Editing Make a fiberglass fan shroud (section)
Jump to:
navigation
,
search
===Laminating the part=== To laminate the part, you will need the following: *china bristle brushes *acetone *cans for mixing resin and holding acetone for washing your hands and tools *scissors *resin *catalyst *fiberglass mat *cardboard *latex gloves This article assumes that you have a basic knowledge of laminating with [[Fiberglassing|fiberglass]]. Follow all instructions provided with your materials in regard to proper catalyzation of the resin and storage and handling of your tools and materials. Cut strips of 1-1/2 oz fiberglass mat on a piece of cardboard, ready to be wetted out. 3 layers of 1-1/2 oz mat will make a part that is about 0.120" thick, as each layer contributes about .040" to the laminate. There will be an extra layer laminated around all of the edges to make the final part about 0.160" thick. When wetting out mat with resin, many people work the resin into the mat while it is on the wet out board. This is a mistake and will only make a resin rich, inconsistent part. You only brush enough resin on to cover the mat with resin. Then, give it a little bit of time, and it will soak in. Notice in the picture how there are some areas of mat that are darker, and have become transparent. There is no more resin on those strips than is on the others, they were wetted out earlier and have soaked up the resin. You do need to be somewhat swift with this part of the laminating process. As time goes by the resin will dissolve the binder that holds the mat together and make picking it up to apply it to the part a very frustrating activity. If the binder has dissolved, the mat will just fall apart when you try to pick it up. {| |-valign="top" |[[Image:21mat strips.JPG|center|thumb|Cut strips of 1 1/2 oz fiberglass mat, and lay them out on a piece of cardboard, ready to be wetted out.]] |[[Image:22wetting out strips.JPG|center|thumb|Brush on only enough resin to cover the mat, and then allow it to soak in.]] |[[Image:23wetting out some more.JPG|center|thumb|Work quickly but carefully, as the resin will gradually dissolve the binder.]] |} Brush some resin on the surface of your buck. Brush a bit more resin in the inside and outside corners, as these areas tend to be a little dry after stretching the mat over them. {| |-valign="top" |[[Image:24wetting surface.JPG|center|thumb|Brush the resin onto the surface of the buck.]] |[[Image:25wetting out buck.JPG|center|thumb|Pay special attention to the corners.]] |} Pick up the material from the wet out board and apply it to the part. Don't try to push it into any inside corners or stretch it over any outside corners just yet. Just get the material stuck to the major flat areas. Stretch the material over any outside corners, but don't try to fold it as it will only spring back. Push the material into inside corners, stretching it as you go. If it gets thin, more material can be added. I usually stretch the material, and wind up with a section of mat that I can reapply to the stretched, thinned out areas. As shown here, hold the material down with one hand while you stretch it over an outside corner with the other. If you pull some material off the edge, you can put it back over the outside of the corner, as it has probably gotten a bit thin there anyway. {| |-valign="top" |[[Image:Even 29more applying material.JPG|center|thumb|Apply the wet out fiberglass board to the part.]] |[[Image:26applying material.JPG|center|thumb|Stretch the material over any outside corners, and push it into any inside corners.]] |[[Image:28stretching over corner.JPG|center|thumb|While holding the material down with one hand, stretch it over an outside corner with the other.]] |} I made a roller out of some threaded rod, a file handle and some 1/4" rod. It works extremely well for rolling out air bubbles in fiberglass. Move slowly, applying enough pressure to roll the air out, but not so much pressure that you move the mat around or push all of the resin out. Air bubbles look like clear voids, they are easily spotted when you put pressure on them as you can move them around."Dry" spots will show up as white strands of fiberglass that spring up out of the resin. Use consistent, firm pressure, moving steadily. It works better to pull the roller than to push it. You can also use a brush, foam roller or your fingers to manipulate the air out. Squeegees don't work well on fiberglass mat. Commercially made rollers of many sizes and shapes are available from most fiberglass supply houses. {| |-valign="top" |[[Image:30rolling out the air.JPG|center|thumb|A roller can be made from threaded rod, a file handle, and 1/4" rod.]] |[[Image:31rolling out some more air.JPG|center|thumb|You can see the difference between a rolled-out area with no air, and an area that still has air in it.]] |[[Image:32dwell in the corners.JPG|center|thumb|When you roll into a corner, dwell there with the roller for a second, to allow the air to come out of the corner.]] |} {| |-valign="top" |[[Image:33rolling over the apex of the radius.JPG|center|thumb|Roll over a corner, not parallel with it.]] |[[Image:34all air is rolled out.JPG|center|thumb|Now all the air is rolled out.]] |[[Image:35rolled out.JPG|center|thumb]] |[[Image:36corner detail.JPG|center|thumb|A properly rolled-out corner.]] |} Cut your material so that you have at least 1" of overlap onto the previously laid up section. Stagger the layers so you don't create a big lump. A trick that professional 'glass guys use is to tear the edges of the mat. This tapers the thickness down at the edge, making a smoother overlap. Done correctly and applied while the previous lay up is still workable, you won't be able to tell that the part was made from separate pieces of mat. {| |-valign="top" |[[Image:37sizing up some mat.JPG|center|thumb]] |[[Image:38more wetting it out.JPG|center|thumb]] |[[Image:39resin in the sun shiney light.JPG|center|thumb]] |[[Image:40all laid up.JPG|center|thumb]] |}
|
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Personal tools
Log in / create account
Namespaces
Page
Discussion
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
Actions
Search
Navigation
Main Page
Recent changes
Random page
Help
All articles
Start a new article
Hotrodders forum
Categories
Best articles
Body and exterior
Brakes
Cooling
Electrical
Engine
Fasteners
Frame
Garage and shop
General hotrodding
Identification and decoding
Interior
Rearend
Safety
Steering
Suspension
Tires
Tools
Transmission
Troubleshooting
Wheels
Toolbox
What links here
Related changes
Special pages
Terms of Use
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Your Privacy Choices
Manage Consent