Ok Ive used fiberglass before in repairing my bumper but when it comes to creating something i dont know as much. HEres what I do know: Create the structure...in this case im using 1/8" plywood. Then wrap it in a mesh like material real tight. Then lay the glass over and soak it with resin. Once it dries I dont know what to do from there. I know you have to put filler on it but do i said the glue down a bit first then lay filler on? Also, filler isnt one of my strong points, Alot of the times its not perfectly flat or in shape with the original structure. So what im asking is a detailed step list in doing this. Along with what kind of filler to use. Im thinking to use fiberglass bondo that i have but...that crap takes for ever to sand and has alot of bubbles and crap in it. Also some tips in laying down the filler so that I wont see bumps where there is more or less applied bondo. Thanks

Btw this is going to be a splitter....they dont make one for my kit so im going to do it in fg

once once u get the frame build. you need to add layers of clot/mat and resin to give the piece strength. as for filler if its not smooth you just have to go back and add more if nessicary and keep sanding, fiberglassing is simple, its sanding to make it look right that shows you who really knows what they are doing. bondo brand sucks, its okay but there are alllot of better products out there, when finishing a product i'll use rage gold. its thinner, spreads better and is allot better to sand.


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Either get a sanding block or an inline board sander. So you dont get waves.

Ok, ive been usin a DA sander and its hard to tell

Sounds like the start of a good little project, depending on your wood alot of the resin should soak into the wood, so getting it to stick shouldnt be as critical as if you were doing plastic or metal, it should be very willing to stay put.

1st step is to lay out your frame work or mold whichever your using, for me personally i find it easier to mix a big batch of resin and use a medium or slow hardner for it depending on the tempature of the shop (my shops not insulated so well so warm and cold days make a difference) anything above any range around 70 to 80 degrees usually gives me about 15 to 20 mins of work time with the resin i use, which if i recall right is epiglass poly resin, good stuff btw.

With my big batch i try to cover as much area as i can on the first pass, keeping all things even I. E lay down 3 layers of mat all the way across this will get you alot closer to being level than starting and stopping a bunch of times. Another good trick i learned from an old glass man is to take a good 3m masking tape like 1 1/2" wide tape or 1 1/4" tape and stretch it as tight as you can across the top of the work your doing this will give you a much closer to level finish, of course this works alot better if you have something to tape against such as the ends of your frame or if your doing a car you can tape across the body on each side of the glass work.

in between mixes of resin when your project dries you can run your hand carefully across your work and you'll feel the "waves" in the glass, you can do one of 2 things sand down the high spots with a block or a straight line sander carefully, or you can lay glass in your low spots, usually i will lay more glass to get things leveled out but thats just me, everyone has a preference and you'll find yours the more you work with this stuff.

Filler is another area to be careful with, DO NOT lay huge globs of filler on your work, buy a bag of plastic squeegies, like the ones you use for vinyl work or you can get them from a autobody supply or maybe even your local autostores, find an old cardboard box and cut a square of cardboard out of it, FOLLOW the directions exactly as they are on the package, this will usually get you in the right area with dry times and work times, pratice laying filler, think of it like painting with a wide brush, the idea is to put down as thin a coat as possible and if you do it right you will have a very flat smooth application of filler, personally i lay mine as thing as possible usually just enough to bring the low spots back up to level, it takes time to get a feel for these things but you'll catch on quickly once you start doing it.

There are a ton of fillers on the market, bondo brand stuff is cheap and in general a pain to work with, i was using a marine based filler from i beleive 3m it mixes up a light green when its mixed right and its 100% water proof which adds a layer of security as fiberglass does not like to get alot of water on it. or you the new stuff i use is called forumla 27, its very nice to work with and is very easy to fill cracks and low spots with, the only downside is the filler is grey and the hardner for it is 2 shades lighter, so when its mixed right you wont notice it changed colors at all.

There are many options in these steps, your preference will apply, also there is alot of choice in the mat you use, a good lightweight chopped mat is great for structure and building things with, i've used the cloth weaved stuff and its a pain to work with and ends up creating a huge mess, although i have made some neat stuff using it, i dont recommend it for first time glass work.

The next little trick is to tear your mat into chunks, trying to keep all sharp edges out of the mat as a hard edge on the mat translates into a hard edge in your work and is in general harder to overlap, i have however seen some guys cut their mat into squares and make the end result come out very nice, the choice is yours but try to keep the squares or peices around 4" max its much easier to follow corners and edges this way as big peices dont shape well once wet.

Another little thing i've found is if your doing complex shapes or want to really go custom, fleece is the answer, a good peice of fleece will stretch and shape much easier then you have your general shape and can lay glass mat on top of it and add your layers to get strength.

the difference between a pro and a newb at fiberglass is how much sanding work you do, pros know the tricks to take effort out of it, newbs must learn these little tricks. Glass is alot of fun and a very free form of expression in creating things because the only limiting factor is your mind.

Have fun keep us posted and if anybody has anything to add or correct about my statement please do.

J~

Wow nice write up, J. That should make my life pretty simple when I redo my doors.

Good write up! That should help get ALOT of people started in fiberglassing!

well i dont wanna jump in here and hyjack the post, but i have a quick question. i am working on some projector headlights and i will be running hids when i am all said and done. but first off, does anyone know if i will have an issue with the fiberglass and heat from the hids? i am trying to bring the glass right up to the side of the projector. just wannaa double check on this before i go ahead and finally glass my molds in. thanks

Wow, Thanks J, I shall post pics of the project when i start it. But I have just a few questions. I didnt understand what you meant in these paragraphs:

lay down 3 layers of mat all the way across this will get you alot closer to being level than starting and stopping a bunch of times. Another good trick i learned from an old glass man is to take a good 3m masking tape like 1 1/2" wide tape or 1 1/4" tape and stretch it as tight as you can across the top of the work your doing this will give you a much closer to level finish, of course this works alot better if you have something to tape against such as the ends of your frame or if your doing a car you can tape across the body on each side of the glass work.

How im taking it: 3 layers of mat as in like, 3 layers of some kind of mesh material for the resin to soak. Then lay on your glass / resin. The part that throws me off it the tape.


The next little trick is to tear your mat into chunks, trying to keep all sharp edges out of the mat as a hard edge on the mat translates into a hard edge in your work and is in general harder to overlap, i have however seen some guys cut their mat into squares and make the end result come out very nice, the choice is yours but try to keep the squares or peices around 4" max its much easier to follow corners and edges this way as big peices dont shape well once wet.

^^^ By mat youre talkin bout the glass right?