Fiberglass matting is composed of interwoven glass fibers.
Fiberglass has a stigma of activity tedious and arduous to office with. Absolutely, it is even easier to capitalization than wood or metal, and requires sole identical intelligible tools to shape into any construction required for your project. Its power and durability makes it expert for most projects, chiefly in the automotive universe. The adjacent accepted directions can be used to cause subwoofer enclosures, oppose panels, tanks, covers or anything else you can fancy of.
Instructions
1. Build a mock-up of the desired finished chip by either cutting and taping cardboard into a Rugged shape, or sculpting high-density foam until it resembles the product you're creating. Elicit to novel for the thickness laying fiberglass on the away Testament add when shaping your chip. The formation doesn't own to be absolute. There Testament be lot of fitness for filing, sanding and shaping before Stirring on to dye.
2. Prepare the template to get the fiberglass. Protect it by covering it in aluminium foil (masking tape works bushy-tailed to influence the foil in country). Assemble decided the foil is clinging tightly to the configuration, in that the fiberglass Testament be beguiling this shape. To prevent the resin from sticking to the foil, thoroughly coat it with a spray-on mould Proceeds or a nonstick pan spray.
Run your roller over each layer, and allow each layer to dry before moving on to the next one.The total number of layers will be determined by the stress that will be placed on the part. If you're making something simple and small, then a few layers would do. On the contrary, if you're making an auto body panel, you'll need many layers of fiberglass for strength. Appliance a curler to office outside any air pockets or bubbles. When done, the event should be completely moulded to the design, with no gaps or dead interval. One shot put one layer of glass on the gone. Reinforcements will be made from the inside to prevent even more thickness from being added. Before moving on, allow the fiberglass to completely dry; this will take several hours.
4. Gently remove the delicate sheet of glass from the form, being careful not to bend, break or crack it. Lay several reinforcement sheets on the inside of the newly cast part. Though matting allows you to lay glass quicker, the first few layers should be regular fiberglass sheets, since they do a great job of curving around corners. Also, if there is a chance they might show after the outer layer is sanded, they are cosmetically superior to fiberglass mats.3. Place the early layer of glass over the foil-covered arrangement. Thoroughly coat the event of fiberglass in resin before applying, to certify they dry as one solid quantity.
5. Test fit your part once it has completely dried. It may need to be filed and sanded down to fit into place. A large metal file can be used to work through rough edges, followed by a rough grit sandpaper to remove more thickness. The visible surface of the part will need to be sanded down level, but at this point, it should still remain fairly rough for the finishing putty to stick to.
6. Smooth out the surface using an auto body putty such as Bondo. Once the putty dries, sand it using progressively finer paper, until you have a texture that is smooth and even to the touch, but still rough enough for paint to stick to. Auto body putty should only be used in thin layers to produce a paint-ready finish, so if you need To erect the part up structurally, use a fiberglass reinforced putty instead. When finished, wipe the surface with rubbing alcohol to insure good adherence.
7. Begin priming with a spray can. Two thin coats are enough for most projects, and should be applied using long, even, sweeping motions on a horizontal plane. Allow the primer to completely dry, then move on to paint, using the same thin, even coats. Sometimes seven or eight coats may be required for complete coverage. Each coat doesn't have to completely dry before beginning the next one, it just has to set long enough to no longer be completely liquid. The final product can then be topped off with a coat of clear for protection.
