Fibreglassing work

[lordandrevv]

hey guys
I've been working at a fibreglass repairs workshop for almost a year now and I got pretty good at it. If anyone needs fibreglass repairs done in CHC i would be happy to do it for a very reasonable price at home...even bigger things like take a mould of you factory panels and make new fairings.
I do some work for mates on cars (eg bodykits) and since I'm a bike nut i thought i would do other bikers a favour :-)
So if i can help with anything let me know
Andrei

[imdying]

How about carbon work?

[lordandrevv]

depends i supose :-) if it involves making a part you already have in carbon it can be done :-) I can't say that i had a lot of experience with carbon yet, but i would be keen, and if it doesn't come out it's gonna be on me. I will talk to my boss about it more this afternoon when i go to work. It's only me and him who work there. He's been in composites for 40 years, and has the workshop for 13 years. That man is the closest thing i have to a role model. He has done everything from yacht building to managing huge boat building comany, working with carbon, kevlar..... so yeah :-D I would be keen and he would tell me how and what to look out for. I'll keep in touch mate

[phoenixgtr]

Sounds cool. I might talk to you sometime (when I actually have some money)

[lordandrevv]

lol sure thing mate. as i said I'm not gonna try to get rich of you guys, quite the opposite lol

[Kflasher]

hey guys
I've been working at a fibreglass repairs workshop for almost a year now and I got pretty good at it. If anyone needs fibreglass repairs done in CHC i would be happy to do it for a very reasonable price at home...even bigger things like take a mould of you factory panels and make new fairings.
I do some work for mates on cars (eg bodykits) and since I'm a bike nut i thought i would do other bikers a favour :-)
So if i can help with anything let me know
Andrei

Sweet dude, keep a list of moulds you end up doing...:yes:
Freight these days is not a major issue.

[Buddha#81]

can you do a race style tailpiece (RS125) if so how much? http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Parts-accessories/Frames-bodywork/auction-110219128.htm?p=3 Like this

[lordandrevv]

yup sure could, but as i said I need something to take a mould of . So if you have one, and want more thats easy enough, but to make one from scrach would be a lot of work for something that's just about a one of.

The way to imagine fibreglass is like this: think of a wet cloth that you have about 20 min (maybe more maybe less) to work with, before the liquid turns to jelly and you have to be finished by then otherwise you are screwed lol. It dries in a few hours and is completley hard in about 24 (can be less). So in order to make a tail like that i need to have one and put the wet cloth over it, to take that shape and let it dry, as the cloth does not have a shape of its own (opposite of metal). This object that is an image of the original is called a mould. Then you have to repeat the procces, but lay the cloth on the inside of the mould for it to take the shape of the original item. This mould can be used a lot of times (actual number depends on how well the mould is made).

This is a simplified version of what happens, but there is more to it. eg: the mould of that tail is made of two pieces, as you couldn't get it out otherwise. The line runing down the midle of it in the picture is the seam where the two parts of the mould met, and there was a little crest that had to be sanded down.

As for cost i could do it for less than the buy now in that auction. I would say about 100-120ish a piece once the mould is made. Thats just a guess from a picture. Another factor for the price is how thick you want it (rember it can be made thicker in desired areas only, doesn't have to be thicker all over)

Anyway, hope i have made things more clear for you on how it works. If you are more confused, sorry. I've never been good at explaining things in writing lol
Andrei

[lordandrevv]

Sweet dude, keep a list of moulds you end up doing...:yes:
Freight these days is not a major issue.

haha hope i will have that many :-) once you have that mould freight is not a problem indeed. Will keep people up to date every now and then with what i got

[imdying]

Do you know of anywhere better here in town to get fibreglass supplies than Nuplex?

[lordandrevv]

it al depends how much and what exactly. I would get my polyester resin and glass mat, PVA of work. I would get it for what my boss gets it, and we buy it in bulk. If i was to do carbon, i would probably end up geting the epoxy resin from somewhere like nuplex, pj hobbs or (southern?) composite suplies. Carbon matt i would have to look around, but i saw someone selling it at a pretty good price no TM

[imdying]

The plan is to make a carbon battery box undertray. I've got the plug design worked out, and will hopefully be finished soon. From that, I want to make a fibreglass mold, and then a carbon part. I'm guessing I'll need about 2m of carbon, plus an appropriate resin as the exhaust pipes are about 10-15mm away from it. For the mold, would you recommend that I use matt or chopped strand? And do you think a gelcoat would be beneficial on the mold, given that I want to make a carbon part from it? The weather is finally getting warmer! :)

[lordandrevv]

yup, that sounds good :-) That's going to be quite a big part if you need that much carbon lol. From what i know normal epoxy resin will do the trick with the heat issue, might pay to call someone like nuplex and ask tho. I like using 450g/m2 (230g/m2 is alright to tho, just takes longer lol) chopped strand (CSM). If the CSM has to go around a tighter corner it might pay to rip it along that ridge, and posibly use smaller pieces on that particular area, in order to avoid air pockets. This won't affect the strenght of the mould at all. I would definatley reccomend gelcoat, as you get a very good finish on it, and you can sand and buff imperfestions out of it. I will tell you now that it's not easy sanding tho lol it gets pretty hard.
Dont forget to wax the plug and mould very well (having a job sticking to the mould is really horrible).
If you want to buy the glass and resin pretty cheap, its best to go to a boatbuilder. If you want to i can get you some from work.
The weather is getting better now aye. its lots of fun having to glass stuff at stupidly low temperatures because some guy wants his boat before the weekend lol (we had to get the heaters on the job)
Thats all i can think of atm

[imdying]

Cheers for your help. It's not so much that the part is big, it's just that I'd rather spend more on carbon and take longer making it, to make a thicker part, because the carbon is essentially going to insulate the ECU and battery from the headers. I'm making a sandwiched portion with a heatshield between two bits, hard to describe, if you PM me your email address I'll send you some pics of the design if you like.

[lordandrevv]

PMed :-) .

[imdying]

You got mail.

[lordandrevv]

that seems to be quite a nice project. awsome drawings btw. I'm guessing the ecu goes into the space next to the battery box, and the exhaust goes next to the bottom right side in the all separated picture (the side that is on an angle), under the ecu. Am i right?

It all looks pretty gud. Some ideas: you can maybe try to put some asbestos sheet (or other heat protector) between the meatal part and the bottom fibreglass piece. Another idea could be to cut the bottom carbon part, so that you have a air vent under the ecu, isntead of trapped hot air (exactly the way it looks in the cut-away picture) .

I think the ecu should be fairly safe in there

[imdying]

Yeah, I'm not really sure what to do with that... apparently air is actually not a bad insulator. It's actually more heavy duty than the existing setup, so I'm not expecting any heat related dramas :)

That metal sheet is a heat shield product, I've got a picture of it somewhere... looks to be some sort of asbestos type product sandwiched between two sheets of lightweight aluminum, and then corrugated (presumably because of the air as an insulator thing).

[lordandrevv]

well cold air is better than warm i reccon lol but yeah..probably won't make to much of a difference.

That metal shield sounds awsome and just right for the project.

As for making the carbon parts, if you say you pretty much have the plugs made, you are going pretty well. The bottom part will be prety straight forward. It is always a good idea to round the corners instead of making them sharp. If you don't really have a choise about how shard the corners are, it might pay to put of extra carbon (maybe even glass) around the corners on the inside to keep the main box strong. Its a great way to use leftover pieces. I'm not sure if this is how you wanted to make the top part initially, but the best way i recon would be to make it in 2 pieces (one for battery part and one for the ECU part) and then glue them together using epoxy resin.

If you have any questions on laying it up, or making the mould feel free to ask anytime

[imdying]

Yep, that's the plan, 2 separate bits :) I've a cunning plan for making that internal structure, should be a piece of cake :yes: You don't happen to know the nominal thickness of a 155gm twill sheet do you?

[lordandrevv]

nah, can't say i do lol. I never actually measured the thinkness of different grain matts once the layer is cured. I have to start doing that one day lol

Remember to roll out the job well. If you don't have one, go get a fibreglass roller, really need them, especially for something like this

[imdying]

Yeah, need some rollers, respirator, resin pumps, vac pump/bag/feeder etc :( Still, nothing I like more than buying tools.

Checkout the design of the inner tray mold I've just sent you... so simple it hurts :yes:

[lordandrevv]

youp, thats a pretty cool plan aye i like it. I wouldn't do it because i know i wouldn't trust my skills to make the wood parts lol If someone would make them for me it would difinatley be a plan. This way you get both sides smooth, not that the bottom can be seen anyway lol

One thing i recomend: it might pay to get some PVA which is a water based release agent. You can spray it, but even easyer to just get a bit of it and wipe it on the surface to leave a very thin film. Make sure you went over the whole surface and don't touch it after you went over the surface as it will peal of. It dries very quickly and can be washed of with water

Have a look at these videos if you haven't seen them already:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=q_fKlDzemPY&mode=related&search=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IWiSSLPf6JI&mode=related&search=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IWiSSLPf6JI&mode=related&search=

Very helpfull

[imdying]

For sure, PVA FTW. I'll have a gander at those videos when I get home. I've found a heap of interesting ones, I'd make a post to start listing them in, but it'd need to be stickied, and in the end, few seem to care.

I'm no wood worker, but my brother in law is a joiner, so he'll step up to the plate on this one.

[lordandrevv]

yeah, not many people are into this practice, i would apreciate it if you could send me the links, so i can have a perv and bookmark them...

[imdying]

Yep, will do. I see the links are to tygaboys work, have you seen the MV Agusta / SV650 hybrid carbon fibre tank that he made?

[lordandrevv]

can't say i have. I haven't looked into carbon a lot since there was a shortage for quite a while of it (moslty because Airbus and Boing bought up most of it for their new planes, like the A308 and the newly released 787) and you couldn't really get it.
Now that i could get some and have a project bike as well, I'm definatley going to get into it more.

[imdying]

can't say i have. I haven't looked into carbon a lot since there was a shortage for quite a while of it (moslty because Airbus and Boing bought up most of it for their new planes, like the A308 and the newly released 787) and you couldn't really get it.
Now that i could get some and have a project bike as well, I'm definatley going to get into it more.Andrew, what weight glass would you recommend for the first layers of a mold?

I see the 'tissue' fibreglass weave, I'm picking that's too fine though, maybe something in the 100gm range? Then pack that beyatch out with CSM?

Know of anywhere that sells milled fibres in Chch?

[lordandrevv]

well to be honest at work we use mostly csm 450, but do have some 230 as well. I've learned to get it around corners by means of ripping, cutting and making creases while its dry. If you put the resin on the glass and let it "weat out" (for say 30 seconds) it will be a lot more easy to work with. also a couple of good fibreglass rollers are worth their weigth in gold if you got a very 'bendy' surface (normally a flat one, and a curved one). supose you could use tissue cloth but its a bit of an overkill if you ask me, depends on the shape of the object i reccon. normaly you use tissue cloth for the last layer on the rough side of a mould or casting, to make it smotther or other very small jobs. Are you using gelcoat?
As for where to look for milled fibres...don't really know since we don't buy the stuff, but first that come to mind that you could try are nuplex, burnsco and Composite Supplies Ltd ( see this link http://www.finda.co.nz/business/ac/christchurch-districts/fibre-glass/ ). We don't use that kind of material so sorry i can't help. If you can't find any, an idea is to get csm and cut it with scissors into small pieces and put it in the resin (after the catalyst has been added and mixed up...). once again this might work for depending on what you are using it for.
Well hope i was of some help
Oh and btw its Andrei ;-)

[imdying]

It's a sidecover, so a few more tight corners etc than a larger item, that's why I'm thinking something like 100gm would be good. Have heaps of rollers, although the 1/4" one is pretty average quality, would like to find a better one. The plug is flanged and gelcoated, I should complete the mold this week.

[degrom]

I would definatley reccomend gelcoat, as you get a very good finish on it, and you can sand and buff imperfestions out of it.

Thanks for all the info!!!!

Regarding the Gel coat... Any idea where I can get a Get coat spray gun. I have seen the once with the disposable cups on the net,but nothing local yet.

[lordandrevv]

well, if you rip the glass in the rith shapes, you could even make it out of 450g with a bit of an eye for it. but seriously i dont think you need smaller than 230g. if you need some of that i can get you some pretty cheap from work.
just remember to use plenty of small ripped pieces where the surface is very uneven, and let the glass soak up the resin a little bit before you start rolling it...

[lordandrevv]

the fibreglass supply shops should have them in store (not sure what companies you have in welly). you can get away with using a slightly bigger ordinary spray gun and thining the gelcoat down. You can thin it with acetone as long as you dont use to much or 2 pack thiners. Remember to put styrene wax in the gelcoat if you are using it as a topcoat (don't have to in a mould). There is also a product called Patchaid (made by Nuplex, also can be found at Composite Supplies ltd) that replaces wax and gives the gelcoat better qualities when you use it as a topcoat.
I like gelcoat because you can sand out imperfections, and its very hard. eg had a very nice $70 000 four winns boat at work once, that had some scraches on the black part of the deck. Smaller one polished out, but the larger ones i sanded out, and slowly working my way up though diffrent grade wet and dry sandpapers, couple of compounds, and bit of polish, and a 7" grinder with a buffing pad on, you couldn't tell that they were ever there, and the scraches were faily deep, but not gone through the gelcoat obviously. Spent at least an hour doing that boat lol
The best way to gelcoat a mould up, to make a unit out of it, is still by brush i reccon tho.
Any other questions feel free to ask
Andrei

[imdying]

Yeah, I've made previous molds out of chopped up CSM alright, this is my first fully flanged up super mold, so I want it to be as good as I can get :blip:

Normally I wet the mat out on some newspaper first, get it well soaked and then lay it up... tried using whole pieces when I started, that was a bad idea :lol:

[lordandrevv]

yeah, you can wet it out first and put it on, or put some resin on the job, put the glass on it and then with a wet brush (resin wet that is) make it soak up a bit more from top and bottom, doesn't really matter as long as it is wet :-D

anyway, good luck with your mould man, any questions feel free to ask

[imdying]

I find that, even on a thoroughly cured mold (2 days at 50 degrees), if I work the glass around (with a brush or roller) on the (waxed and PVA'd) mold surface (gelcoat), it makes the gelcoat soften up, which if the gelcoat is too thin, causes the resin to attack the plug (assuming the plug material is susceptible to that). Seems to me that the less mucking about and 'playing' with it, the better.

[lordandrevv]

really shouldn't affect the gelcoat...make sure you get a bit of gelcoat on the plug/mould, if its to thin it's not good.
oh and by the way gelcoat is really resin with colouring agents and few other little bits and pieces, so its not that different.
Not sure if this is how you do it, but the best way to make things is tho put down the 1st layer of glass, let it harden (doesn't have to be fully cured) and then put the rest of layers on. The reson for this is not to allow heat buildup from the strong reaction, as it can deform (not stick to the mould/plug) and this is even more likely to happen if the gelcoat is spread to thin. You can get away with more layers from the begining tho

[imdying]

Yeah, doing that on the molds, but the carbon bits are laid up all at once and vac'd in a bag.

It appears that if the gelcoat is brushed on thick enough, it doesn't have enough mass to encourage the reaction, and it doesn't appear to cure. Since I've ensured that I brush it on nice and thick, I've had few problems.

[lordandrevv]

Yeah, doing that on the molds, but the carbon bits are laid up all at once and vac'd in a bag.

you making carbon parts using vacumm? awsome


It appears that if the gelcoat is brushed on thick enough, it doesn't have enough mass to encourage the reaction, and it doesn't appear to cure. Since I've ensured that I brush it on nice and thick, I've had few problems.

actually there is another explanation. gelcoat will never fully cure on the surface while in contact with air (well, over a long weriod of time it will). thats why on a mould, the side that is on the mould hardens while the exposed side is still a bit sticky. this is desireable since the sticky side lets glass stick to it better than if it was fully cured. This is also why you don't put on thin coats of gelcoat: it will not harden enough, since the air is getting all the way through it, and the gelcoat does not harden.
If you want gelcoat to harden all the way, you have to use styrene wax in it. Normally you want this on repairs, when you are brushing/spraying on the gelcoat and using it as a topcoat (so there is no glass to go on top of it)

[degrom]

Thanks for all the advice LordAndRevv....

Found a really nice example of what you can do with a bit foam and fiberglass (http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/garyd/quikama.html).

The Opportunities are endless!!

[imdying]

Thanks for all the advice LordAndRevv....

Found a really nice example of what you can do with a bit foam and fiberglass (http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/garyd/quikama.html).

The Opportunities are endless!!Can recommend some other sites if you're interested. Fibreglass work is dead simple, it's the carbon stuff that's the pain, and that's mostly because there's so many steps, and because finishing the part after making it is severely limited compared to fibreglass which can be sanded.

[degrom]

Can recommend some other sites if you're interested. Fibreglass work is dead simple, it's the carbon stuff that's the pain, and that's mostly because there's so many steps, and because finishing the part after making it is severely limited compared to fibreglass which can be sanded.

Please do!!!!

I am sure there are plenty of us interested in this topic...

[imdying]

http://www.racingcomposites.net <-- very good
http://www.compositeforum.werksberg.com <-- also very good
http://www.fibreglast.com/VBulletin/ <-- not bad but full of spam
http://www.mci.i12.com/carbon/lost_foam.htm <-- might give you some ideas

Reading up on this stuff only gets you so far, you really need to give it a go. Fibreglassing stuff is pretty easy, seems like a good place to start.

All you need is:
- A litre of resin, polyester is cheapest
- 2 metres of chopped strand mat (CSM)
- 1 or 2 rollers
- Half a dozen 1" wide brushes (you'll waste them, so make sure they're cheap)
- A litre of acetone for cleaning
- A litre of brushable gelcoat
- Some MEK
- Some release wax
- Some PVA release agent (not PVA) - optional, but good insurance
- Heaps of sandpaper, from 40 grit to 2000 grit
- A lot of patience

[degrom]

http://www.mci.i12.com/carbon/lost_foam.htm <-- might give you some ideas

Liked this one a lot!!!

[imdying]

Yeah, not so crash hot on the details, but some interesting ideas.

[degrom]

Hey!!!

Will petrol damage Fiberglass?

What I actually are aiming for is.. Can you make a tank with fiberglass?

[lordandrevv]

hey,
nah, petrol wont affect fibrelgass at all. (a lot of tanks that hold acid are made of fibreglass)
btw I told KB member this today and I will tell everyone again. Don't use polystyrene foam if you can (also known as styrofoam) polyester resin will probably melt it, so you would have to use epoxy, it doesn't sand that well since its got a cellular construcion. Use polyurethane foam. It's a lot better for this purpose. it might be easyer to get polystyrene foam (from household item packaging etc but it can be worth the effort. I know a place in CHC where you could get some offcuts, or even a half decent block. Not sure what melts polyurethane foam tho. I'll try some chemicals on it tomorow :-D

[degrom]

LOL... Good old Library!!! They had a book on fiberglassing and composite materials.

They had a brilliant trick to preventing the polystyrene melting. Its called exterior house paint!!! What you do is paint the polystyrene with the paint and that seals it of from the resin. Then you use normal body filler to make it smooth.

I think this method is mostly used when you have to create huge molds like a dragsters body panels.

"The word Styrofoam is sometimes misused by the general public in the United States as a generic term to indicate polystyrene foam, such as coffee cups, cooler or packaging material are typically white in color and are made of expanded polystyrene beads. The Dow Chemical Company works to educate the public that the term is a brand rather than a generic term for polystyrene foam." (Thanks Wiki)

Styrofoam is a trademark of the Dow Chemical Company(It's a blue foam).

What they have done is to extrude polystyrene to achieve a closed cell foam. A closed cell foam is resistant to moisture and does not break into small beads like normal polystyrene. (Added bonus is that it is sanded very easily)

I think the real "Styrofoam" foam does not melt when applying the resin.(It's not normal polystyrene and they have added extra ingredients to make it fire resistant as well)(I might be wrong on this assumption)

One last thing... "Fiberglass" is also an trademark. That is why they spell it with an "er" and not a "re".

[lordandrevv]

yeah you were bound to find a book at the library. Id still go with polyurathane foam, but polystyrene might be better for you seeing you have to melt it out of a tank lol

[degrom]

yeah you were bound to find a book at the library. Id still go with polyurathane foam, but polystyrene might be better for you seeing you have to melt it out of a tank lol

LOL... Wrong I was!!!! The polyester resin will attack any petroleum based foam.(So it will attack Polystyrene and Styrofoam)

Polyurethane(used in surfboards) on the other hand does not get effected by polyester or epoxy resins.

It all comes down to what you want to make and on what kind of budget you are...

[imdying]

It all comes down to what you want to make and on what kind of budget you are...So.... what do you want to make, and what's your budget?

Before you start, remember, anything carbon fibre you can buy, buy. Only make things that aren't readily available... it's too much time and money otherwise. Like a mudguard for example, you wouldn't bother making one considering there's heaps available.

[lordandrevv]

LOL... Wrong I was!!!! The polyester resin will attack any petroleum based foam.(So it will attack Polystyrene and Styrofoam)

Polyurethane(used in surfboards) on the other hand does not get effected by polyester or epoxy resins.

It all comes down to what you want to make and on what kind of budget you are...

dead right.

[imdying]

My first fully flanged mold is ready to pop tonight Andrei, I'll send you some pics :yes: Do you want to be there when I lay the carbon into it?

[lordandrevv]

yeah, i would be prettty damn keen on that aye. just that i haven't worked with carbon yet, and its an exciting thought. when would be doing it? I'll bring around some stuff as promised :-)

[degrom]

So.... what do you want to make, and what's your budget?

Before you start, remember, anything carbon fibre you can buy, buy. Only make things that aren't readily available... it's too much time and money otherwise. Like a mudguard for example, you wouldn't bother making one considering there's heaps available.


Budget.... My budget says: "Sell all your all your old bikes and buy a proper new one before we can talk about money for after market parts."

You are right,making stuff that's not to expensive is not wise. But then again we are all after one of a kind bikes with custom parts that you can't just buy from your local supermarket.

I see a Honda Hornet in my future and I have a few really nice ideas for custom parts.

Will stick to Fiberglass cause Carbon only comes out in one colour.. :P

[imdying]

Budget.... My budget says: "Sell all your all your old bikes and buy a proper new one before we can talk about money for after market parts."Ahh, one of those wives. Just ignore her and do it anyway :whistle: My wife... yeah, they recognise her at the composites shop now :lol:

You are right,making stuff that's not to expensive is not wise. But then again we are all after one of a kind bikes with custom parts that you can't just buy from your local supermarket.Heh, you don't know what I mean, but just wait, you will ;)

Will stick to Fiberglass cause Carbon only comes out in one colour.. :PWhat's that? Awesome? :lol: You can paint carbon fine :wacko:

Hard to believe how light it is... carbon fibre side cover for my bike (without the two mounts on it) weighs 25 grams :drool: w00t!

[lordandrevv]

{quote}
you know what Henry Ford said. "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black". Well same can go for bikes to lol

[degrom]

{quote}
you know what Henry Ford said. "Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black". Well same can go for bikes to lol

I wanted to add the "I don't like Ford's" comment.. But I decided to go for the rainbow colored fiberglass!!!

[lordandrevv]

lol I supose fibreglass only comes in white, but you can paint it. Here's a funny one: had a customer come in with a hugger for a dragbike. It was a carbon one and wanted to know hom much it would cost to make a mould... It was funny because it was made out of carbon, but it was gelcoated on the exterior, with a black gelcoat lmao

[degrom]

lol I supose fibreglass only comes in white, but you can paint it. Here's a funny one: had a customer come in with a hugger for a dragbike. It was a carbon one and wanted to know hom much it would cost to make a mould... It was funny because it was made out of carbon, but it was gelcoated on the exterior, with a black gelcoat lmao

Must have been a practical guy,not after looks but weight!!!

[lordandrevv]

Must have been a practical guy,not after looks but weight!!!

but gelcoat does not save weight. its just another layer that adds to it, and its about as heavy as resin. so you don't get the weave surface that carbon has, and you're not making it any lighter either. a spray with some normal automotive paint would be lighter...

[degrom]

but gelcoat does not save weight. its just another layer that adds to it, and its about as heavy as resin. so you don't get the weave surface that carbon has, and you're not making it any lighter either. a spray with some normal automotive paint would be lighter...


LOL... They did not want the famous Ferrari weaved surface paint job!!!

[imdying]

yeah, i would be prettty damn keen on that aye. just that i haven't worked with carbon yet, and its an exciting thought. when would be doing it? I'll bring around some stuff as promised :-)Was up pretty late, so didn't get a chance to take any pics, do it when I get home. Did get the mold mostly done though, it's not bad.

Been using an average spray filler primer from repco, getting a little transference from the plug to the mold though. Not sure if it's just the product I'm using, or if it's because I'm working the layup too much and the resin is eating through the release layers. What would you recommend for finishing a plug with?

Flange helped heaps with releasing the mold... just wedge some scrapers between the flange and the plug and hey presto :)

[lordandrevv]

hey, I would really like to come around sometime to have a talk aye (including yuor transfer issue) lol
btw a good idea is to make some wedges (triangular pieces of wood) and use those to wedge the unit from the mould (wood can't scrach) lol

love this thread, me and you going on and on, with the occasional coment from someone else lol

[imdying]

Glad you enjoyed the pictures.

http://www.adhesivetechnologies.co.nz/duratec.html This stuff is supposed to be the shizzle, all the guys on the net who're into composites swear by it for finishing plugs. I'll have to ring the, and see what the deal is.

[Thenaughtebucket]

Hey,

Duratec is pretty good stuff to use, pretty much just a high build sandable primer. but i think it is more expensive then run of the mill gelcoat.

Your issue with spray can primer coming off, is that it probably sticks to the realease better than it does to what ever your spraying, id avoid it where ever you can!

Instead of using gelcoat out of a can, try mixing in some 'micro balloons' or 'filler powder' with some resin for a thick first coat to your mold, let it go tacky, and then lay the fibreglass. will give you a thicker sandable layer.

Sorry if any of this has been covered in the thread already, havent read the whole thing.

AC

[imdying]

Yeah, it's coming off the plug, not the mold. Mold is sweet, using a nice solid gelcoat for that :) I'll sort out a gun and stuff this week, should sort it out.

[alphabravo]

Hi could you do a battery side cover for a GN250. If so how much. Cheers

[fLaThEaD FreD]

Do you know of anywhere better here in town to get fibreglass supplies than Nuplex?
They always have what I want and are always good for techey advice.

[imdying]

They always have what I want and are always good for techey advice.Nothing wrong with Nuplex mate, like you, they always have want I want, and always happy to share what they know.

Would be nice to find other places though, Nuplex have a pretty limited range of weaves etc, and it's always nice to see what else is about :) Plus, I could be getting tucked on pricing, and with nothing else to compare to, I wouldn't know :lol: