I'm not new to fiberglassing by any means, but I was just wondering if anybody had any tips on how to keep my molds from sagging when I'm putting the resin on.

For like kick panels, or sub enclosures etc..

I've been told to use foam and then sculpt it down to the shape I want...but I've tried that and it doesn't seem to give me as smooth a form as I'm looking for.

I like the way I can pull and stretch the fleece over a section to give it the shape I want....but then when I'm putting resin on it, it just gets heavy and sags and when it dries I find myself using lots of sanding and bondo just to get it back to the ORIGINAL shape I had in mind.

Maybe there's an easy way to avoid this, or maybe there's not and I just have to be more careful when I'm applying the resin.

 

If your fleece is sagging, you are not stretching it tightly enough. It should be as tight as physically possible before you add resin to it. Make sure that your frame is strong enough to support the load of the resin as it starts to cure and shrink.

 

try making sure that the fleece is not only stretched tight, but is not going to come loose around the edges, using staples, and/or superglue 'cuz the heat of the resin will loosen normal spray-on glue letting it pull and sag, other than that try a "light" intial application of resin..

hope some of that helps.....

good luck

 

Okay...well I figured that was the one of the tips I'd receive.

I have another question then...

How do I keep the speaker mount securely braced in mid air? All I've used up until now has been wooden dowls and hot glue....and i've managed to ruin a couple sets while stretching the fleece really tight.

I know I can use backstrap...but if I'm not making a mold over wood, I don't know how to attach it unless I use hot glue.

My current project is custom door panels, and neither wooden dowls or backstrap has been a very feasible option for bracing in the areas I'm working in. The panels are plastic, so getting any brace attached to them has been difficult.

I ended up using a coat hanger and hot glue...but I'm afraid if I stretch my fleece any harder I'll rip everything out of the glue.

Thanks for the help fellas

 

I use a form of super glue to hold and brace molds, for supports I have used everything from scraps of wood, to dowels. It's not like superglue in a tube. it's got many different names ther is one sold by partexpress.com (if that's the right site) called insta cure which is also sold by "fishman" install supplies and by select products.... If I remember right it's a cryoanayltic glue (basically the same thing as superglue) I first found it in a hobby store being used by hobbists building balsa wood planes. I use it to hole the braces and speaker rings togethor as well as running a bead of it around the fleece where it needs to stay put, like around the speaker ring --

 

and this glue works on a variety of applications? I need something that will brace together wood, metal, and plastic.

 

I've used it to hold plastics to wood plastics to plastics and I think when I've bonded backstrap to plastics or woods I've made a small batch of body filler (make sure both peices are somewhat sanded

 

it always depends on the application, but I rely on MDF bracing that is screwed in when I do boxes. Here's one example



So here, I ran the fleece under the cross bar, then over the baffles to create the sides that I needed. It's all built out of wood and is very strong so that there's no flex in the piece when I'm stretching...I can pull as hard as I want.

You have to get creative - sometimes building extra frames is what it takes or building plugs to hold things where they belong is best.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rcurley55 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it always depends on the application, but I rely on MDF bracing that is screwed in when I do boxes. Here's one example

You have to get creative - sometimes building extra frames is what it takes or building plugs to hold things where they belong is best.

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completely agree, how you build and brace it all depends on what your trying to accomplish
If I get a chance later I will try to post some pics of glue bracing later

 

CA glue is good stuff...depends on how porous the material is - at least that;s what I've found.

Dynaglass holds anything

 

Thanks for the help guys....I guess I just haven't gotten creative enough with my bracing yet.

 

Everyone is right on here. You must use Brace's to hold the shape. And Start with a Thin Layer then increase it after time after time.

Here is one Trunk we did in our Demo Si.


Here is what the Brace's Looked Like.

 

Is that done with one large piece of fleece? Or is it done in sections....I've always wondered how the entire trunk assemblies like that are done.....especially the downward angles.

Do you staple it/glue it in the lowest areas and then stretch it over the upper portions?

 

See, you have to design your frame in such a way that the finished surface is dictated by the stretch of the fleece - OR - you need to add a lot of material to get the curves you want.

The above adds lots of material to get what they want. This process is similar to what is done in the Alpine Demo cars.

I personally try to get the fleece as close to my final shape as possible. IT keeps parts lighter, and because I'm a shitty body man, there's less finishing involved.

The tradeoff is that you can't build plugs and frames that will give you the curves you see there in an efficient manner.

I'm not trying to speak for the installer there, but that's my perception/guess of what's going on.

 

Well you get the General shape built out of wood. When we designed that one we built it sections. Then we Fused all the sections together. It just helps hold the strength up it you have wood as supports. Then you use the fleece to get the shape you want. But we used Staples to hold our Fleece in place. Then we laid a thinh layer on letting it get hardened. Then once we let that dry over night we would get a nice thick layer onto it.

The biggest Key is to have patients.. You rush it. And it will turn out like Dooky. Be patient and take your time and you will be rewarded with a Beautiful Box.

 

Oh, okay....I see.

One more question....what do you do when you want to get your trunk back?

Thanks for all the help guys

 

is there a way to take that box out caraudiophile?

 

i think my friend sawzall from milwaukee knows how to take the box out

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hybrid Racer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">is there a way to take that box out caraudiophile?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes a Hammer and a Crow Bar

But no thats is our Demo Civic.. Its in there.

 

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

Here is one Trunk we did in our Demo Si.


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That is PHAT! Just curious, how long did it take to put together? And any pictures of the finished product with all the equipment installed?

 

another thing you guys can try instead of fleece is using speaker grill cloth it gives you a really good base to start with an you can build layers on it. It just conforms to shapes you want very well!!!!

 

Beautiful job! By chance do you have a photo with the fleece stretched over the framing and before the resin is applied?

 

I was thinking about this overnight. I appreciate your description of the fleece technique which is new to me. I wonder if you could spray the fleece with a stabilizer like substance that would add some rigidity before you applied the the resin.

I was thinking about a couple of coats of diluted PVA and a regular spray gun.

What do you think?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BigMoose &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was thinking about this overnight. I appreciate your description of the fleece technique which is new to me. I wonder if you could spray the fleece with a stabilizer like substance that would add some rigidity before you applied the the resin.

I was thinking about a couple of coats of diluted PVA and a regular spray gun.

What do you think?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was wondering the exact same thing yesterday.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BigMoose &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Beautiful job! By chance do you have a photo with the fleece stretched over the framing and before the resin is applied?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't know if you were talking about the trunk of that particular car, but here's some in progress pictures of my latest....a door panel. Sorry they're so crappy, all I have is a web cam.