about 30 bucks on ebay, witch is not to bad, dont know how much it costs in stores but i will check that out. But a buddy of mine has some stuff that he thinks works real well. but all as i know is that my next project i am not using bondo!!!
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hmmm.... was that the right wire?
Posted By: 05honda
Date Posted: August 02, 2005 at 8:16 PM
you should definatly try thinning the bondo withresin and hardener......it works well and goes on smooth.....
Posted By: phatx96xaccord
Date Posted: August 02, 2005 at 9:21 PM
i bought rage gold on ebay for under 25bucks shipped, havent used it yet, but will soon ------------- would u like your chicken original or extra crispy?
Posted By: modena0
Date Posted: August 03, 2005 at 1:29 PM
i use Rage extreme regularly, and it is the easiest sanding filler i've ever used. also to speed up sanding you might want to try a pneumatic DA sander
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Posted By: Clif
Date Posted: August 03, 2005 at 2:44 PM
i got a few sanders, a 6" circular, 1/3 sheet and a 1/4th sheet sander. but i cant use any of those sanders on the small curves of the kickpannels im working on. But i am going to pick up some rage gold today to see how it works.
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hmmm.... was that the right wire?
Posted By: audiomechanic
Date Posted: August 04, 2005 at 7:22 AM
3 inch DAs work really good for small and curvy parts, you can pick one up for about 100 dollars.
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Posted By: audiomechanic
Date Posted: August 04, 2005 at 7:22 AM
3 inch DAs work really good for small and curvy parts, you can pick one up for about 100 dollars.
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Posted By: jt73
Date Posted: August 16, 2005 at 10:03 PM
love rage gold...mar-glass sands very easily too for a reinforced body filler
Posted By: uz2bauto
Date Posted: September 21, 2005 at 5:32 PM
after using rage gold at school and now using rage extreme at work i can say that rage extreme, i think, is a better filler. also if you are looking for a re-inforced type filler i reccomend using fiber-tech by evercoat it actually has kevlar strands in it and it is stronger than kitty hair. also if you have used kitty hair/tiger hair/etc. then you know that when applying it that the whole 'wad' likes to follow where you spread it. the fiber-tech does not, it spreads almost as easily as your regular fillers. ------------- paint and body
"semi-professional"
Posted By: 5150azn
Date Posted: September 21, 2005 at 5:50 PM
uz2bauto wrote:
after using rage gold at school and now using rage extreme at work i can say that rage extreme, i think, is a better filler.
also if you are looking for a re-inforced type filler i reccomend using fiber-tech by evercoat it actually has kevlar strands in it and it is stronger than kitty hair. also if you have used kitty hair/tiger hair/etc. then you know that when applying it that the whole 'wad' likes to follow where you spread it. the fiber-tech does not, it spreads almost as easily as your regular fillers.
I don't know why people use kitty hair. That stuff doesn't spread for nothing. I'm a big mar-glas fan myself. And the Rage is awesomely soft for sanding. I've used poly-fil for the tiny spots that form from like air pockets and stuff. What do you guys use? ------------- Tell the Snap-On guy I'm not here!
Posted By: uz2bauto
Date Posted: September 21, 2005 at 5:54 PM
with the rage extreme i hardly ever have any pinholes. when mixing dont whip it up, try folding and smushing the filler together until you get your color even. also you can use just a little more than half of the hardener that is reccommended for your temp. and it will be okay...this will give you a longer work time with your filler and less waste.
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paint and body
"semi-professional"
Posted By: 5150azn
Date Posted: September 21, 2005 at 6:56 PM
cool thanks! so I'm supposed to fold it huh. oh man thanks again!
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Tell the Snap-On guy I'm not here!
Posted By: jt73
Date Posted: September 21, 2005 at 7:39 PM
I agree with 5150...LOVE Mar-glass
Posted By: mi_what
Date Posted: September 21, 2005 at 8:44 PM
I use bondo professional...seeing as how the only way I can find rage gold is online and I don't feel like paying the shipping and handling and waiting a week. What I do though is as the filler hits its "green stage" (where it rubs off before completely hardening) I use about 40 grit and that cuts the sanding time in half by far. What you do is:
After applying the first coat of bondo or rage wait til it is somewhat hardened (should feel kinda tacky) then start sanding it with 40 grit. It will knock down all of the ridges and sand it down smooth. Then just keep changing out sand paper as it continues to harden until it is completely hardened. Trust me, I was able to sand a full center console in less than half an hour (completely smooth too.)
doesn't matter what filler you use; just a little trick of the trade 
Posted By: placid warrior
Date Posted: September 21, 2005 at 10:20 PM
they make surform planes (think thats what theyre called) which are basically graters which are made for the task...just like what mi_what said but instead of 40 grit, this plane can be re-used...although ive never used one myself yet so i dont know how well they work but they also can only be used on flat or raised areas...thats more for bodywork.
Posted By: uz2bauto
Date Posted: September 22, 2005 at 6:32 AM
they are like cheese graters...great for crushed quarter panel reshaping haha
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paint and body
"semi-professional"
Posted By: davedyer79
Date Posted: September 22, 2005 at 10:56 AM
I have tried sanding on Bondo during its "semi-hardened" stage (i hope newbies don't get the wrong impression of this quote.) I find it clogs the paper to quick, wasting it. I have used everything, and will agree with almost all the others on this post, Rage is the BEST. Extreme for thin, finishing coats and Gold for building and first stage of smoothing. Rage Extreme seems better at reducing pinholes than Rage Gold, but Rage Gold is far superior than Extreme when it comes to sanding quickly. Also, the cheese graters work great on flat surfaces. I love these: https://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?itemID=517&itemType=CATEGORY&iMainCat=516&iSubCat=517&page=2 they flex with the curves of a amp rack or sub enclosure and allows you to smooth quickly with 40-80 grit. Another trick to lesson sanding time: finish your sanding at 80 grit, just spray a good, thick coat of primer on. Don't worry about the runs, those can sand out easy. Primer will be the easiest thing you will ever sand. Why worry about sanding body filler with 400-600 when you can wet sand primer with that and save about 75% the time. Primer will fill the pinholes, sanding scratches, etc and give you a mirror surface for base/clear. ------------- davedyer79
Posted By: 5150azn
Date Posted: September 22, 2005 at 12:49 PM
Hey do you guys know the trick with mdf? You just shape the mdf to the shape of file you need then you glue the sand paper to it and bam you have a custom tool. Thats a 310 motoring trade secret so don't say I never contributed anything to this forum.
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Tell the Snap-On guy I'm not here!
Posted By: mi_what
Date Posted: September 22, 2005 at 3:12 PM
I did that MDF trick...worked great; but, I evolved it a little for my comfort. So here goes the mystery secret:
Take a peice of old fabric (fleece works well with this) fold it up a couple of times just enough to create 1/4" thinkness max., lay it on the bottom of the sanding block (of MDF), then staple gun the sand paper to the sides front and back of the MDF.
What this does is creates a soft spot for the sandpaper to curve with the shape of your creation and not gouge out the filler too instantly.
Oh, and that "semi-hardened" stage takes a little bit of getting used too. It does work though. Just a thought.
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