Fibreglassing work

[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 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 My wife... yeah, they recognise her at the composites shop now

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.. :P

What's that? Awesome? You can paint carbon fine

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