i want to mold my friends spoon duckbill.out of fiber glass,im trying to think of the best way to mold it and keep its shape..im not lookin foward to it being pefect but not crappy to where it was a waste of time ... any suggestions to go out this project?

 

you could shape a copy out of foam and then cover it in fiberglass. That's the best idea I can come up with since I avoid glassing stuff at all cost :lol:

 

or you could buy one off ebay for like 100$...or less.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by I4sillypwr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you could shape a copy out of foam and then cover it in fiberglass. That's the best idea I can come up with since I avoid glassing stuff at all cost :lol:</TD></TR></TABLE>


I think that fiberglass resin will melt foam as it cures..

 

You can buy resin that doesn't melt foam when it cures, I think it may be epoxy based, and I know it's $$$ stuff, but I think the ability to work with foam makes it worth it.

 

much much cheaper and alot less waste of time if you just buy one. I have made molds and it is alot of time involved, if you are going to make a mold that is half way decent the cost of the supplies alone will be more than buying the spoon part.

 

i work with resin/fiberglass all day the material or dirt cheap ..i just want to try mold something ..but change angles on it ..i get bored of working on other cars and not my own car

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ALL_MOTOR_EG6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i work with resin/fiberglass all day the material or dirt cheap ..i just want to try mold something ..but change angles on it ..i get bored of working on other cars and not my own car</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm pretty sure I saw someone make their own sideskirts using this method. Don't know what kind of foam they used though.

 

i'll have to find out ..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dragline &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


I think that fiberglass resin will melt foam as it cures..</TD></TR></TABLE>

ummm okay. Foam core construction has been used with glass since the seventies, was pioneered by Burt Rutan and used in the plane "Voyager" he flew across the world back in the 80's. I learned how to do by an instructor who made the replica of it for the Air & Space Museum.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/cm/foam.html
this is an excellent source to find foam, fabric, resin and tools. I would suggest using 2pcf closed cell stryofoam, hot-wiring it to contour the part by eyeball (maybe take some general measurements), filling any surface holes in the foam with micro-slurry, and using 1 ply medium weight glass fabric for each side (after adding several localized plies of additional reinforcement for the bolt holes - you'll need to embed metal in the structure for the threads), finishing it with peel ply (screw gel coat) and a UV inhibitor.

if you've never worked with composites before: practice, practice, practice and safety above all

 

Yeah, you can paint over foam with a latex based house paint in order to prevent any damage to the foam from the resin.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RC000E &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah, you can paint over foam with a latex based house paint in order to prevent any damage to the foam from the resin.</TD></TR></TABLE>

how about using latex as the mold?

edit: on top of that, you will have to pull a plug of the original part from the mold, so that you can make changes to that part and make another mold again...thats the fun part