first time glasser

hi all first i must say this site/forum/12volt is awesome.. so much info and such long nights at the pc reading everything.. Thanks to all the people who have helped me in my quest as well as many others im sure. i have trried twice now to create a fiberglass box for 2 6x9 audiobahn 200w rms 400 max. the platform is a 26" by 12" mdf board, 2 6x9 rings and a few 1/4" dowels.. now.. this box is not intended for any specific vehicle.. just for trial and error purposes. i found problems each time i tried so far. first fiberglass resin jelly...thats a no-no... second i got to my 3rd layer of matting b4 i realized i didnt used enuff hardener.. that sucked. now im gunna try again but i wanna know if there is a good way to measure the resin to hardener ratio.. also would like to know peoples methods for air-proofing the the bottom of the fabric to mdf... i used hot glue and plenty of resin... what are the opinions? questions? comments? help a man out.. thanks all!

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you can make a cheap system sound like a million bucks if you know what your doing.

A good indication of resin to hardener is when the color changes and how fast it takes to turn to jelly. If your still in the process of applying the resin mixture to the project when it turns to jelly, your mixing the hardener too hot. I use small batches and I don't have a certain measuring technique as per say.... just with experience I use what I need. If I want the mixture to cure fast I mix more MEK into the resin and less if I want it to last cure with a longer time.

As far as the fleece or cloth goes, I use upholstery staples to secure the cloth to the MDF frame and hot glue for any parts that are attached to fiberglassed areas.

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

1% hardener is a good rule of thumb.  There is a great MEKP dispenser at selectproducts.com, but you can probably find it locally for much cheaper.

Like austincustoms said, 1% is a safe bet depending on the number of layers and the temperature. If you're going to lay 6 layers on something quickly, then you should think about how much hardener will be packed in there...it'll get very hot when it's layered. If you wanna see just how hot it can get, pour about 8-10% hardener into a batch of resin but don't mix it...I have seen it start a fire, or at least melt the plastic mixing tub. You can always err on the side of too little hardener, but it'll just take forever to cure. Without a MEKP dispenser it'll probably just take some experience like Velocity said.

I'm with Velocity on my hardner to resin ratio. I just squeese a good stream into the resin, then stir to see what color it comes out to be. If its brown I know that it will cure pretty slow so I can take my time laying the mat on. If it's really dark brown then I work really fast. If I look into my container and it's really dark and looks like I just opened a doorway to hell, I pour my resin on whatever I'm working on.

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Tell the Snap-On guy I'm not here!