Fiberglass Mold Making & Repair

Building Plugs with Foam

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 2:14 pm on Sunday, March 2, 2008

I have received many questions regarding the foam that I use in my building projects. So many people immediately think that the polyester resin (the cheap stuff) attacks the foam that I use.

Since I use dry floral foam blocks with my small hobby projects, this is not an issue. The problem that most people have with resin attacking foam is the case where polyester resin attacks Styrofoam.

Styrofoam comes in sheets from the local hardware store and is very cheap and very easy to shape. Styrofoam can be easily shaped with keyhole saws, jigsaws, reciprocating saws, serrated knifes, band saws and saber saws.

Styrofoam, however, has a major drawback of being attacked by your polyester resin. The easy answer to this problem is to use epoxy resin over Styrofoam. The problem with epoxy resins lies in their costs. If you are working on a large project, epoxy resin can get very expensive.

That being said, there is yet another easy and inexpensive solution to the problem of using polyester based resin materials over Styrofoam. This solution involves painting the surface of your already shaped Styrofoam with regular old acrylic house paint. The resin does not adhere easily to glossy surfaces so the paint should be sprayed onto the foam.

Remember that this paint is intended for brushing or rolling and will therefore be a little too thick to spray as it is. You will have to thin it with a little water. For the best coverage of the foam you should spray on three layers with adequate drying time between each layer. I would also recommend using a different color of paint then the foam you are painting for obvious reasons.

Once the paint has dried, you’re the surface of your plug can safely be coated with Bondo, polyester resin and of course epoxy without fear of being attacked.

I hope that this clears up some questions and concerns regarding plug materials. Styrofoam is a great plug material as it can be carved to shape your surface and it acts as filler material at the same time.

Happy Building

More coming soon…

Steve

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Finishing The Cobra Helicopter Ceiling Fan

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 10:13 am on Friday, February 22, 2008

This will wrap up this series on the Helicopter Ceiling Fan builds. However, Detailing and Painting might be where I head next here in the blog.

Cobra Helicopter Ceiling Fan After the PVA dries, I brush in a nice healthy layer of gelcoat. Once the gelcoat cures to a tack, I begin to lay resin and mat. Since this is a fairly large item, I do two layers of 1 ½ ounce mat to provide a little strength without the part getting too heavy.

Once this fiberglass gels, I trim the excess with a sharp utility knife and let the mold cure to its full hardness. Since I will be joining the two halves of the helicopter, I don’t pull the pieces from the mold until I am ready to join them. This is because any shrinkage / warping will wreak havoc with my attempts to line up the two halves of this copter during the joining process.

Removing the parts from this mold is done just as described previously. I slip a putty knife between the mold and the part. Using several putty knives, I work the perimeter of the mold to loosen the piece. I progressively dig the putty knives deeper and deeper until my parts pop out of the mold.

Once the parts have been removed, I can clean / flatten the edges with a sanding block, align the two halves and use masking tape to hold them together and seal the seam. To finish this project I catalyze about 4 oz of resin and pour it along the inside of the seam that divides the two halves of this copter.

The resin is poured into the fuselage through the opening where the exhaust port would be. I then tilt the copter forward and backward to cover the seam with resin. Once this cures, I can remove the tape and deal with filling any defects in the seam.

With this post, the helicopter project is done.

More coming soon…

Steve

Keywords: Heilcopter Ceiling Fan Fiberglass Training, Fiberglass How To, Fiberglass Mold Making Gel Coat gelcoat, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Blog, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making, Fiberglass Manual, Fiberglass Model Body, Fiberglass Hoods, Fiberglass Body, The Uses of Multi-piece Molds,

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More On My Helicopter Ceiling Fan

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 12:20 am on Friday, February 15, 2008

In the picture you can see the mold halves of one of the projects that will soon be featured as Helicopter Ceiling Fan products. I begin by applying black tooling gelcoat with a dump gun at about 80 psi. I make sure to keep the gun close to my work because gelcoat Chopper Ceiling Fan Project makes a huge mess if it gets on something other than your project. I lay down a nice thick layer of gelcoat making sure to get good coverage around the base where the plug meets the board.

Once the plug is covered with gelcoat, I let it cure to a tack. I did this project on a nice hot San Diego day so it cured to a tack in about 45 minutes.

At this step I used a different approach than I am used to. I came into possession of a large roll of veil that I decided to use in the corners and angles of the mold. In the past I have always used a combination of cabosil and resin.

I found the veil easy to work with, especially when pushing it into corners with a chip brush. With the veil in place, I proceed to build the mold with three layers of 1 ½ ounce chopped mat.

I begin applying the chopped mat by brushing a nice thick layer of catalyzed resin over the area of the plug that I am working on. Then I place a piece of mat that has been pulled off of my roll and lay it on the plug.

I like to keep the pieces fairly small on a project like this, no larger than 6 inches square. Pulling the mat apart will leave many loose fibers that will help the strength of my final product once it has cured. When applying the mat, I like to overlap my pieces by about 20% and build a nice flange around the base of the plug.

More coming soon…

Steve

Keywords: Heilcopter Ceiling Fan Fiberglass Training, Fiberglass How To, Fiberglass Mold Making Gel Coat gelcoat, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Blog, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making, Fiberglass Manual, Fiberglass Model Body, Fiberglass Hoods, Fiberglass Body, The Uses of Multi-piece Molds,

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How To Fiberglass Training For Multi-Piece Fiberglass Molding

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 2:29 pm on Saturday, February 9, 2008

How To Fiberglass Training For Multi-Piece Fiberglass Molding From some email questions I have gotten from readers regarding my multi-piece Hilicopter Ceiling Fan, I think the following which is not specifically covered in my Fiberglass Training Manuals, may help with the “Clay In The Gaps” issues.

Preparing the plug is the next stage of this build. I begin by mounting the two halves of the plug to a piece of inch thick MDF board. I attach the plugs by using screws from the back side of the MDF.

Some people glue or epoxy their plugs to the parting plane. I prefer to use screws because I can remove the plug from the MDF after the mold is finished with out destroying it.

Once I have the plugs securely attached to the parting plane, I need to go around the base of the plugs looking for gaps between the board and the plugs. Any gaps are filled with clay. This is just a matter of forcing the clay into the gaps in order to prevent resin from getting under the plug.

When the gaps are filled and all excess clay is removed, I can apply mold release wax to the plugs and the MDF parting plane. I like both McGuire’s and Part-All mold release waxes. It is important to apply at least five coats to the plugs in order to ensure adequate coverage. The plugs should be polished to a shiny smooth finish.

PVA is now sprayed onto the plugs and the parting board. The PVA is an excellent barrier between the mold and the plug. I like to spray a coat, let it dry and then re-apply.

Applying two coats of PVA can result in lost detail but that is not a concern for me with this project. An additional coat of PVA will ensure an easy release when I de-mold the plugs.

I apply the PVA with my spray gun at about 60 psi and a distance of 8 to 12 inches. PVA is cheap and valuable at the same time. This set of mirror image plugs is now ready for molding.

For the molding process I need my air compressor and dump gun along with: tooling gelcoat, fiberglass resin and chopped mat, MEKP, rubber gloves, disposable brushes and a respirator or fume mask.

More coming soon…

Steve

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Back To Helicopter Ceiling Fans

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 11:28 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2008

At this stage of the build, the project gets a little tedious. Sand, prime and fill - sand, prime and fill. This process is repeated over and over until the surface is smooth and the two halves join in the center with a nice smooth border.

Spending time at this stage pays off in the end. Like I always say, every flaw that you are too lazy to work out of the plug at this point will become a flaw that will have to be worked out on every piece you ever make with the final mold.

In other words, you can fix a flaw once here, or you can fix it on every piece you ever make, maybe 100 times! Do yourself a favor and fix these problems on the plug.

Once I am happy with this plug, it is time to apply a nice heavy coat of automotive heavy fill primer from my air gun. This primer will fill all of the remaining imperfections. After the primer dries the plug can be fine sanded, polished and prepared for the actual molding of the plug.

At this point, I believe that I am done with the helicopter. Now it is time to stare at it. As you can see in the picture above, the two halves of the plug are clamped together.

I have already painstakingly aligned the two halves but now I am reaching the point of no return. I spend a good bit of time looking at the alignment of the two halves and at the plug itself to make sure that it meets my expectations.

I notice obvious departures from my reference model and need to decide if I can live with the variations. Remember what I said about my expectations of model building at the beginning of this manual - I like my projects to look like what they are supposed to look like but I don’t expect them to be completely scale. Keeping that concept in mind, I can easily identify this as a Huey UH-1 so I am good with what I have in this plug.

Steve Jones

Keywords: Fiberglass Boat Hull Fabrication,Ceiling Fan Helicopter Fiberglass Fabrication, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making Gel Coat gelcoat, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Blog, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making, Fiberglass Manual, Fiberglass Model Body, Fiberglass Hoods, Fiberglass Body, The Uses of Multi-piece Molds

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Just Apply The Concepts And You Can Do This Well

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 2:24 pm on Saturday, December 29, 2007

I received a very nice email from Steven Morris thanking me for my manuals he had purchased. He also included some pictures of a fiberglass repair project he has recently completed. I wanted to share these with you all because of the excellent job he did and how he has displayed his project on his site.

UH OH - GOTTA BOO BOO

Fiberglass That BOO BOO

Kiss The BOO & Make It All Better	BOO BOO ALL GONE!
Click On The Pix Above To See Steven’s Full Size Project Pics.

A lot of people have ask me if the techniques I use in my manuals can be applied to things other than the example projects I use in my manuals.Well I think Steven has proven with what you see here, you can apply the same concepts to any fiberglass project and end up with a quality finished product.If you would like to see more pictures of Steven’s repair project with larger, hi-res pix, go here: http://www.ddmorris.smugmug.com/gallery/3293295#P-1-12

Congratz on a job EXTREMELY well done Steven.

Here’s hoping you all have a SAFE and Very Happy New Year.

Back in a few days with more on the boat project.

Steve Jones

Keywords: Fiberglass Boat Hull Fabrication,Ceiling Fan Helicopter Fiberglass Fabrication, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making Gel Coat gelcoat, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Blog, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making, Fiberglass Manual, Fiberglass Model Body, Fiberglass Hoods, Fiberglass Body, The Uses of Multi-piece Molds

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More On Fibricating The Fiberglass Boat

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 1:44 pm on Friday, December 21, 2007

I WANT TO WISH YOU ALL SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAYSFirst just a quick note to you folks that have bought my manuals in the past. The manual is not available on this Fiberglass Boat Hull Build and my web master sent you all an email with a link to the page where you can pick it up.

Obviously the same fabrication techniques can be used to fabricat just about anything out of fiberglass.

Back To The Project:

With all of the buck stations in place, I can examine the two halves of this project for symmetry. The best way to do this is by clamping the two halves together and carefully examining the big picture.

Fiberglass Boat Hull Build I also use a ruler and check the basic measurements of buck stations that I consider critical to the final outcome. These don’t have to be perfect, but it should be pretty close, more symmetry at this point will insure a greater ease of building this model in the later stages. Once I am comfortable with the symmetry, I can move on and start filling the two halves with dry floral foam

.Filling the voids with dry floral foam is easy. I simply push the foam into the forms in away that provides the best use for each foam block. When necessary, I use an adhesive to secure the foam to the developing plug.

I find that using regular automotive bondo as an adhesive is an excellent way to attach this foam to anything. It holds strong, cures fast and is cheap compared to epoxy adhesives.

After I have a few blocks of foam in place, I like to rough trim the foam with a blade to make it easier to work with. Trimming can be done with a sawing motion using any type of serrated blade.

Usually I use a hacksaw blade but a serrated steak knife works well too. I continue adding foam until all the stations are full.

After the foam is installed, I can sand the foam down to the level of the buck stations. This is a simple and fast procedure. I usually use a sixty grit paper to do this job. Once the bulk of the foam is removed, I will use a medium grit paper to do any fine shaping.

Back in a few days with more on the boat project.

Steve

Keywords: Fiberglass Boat Hull Fabrication,Ceiling Fan Helicopter Fiberglass Fabrication, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making Gel Coat gelcoat, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Blog, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making, Fiberglass Manual, Fiberglass Model Body, Fiberglass Hoods, Fiberglass Body, The Uses of Multi-piece Molds

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Fiberglassing for Profit: Part 3 – Ceiling Fan Huey

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 9:04 pm on Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Just thought I’d let you folks know, there is money to be made Molding or Fabricating fiberglass projects and selling them. I just sold this Cammo Painted Huey Helocopter Ceiling fan on E-Bay for $176.00. Ceiling Fan Helicopter Fiberglass Cammo you can be doing this too. This is the 3rd one Ive sold this week besides 2 of my “Mach V” RC Car Bodies.

Anyway, back to how I’m building these ceiling fan choppers:

Now, I move forward with creating buck stations. A buck station is a guide that ensures that your plug is going to resemble what you want it to in the end. For this project I use the same 1/8 inch mahogany that I used for the initial profile pieces. My strategy for placement of buck stations is simple, I put one anywhere that I am concerned about maintaining the correct lines of my project. Usually I am of the opinion that more stations are better.

Another rule that I like when deciding how many stations to use is to make sure that my sanding block is longer than the span between the stations. I am going to fill the spaces between the stations with floral foam blocks and then sand the foam down to the level of the buck stations. The sandpaper will easily cut the foam down. If the sanding block is shorter than the distance between the stations it will create a depression in the foam. Not that a depression in the foam is enough to ruin your project, but it is enough to cause you more work in finishing your project.

Make sure to measure all of these out when building a mirror image project. Another way to ensure symmetry of your project is to cut the buck stations for each side at the same time, if necessary, clamp the mirror image pieces together and smooth them with a sander to ensure identical shapes and epoxy the stations in place at the same time. These procedures keep you in focus and your project symmetrical.

Back in a few days.

Steve

Keywords: Ceiling Fan Helicopter Fiberglass Fabrication, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making Gel Coat gelcoat, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Blog, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making, Fiberglass Manual, Fiberglass Model Body, Fiberglass Hoods, Fiberglass Body, The Uses of Multi-piece Molds

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Fiberglassing for Profit: Part 2 – Ceiling Fan Huey

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 11:48 pm on Sunday, December 9, 2007

At this point, I can begin to produce profile drawings of the copter. I definitely need to Ceiling Fan Helicopter Fiberglass Cammo start with a view from the top and a view from the side.Some of this is accomplished through artistic ability and some of it is what I consider cheating. The model that I bought had these views in the painting instructions. Based on the diameter of the fan blades, I figured that the fuselage should be about 40 inches from nose to tail. I simply used my copier to blow these views up to the size that I need. Then I drew in some details that were lost in the enlarging process.

The next step for me was to trace these profiles onto a base that I can use to build a plug. I like to use 1/8 inch mahogany door skin for this. I like mahogany because I can buy it at home depot for cheap and one sheet is more than enough material for a project like this.

Next, I want to decide along which line to epoxy the primary horizontal shape to the vertical shape. Having access to my plastic model makes this decision easy. Angle aluminum stock helps me align the mahogany pieces with each other. I use the angle aluminum to clamp the pieces to each other which assures reasonably accurate alignment of the parts.In addition to angle aluminum making alignment of not so straight pieces easier, it also gives a pretty good 90 degree alignment of one piece to the other.

At this point I need to make a statement concerning scale. I am no artist, I know from the outset of a project like this that when I am done, anyone who knows anything about helicopters is going to look at this and say “Hey, that’s a Huey UH-1″. That is good enough for me. You can put as much talent and time as you wish into a project. This is your prerogative.

I like to get a project’s detail to the point where I am satisfied. I think that I am usually satisfied with my projects bearing a close resemblance to the vision that I started with. That being said, nothing that I ever build will ever be completely to scale, (Unless I happen to trip over a bucket of talent and patience). That is all I have to say about that.

More Soon On This Fiberglass Ceiling Fan Helicopter

Steve

Keywords: Ceiling Fan Helicopter Fiberglass Fabrication, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making Gel Coat gelcoat, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Blog, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making, Fiberglass Manual, Fiberglass Model Body, Fiberglass Hoods, Fiberglass Body, The Uses of Multi-piece Molds,

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Fiberglassing for Profit: Part 1 – Ceiling Fan Huey

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 7:52 pm on Wednesday, November 21, 2007

I have made many things out of fiberglass over the years. Typically, my projects involve building a plug, making a mold from that plug and finally using that mold to make pieces.

One project that I have wanted to do for a while was inspired by a ceiling fan that I first saw years ago. I am sure that you have seen the fans that look like the nose of a WW II fighter plane. From the moment that I saw that fan, I thought that it would be cool to have a helicopter body that would hang from the underside of the ceiling fan making the fan blades look like rotor blades. Of course the helicopter would have to be a classic – I chose the Huey UH-1 from the Vietnam era.

This next series of blog entries will follow this project of mine from start (concept) to finish (final product).

With a plan in mind for a new fiberglass project I can begin. The first thing I like to do when I am building something like this is to go to the hobby store and pick up a model of the object, in this case a helicopter, that I want to build. I use this model as a three dimensional reference. While 3D references are not always available, I do like to use them when possible. For this project, I selected a 1/35 scale UH-1. Using this model, I can get a good idea of the size that the fuselage has to be relative to the diameter of the fan blades in order to maintain a scale appearance.

I began to build the fuselage of the model and began to analyze the proportions, angles and curves of the copter. I will use the model to determine what profile shapes I will need to cut in order to build a plug that is representative of my final project.

More on this series soon, Steve Keywords: Fiberglass helicopter huey fiberglass molding project Molds, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making Gel Coat gelcoat, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Blog, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making, Fiberglass Manual, Fiberglass Model Body, Fiberglass Hoods, Fiberglass Body, The Uses of Multi-piece Molds,

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Microballoons And Fiberglass Finishing

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 7:22 pm on Tuesday, November 6, 2007

I have written blog entries in the past in which I have shared my experiences with new techniques and new products that are available for construction with composites. This is another one of those.

Whenever I am building the surface of a part that is being made of chopped mat, I end up with a fairly course surface that will need a final finishing.

I have employed various means to smooth out a fiberglass surface. Some of these finishing methods include the following:

For some applications I use veil over the final layer of chopped mat. This method hides most of the course fibers of the chopped mat without adding an excessive amount of extra weight to the final product. In fact, when I add a final veil covering I very rarely have to add any extra resin to the finish.

Usually I can use a small roller to press the veil onto the surface of the still uncured mat / resin underneath it forcing the resin to seep into the veil and provide adequate saturation on the surface. The individual fibers of veil are much finer than those of chopped mat so the final surface is smoother.

For other applications I mix a putty-like consistency combination of resin and cabosil that I use to smooth over the surface. This has been one of my favorite methods for finishing a fiberglass surface. The cabosil / resin mixture can be made as thick or thin as your project requires. Once this mixture is spread over the surface and cures, it can be sanded smooth and finished.

Sometimes I will simply skin the surface with bondo. I like bondo because it sands so easily and cures so fast. You can smooth out a surface in a hurry with bondo. The drawbacks to using bondo are that it is easily chipped / damaged and it almost cures too fast. I have wasted a good amount of bondo over the years by mixing more than I could use in its working period.

The other day I went to my local fiberglass supply store and asked for a ¼ pound of cabosil. The gentleman that helped me asked if I wanted something that would sand a little easier. I said “sure” and he suggested microballoons.

The microballoons mixed into a nice white paste and spread easily on the surface of my project. It also sanded easily as promised. In addition to easy sanding, it also seems durable as it passed the hammer tap test that I performed on the tip to the bow of my boat project. It didn’t hit it full force but I hit it hard enough to crack bondo and the microballoons didn’t crack. I was impressed.

In the beginning of this article I said that I was writing about a new product. Microballoons are not “new”, they are simply new to me. Once again, we tend to get comfortable with methods and materials that are known to us and close ourselves off to other products and procedures that are available.

Keep at it.

Steve

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How To Make Fiberglass Parts 2

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 4:09 pm on Friday, October 26, 2007

With the foam blocks in place, I can start shaping the hull of my boat. I begin by using a sanding block with 60 grit paper on it. The 60 grit cuts the foam with ease. Once the hull is shaped, I can prepare it for fiberglass.

This preparation involves removing all of the foam particles that are left from the sanding process. This is best accomplished with an air compressor. Once the outer surface is clean, I will cover the foam with masking tape. During this process, I am careful to leave the wooden formers exposed because I want the fiberglass to stick to that part of the structure.

With the hull now properly prepared, It is time to cover it with glass. I use 1 ½ ounce chopped mat and I will start by apply just one coat to the surface of my boat.

I allow this layer of glass to cure and then use bondo to smooth out the surface of the hull. At this point I am only concerned with large depressions and voids.

With the hull in a rough state, I use a sanding block to smooth the surface. I don’t need it to be perfect at this point, just good enough to lay a fairly flat second layer of glass.

After the second layer of chopped mat is applied and cured, I can use bondo and glazing putty to smooth the surface of the hull to perfection. This process is explained in detail in my manual set. Essentially it involves filling – sanding –filling – sanding – until the surface is nice and smooth.

With the hull smoothed out, I remove it from the board and turn my attention to the deck.

This process is simple. I am preparing the manual that follows the construction of this hull. Once it is complete I will make it available on my website http://www.fiberglassmoldmanual.com/

More soon.

Steve

Keywords: Plug Building for Fiberglass Molds, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making Gel Coat gelcoat, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Blog, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making, Fiberglass Manual, Fiberglass Model Body, Fiberglass Hoods, Fiberglass Body, The Uses of Multi-piece Molds

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Basics On Smaller Projects

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 8:19 am on Saturday, October 13, 2007

Basics on Smaller Projects - How Do You Make Fiberglass Parts?

I felt like it was time to get back to the basics here in my blog for a change.

Fiberglass parts can be made several different ways. The deciding factor in how you are going to be best served in making those parts is going to be your need to duplicate them. For instance, I make R/C boats, car bodies and a few full size automotive parts that not only do I want duplicates of, (accidents happen!), but that I also sell through various internet sites including of course E-bay. I make a pretty tidy little profit too.

There are some projects that I do that are one off projects that I have no intention of duplicating. These projects allow a more straight forward approach in construction. In the next few weeks I intend on building the hull of a sizable R/C boat. This boat will be about 45″ long and 14″ wide. I intend on making the building process of this boat hull into a manual that will either be a very inexpensive if not free download that will be available on my fiberglassmoldmanual.com site.

In the mean time, I will explain the procedure that I intend on using for this hull. Be aware that this procedure can be used with almost any piece that you want to build out of fiberglass.

In my case, for this boat, I have a very simple design in mind. It is going to be a small motor boat scaled to fit 12″ figures. To begin this project, I have to draw out the deck outline on a piece of 1/8″ mahogany door skin. I like to use this material because it is durable yet easy to shape. I will then attach my cut out to a piece of ridged MDF board. I intend on saving parts of the mahogany as the deck so I make sure to tack it to the MDF in areas where the final finish won’t matter.

With the deck secured, I need to cut pieces that will guide the final shape of this hull. Important pieces are the transom, the main keel and the side keels. I cut and smooth the edges of these pieces with a belt sander and then attach them to the underside of the deck with a high quality epoxy.

Once the epoxy cures and the pieces are securely in place, I will fill the framework with foam and begin the shaping process.

More Soon,

Steve

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Joining Fiberglass Halves

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 10:37 am on Sunday, September 30, 2007

There are several ways to join fiberglass halves. Fuselages, boat hulls and car bodies usually require joining of at least two pieces in order for the project to reach a point of completion.

With some applications, a sleeve can be built into the plug with will allow the second part to slip into which will result in a nice joint that can be epoxied together. An application that comes to mind in this circumstance would be the deck of a model boat to the hull. This technique needs to be planned well in advance since it requires integration into your plug. This technique also is only applicable to those projects that won’t be visually hampered by a visible seem or joint on the final product.

Most of the time, in order to obtain a clean joint that can be filled, sanded and finished in a way that produces no visible joint on the final product, you will need access to the inside of the joined pieces in order to produce a clean union. The best way to do this is to align the halves and use masking tape to hold the pieces together. I like to use thin strips of resin saturated fiberglass mat that I can lay across the inside of the seem. Depending on the strength of the bond that my project requires, I like to have about ½ inch of mat overlapping each side of the seem. Once this cures, your joint is complete. The only thing left to do at this point is finish the exterior.

Another method that I really like for joining fiberglass halves that don’t have to be water tight or incredibly strong is by using what I like to call “chemical applesauce”. “Chemical Applesauce” is a mixture of resin and cabosil that has been catalyzed with MEKP that has the consistency of applesauce. I use this mixture by taping the entire outer surface of the seem, making sure that the pieces have proper alignment. I then use a gloved finger to apply this mixture to the seem line from the inside. I use my finger to push and work the mixture into the joint. This makes an excellent filler as well. Once the mixture has cured, I can remove the masking tape and I am left with a strong, clean joint that requires only minimal sanding and finishing.

These are some of my favorite ways to join two halves of a fiberglass project. I do have a challenging project on the table now that will require special consideration when joining. I will keep you posted on my progress.

More to come,

Steve

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The Uses of Multi-piece Molds

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 9:13 pm on Sunday, September 2, 2007

I just finished building a new mold for a 1/10 scale radio controlled car. One of the great things about making radio controlled car bodies out of fiberglass is the detail and the undercuts that can be formed using multi-piece molds. The realism is much greater than that which can be found in a vacuum formed body.

Multi-piece molds are always necessary for building three dimensional objects – whether those objects are hobby related or not. With the exception of very simple molds, multi-piece molds are almost always required or at least preferable. The obvious reasons for the use of a multi-piece mold are driven by the ease of extracting your parts from that mold. Molds that are very deep are difficult to lay-up parts in and can be very difficult to pull your parts out of.

The draft angle of your plug is a major determining factor that will determine the need for a multi-piece mold. Smaller parts may require no draft angle while larger parts that are deeper than 12 inches will require a draft angle of up to 5 degrees.

Automotive parts other than hood scoops, fender flairs, spoilers, etc are often done with one piece molds. Larger parts, such as doors, hoods, entire bodies and the like are almost always done as two piece molds.

I was looking at my first and main Fiberglass Mold Manual in which I outline the procedures for building a simple one piece mold. The funny thing about this manual is that the project that I follow in this manual ultimately required 3 separate one piece molds. A project requiring 3 separate one piece molds can also be labeled as a multi-piece mold.

Multi-piece molds do give many benefits to the builder, but there are a few drawbacks. Multi-piece molds do produce a flash line that must be dealt with. Flash lines require filling, sanding and refinishing. Flash lines are created by imperfections in the edge of the mold and in the general alignment of the pieces of the mold. In my opinion flash lines are a minor trade off for the many benefits of a multi-piece mold.

More Soon,

Steve

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Plug Building for Fiberglass Molds

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 7:45 pm on Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Its funny how we do things that we think are not only the right way but the only way only to find out later that there are better ways. Years ago, when I first discovered the use of dry foam as a medium for plug construction, I thought that I had found the perfect plug building material. I easily carved out complex structures in a fraction of the time that it used to take when I used plaster and wood. Then my bubble burst. I finished carving the foam for my new plug, covered it with resin and sea glass from the hobby store and let it cure.

To my surprise, when I was applying bondo and glazing putty to level the surface of my plug, the plastic putty knife that I used easily went through the surface of my plug. It was then that I realized that the outer skin of this plug was too weak and needed re-enforcement. I fixed this problem by removing the thin layer of glass that I used to cover the foam and applying a 1/8 inch layer of bondo over the entire surface of my now less than pretty plug. Since this episode, I have always used foam in my plug construction but I always took that extra step with shaving down the foam and covering it with a layer of bondo before I start the final finish.

Recently, I began to evaluate my plug building procedures. While my tried and true method described above never failed me, I wanted to try something new. I recently was building a plug that I wanted to move quickly with. After carving the foam, I went ahead and decided to cover it as it was with 1 ½ ounce chopped mat and resin. I remembered when I had my bad experience with this method I had used very light material from my hobby shop. The 1 ½ ounce mat worked perfectly. It provided a very solid surface to work with without adding excessive size to the plug that I had carved from the foam.

I basically did two things differently with the foam. The first thing that I did was thoroughly saturate the surface with resin. The second thing that I did was use a much heavier chopped mat to cover the plug.

I always read and research fiberglassing techniques. I had not really researched or evaluated my plug construction techniques for years. This “new to me method” saved me a TON of time and materials (bondo). I don’t believe that this way of plug building affected the quality of my final product at all.

I would recommend trying this method for your next project.

Till next time…

Steve

Keywords: Plug Building for Fiberglass Molds, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making Gel Coat gelcoat, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Blog, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making, Fiberglass Manual, Fiberglass Model Body, Fiberglass Hoods, Fiberglass Body, Fiberglass Hoods,

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Plug Building for Fiberglass Molds

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 11:25 am on Saturday, August 25, 2007

It’s funny how we do things that we think are not only the right way but the only way only to find out later that there are better ways. Years ago, when I first discovered the use of dry foam as a medium for plug construction, I thought that I had found the perfect plug building material. I easily carved out complex structures in a fraction of the time that it used to take when I used plaster and wood. Then my bubble burst. I finished carving the foam for my new plug, covered it with resin and sea glass from the hobby store and let it cure.

To my surprise, when I was applying bondo and glazing putty to level the surface of my plug, the plastic putty knife that I used easily went through the surface of my plug. It was then that I realized that the outer skin of this plug was too weak and needed re-enforcement. I fixed this problem by removing the thin layer of glass that I used to cover the foam and applying a 1/8 inch layer of bondo over the entire surface of my now less than pretty plug. Since this episode, I have always used foam in my plug construction but I always took that extra step with shaving down the foam and covering it with a layer of bondo before I start the final finish.

Recently, I began to evaluate my plug building procedures. While my tried and true method described above never failed me, I wanted to try something new. I recently was building a plug that I wanted to move quickly with. After carving the foam, I went ahead and decided to cover it as it was with 1 ½ ounce chopped mat and resin. I remembered when I had my bad experience with this method I had used very light material from my hobby shop. The 1 ½ ounce mat worked perfectly. It provided a very solid surface to work with without adding excessive size to the plug that I had carved from the foam.

I basically did two things differently with the foam. The first thing that I did was thoroughly saturate the surface with resin. The second thing that I did was use a much heavier chopped mat to cover the plug.

I always read and research fiberglassing techniques. I had not really researched or evaluated my plug construction techniques for years. This “new to me method” saved me a TON of time and materials (bondo). I don’t believe that this way of plug building affected the quality of my final product at all.

I would recommend trying this method for your next project.

Till next time…

Steve

Keywords: Building Fiberglass Plug, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making Gel Coat gelcoat, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Blog, Fiberglass, Fiberglass Mold Making, Fiberglass Manual, Fiberglass Model Body, Fiberglass Hoods, Fiberglass Body, Fiberglass Hoods,

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Fiberglass Finishing or Finishing Fiberglass

Filed under: Fiberglass Projects — Steve Jones at 5:23 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Many thanks to Phil Newlon, who emailed me the question that inspired this post.Got anymore like that one Phil, drop me a line. __ Steve

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When I first started working with fiberglass, I found it a fascinating yet frustrating material. While I enjoyed the fact that it was water proof, I was often frustrated by my attempts to finish it in a way that would make my final product look presentable. Over the years I have come to the realization that a nice fiberglass finish requires a little preparation and a little improvising.A nice smooth finish can be obtained on a consistent basis when using a mold to produce your parts. Even so, thought and preparation are still necessary. A nice thick gelcoat layer that is covered with a layer of veil that is then covered with a layer of chopped mat will create an end product with a nice finish and no pattern transfer to the final product. The gelcoat layer should be thick enough to allow light sanding without getting into the mat.

When repairing a broken piece of fiberglass, getting a smooth finish takes a little more work. On painted surfaces, I like to remove the paint around the damaged area with sandpaper. Depending on the size of the damaged area, I like to remove enough paint around the damaged area to give me a couple inches of working room. I will then tape over the finished side of the damaged area and apply my repair to the backside of the repair. Once the resin has cured, I remove the tape and access the exterior of my repair. If the repair is flush or depressed, I will smooth over the surface with either bondo, finishing putty or a thick mixture of resin and cabosil. Once this has cured, I will sand it smooth, primer it, inspect it and go from there. If there are defects in the surface, I will refill them with the medium that I find appropriate and repeat the sanding, inspecting and primering that I had done before. This process continues until the finish is right.

You should not be afraid to sand fiberglass. If you happen to sand it to the point that you expose glass fibers, clip the long ones off and brush more catalyzed resin on. Let the resin cure and re-sand. You may have to repeat this process several times to get your repair right. If your sanding continues to expose fibers, you may want to cut the surface down an 1/8 of an inch or so and fill over the surface with either gelcoat, resin mixed with cabosil or even bondo. Once this has cured you will have plenty of room to shape and sand without exposing fibers.

The bottom line is that many people feel as though the final outer surface of a fiberglass repair must be fiberglass. This is nice if possible, but there is nothing wrong with smoothing over the outer skin of a fiberglass repair with gelcoat, bondo, resin mixed with cabosil or body putty.

Happy glassing,

Steve

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