never worked with fiberglass before
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never worked with fiberglass before
hey every1, i wanna put my 12's subs in a fiberglass enclosure, but i never worked with fiberglass before, so is it easy to work with fiberglass? and is the sound gonna be the same in the subs?,well if anyone has some diy or can help me out ill appreciate thx
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From: bay area, california
Rep Power: 338 fiberglass basics:
you will need:
#1 1 gallon fiberglass resin (any type)
#2 hardener (specific to type of resin, 99% chance you will need "mekp" in a dropper bottle)
#3 mixing cups, 15 ounce or so, and 2 ounce or so, youll wanna couple
#4 stirring sticks, 3 or so are plenty
#5 gloves, its just easier to get a box of 57482075735 for $15
#6small plastic squeegee, youll find it next to teh bags of glass and under the cans of resin at yoru hardware store. its about 5 inches across, usually yellow, very soft, just a really nice squeegee
#7fiberglass, it comes in many many many different flavors, the kind thats best to practice with is known as "weave" and looks like course woven cloth. you can get in in bags at the hardware store. I reccommend 4 ounce glass as the starter weight.
#8scrap wood, flat. i like MDF, cause i always have pieces lying around, and its ultraflat, unlinke some crappy ply or something
#9t-shirt cloth, doesnt matter how thin, how thick. the rule of the game is STRETCHY. has to be as elastic as you can get it. you can cut up a t-shirt, if you like [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]
#10, and most MOST important, dedication. your gonna suck your first time! and the second! but its like playing a videogame. once you learn the ropes, you can get creative, and you only get better every time you play.
lesson 1: flat surfaces
get some of your scrap wood, or any flat surface that you can practice on. lay your cloth over so you got extra hanging over teh edge. resin is messy, so trim off al that you will save for future glass jobs. at this point, 4 ounce weave is most appropriate. smoth out yoru glass, youll be running a squegee over it in a second.
now you mix up your resin. following the amounts on the can, mix FOR 2 MINUTES FULLY. this is importnat. if you mix for 10 seconds, it will remain tacky, and never cure. its extremely importnat that your resin is fully mixed. if its cold, add a bit more hardener (only if using polyester resin with the mekp) if its really hot, use less. heat is the true catalyst! 2-4 ounces of resin is enough to start out with, depending on your surface, a square foot or two.
i hope your wearing gloves! pour some resin directly on the glass. you know its fully impregnated because it turns clear (I assume you bought sinple fiberlgass, not kevlar, carbon any crazy something) you use the squegee to spread it around, you dont need to press hard, but you dont want pools. you ideally want JUST enough resin to turn the resin clear. this step is called "wetting the cloth". make sure every part around teh edges that is attatched to wood gets a good lamination. now your done with the first layup
heres a neat trick for glove disposal. rather than pulling them off, turn the glove inside out. all the crap and resing and junk is inside, your trashcan, your hand, nothing ever contacts that resin, other than that glove. unused resin remains in that mixing cup.
after a time, you will be ready for teh next glass layer. if you have laminating resin, you can begin while the resin is a bit tacky, or if its solid. if you got surface curing resin, and you wait for the full harden, you will need to sand off the wax layer on top to get the next coat to adhere. you can reuse your mixing cups, you cna reuse your stir sticks. if you bend teh mixing cup a bit, the resin inside will come off (it sure is brittle, isnt it?) and you can just restore your cup to perfect functionality (its a MEASURING CUP) and useability.
you wont need nearly as much fiberglass as wetting the resin, but youll need a fair amount. the exact amounts as you play will get easier and easier to judge. same as before, you can reuse your squeegee too, definitely break off teh fully hard resin first! pour resin on, and work teh resin into all those little holes. youll have noticed wetting the cloth left an extreme uneven surface, not on a major scale, just tons of little pinholes form the corners of each weave intersection. this we take care of now!
this process is called "filling the weave" what yoru doing is using resin no longer for strength (that was don when you wet the cloth) but for cosmetic purposes. it can take many many layers of resin depending on how thin you make them, the thinner the coat, teh less chance youll have an uneven surface when you go to sand.
soon teh pinholes will closeup. doesnt have to be perfectly flat, only reasonably. start wetsanding with 150 or so grit. 220 is a good start only if its really really ultraflat to begin with. 120 is good for removing any peaks that may have occured by accident. alwya always alwyas always always always always wetsand! i cant stress this enough. its just a pain in the *** to drysand, and far more dangerous, theres NO advantage to drysanding! as soon as you get uniform scratches in one direction (since you are sanding by hand and in only one direction) you switch up to the next grit paper, washing THOUROLY between grit switches. dont forget to keep that paper moist! 120-240-320-400-600-1200-2000. where you stop depends on your goal. if you are gonna carpet it, you stop at 120. if you paint stop at 400-600. if your gonna clearcoat it and wax it and polish it, you gotta go up to 2000, at LEAST OVER 1000.
since this is a test piece, go to 2000. ooooo I can see myself! youll want to build up a HEAVY coat of clearcoat on there now, in VERY VERY thin coats. spray one, wait 5 minutes, spray another, wait 5 minutes, spray another, you want to build up a good 16th onf an inch on there. sand down again with teh 2000 grit paper when the coat is FULLY CURED (very important) then wax. so shiny!
you need to practice this alot, many many times, tho i wouldnt sand every time [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG] dont even need to fill teh weave every time, but its good practice! and you bought a gallon, so you have the resin to throw around. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] after a few coats, you cna try diffrent cloths, try a roving (god they suck) or a real thin matting (isnt it puffy?) but the only real glass you sand fully and care for so greatly is weave. most of the others were designed as a slap job. I cant tell you how sexy this processs works out when you use a CLEAR marine grade epoxy on carbon fiber! you wouldne believe me if i could describe it [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]
lesson #2: fleece
so why did i have you buy fleece? stretchyness has its advantages! youll need to build a wood frame of some sort, my favorite kinds involve 10-15 inch rings made of MDF sitting above a board or some structure held up by supports [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]
contact cement/spray adhesive works best (contact cement = spray adhesive without the "spray") i start on one side of the outer frame, and tack down an inch of cloth or so. then i stretch the cloth around 180 degrees, teh other side, and tack it down. i hope its tight! working my way around, i tack down every bit around, till its all smooth and perfect looking. even one ripple messes the whole thing up!
using the same method above, i wet teh cloth. the fleece is usually too weak to use the squegee, so i use my hands (gloves!) to work it in. as long as its wetted, it doesnt matter how non-uniform the layup is. that gets fixed later. once dry, the hole is cutout and strips (about 2 inches wide an X inches long) of fiberglass are wet then layed inside. fibergglass gets its strength form the cloth, not the resin! its key that you use only enough resin to get the cloth wetted, and no more! you end up with a very brittle piece, otherwise.
also, youl wanna put a bit of resin (no glass!) on top, to fill out teh weave of the fleece. if you dont want to, bondo works well too, to get a flat surface. youll be sanding this too!
again, if you carpet, no sanding is required. if you wanna paint tho, definite sanding will happen, or even carbon, which has to be taken to 2000 [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]
in this manner, you cna do any fiberglass job making curves, no matter how complicated, as long as you have a frame. the curvature is taken care of by the fleece itself as you stretch it! heres a neat idea: make a box (you could cut a corrugated cardboard box if it were stiff enough) and cut the top off. but dont cut it off by the right angle, cut it off below, in a wavy pattern. or random waves. no sharp corners! it will disrupt teh flow. stretch your flece ofver that and glass it. makes for a neat box [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] get creative! your limited ONLY by what your imagineation can come up with!
lesson 3: building a fiberglass subwoofer enclosure
i could go on, but id only be repeating myself. you have, above there ^^^^^, 97% of the information you require to buld a subwoofer box, and 100% of the information if you build a composite mdf and fiberglass box. this is where you let your creativity shine! above is how you get all the skill you will gain using fiberglass too, and once your good at it, (takes time) you will discover just how open the possibilities can be! all it takes is some time, some dedication, a small investment, and a bit of creativity. and you will go far.
lesson #3 is self taught. it is the culmination of dedication to learning, of dedication to the audio hobby, and dedication to glass. very few can claim to have a fiberglass box, then show you something kinda junkie. anyone that cna build a glass box has the skill to crank out some pretty crazy things! a glass box is atrue sign of an audio enthusiast.
you will need:
#1 1 gallon fiberglass resin (any type)
#2 hardener (specific to type of resin, 99% chance you will need "mekp" in a dropper bottle)
#3 mixing cups, 15 ounce or so, and 2 ounce or so, youll wanna couple
#4 stirring sticks, 3 or so are plenty
#5 gloves, its just easier to get a box of 57482075735 for $15
#6small plastic squeegee, youll find it next to teh bags of glass and under the cans of resin at yoru hardware store. its about 5 inches across, usually yellow, very soft, just a really nice squeegee
#7fiberglass, it comes in many many many different flavors, the kind thats best to practice with is known as "weave" and looks like course woven cloth. you can get in in bags at the hardware store. I reccommend 4 ounce glass as the starter weight.
#8scrap wood, flat. i like MDF, cause i always have pieces lying around, and its ultraflat, unlinke some crappy ply or something
#9t-shirt cloth, doesnt matter how thin, how thick. the rule of the game is STRETCHY. has to be as elastic as you can get it. you can cut up a t-shirt, if you like [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]
#10, and most MOST important, dedication. your gonna suck your first time! and the second! but its like playing a videogame. once you learn the ropes, you can get creative, and you only get better every time you play.
lesson 1: flat surfaces
get some of your scrap wood, or any flat surface that you can practice on. lay your cloth over so you got extra hanging over teh edge. resin is messy, so trim off al that you will save for future glass jobs. at this point, 4 ounce weave is most appropriate. smoth out yoru glass, youll be running a squegee over it in a second.
now you mix up your resin. following the amounts on the can, mix FOR 2 MINUTES FULLY. this is importnat. if you mix for 10 seconds, it will remain tacky, and never cure. its extremely importnat that your resin is fully mixed. if its cold, add a bit more hardener (only if using polyester resin with the mekp) if its really hot, use less. heat is the true catalyst! 2-4 ounces of resin is enough to start out with, depending on your surface, a square foot or two.
i hope your wearing gloves! pour some resin directly on the glass. you know its fully impregnated because it turns clear (I assume you bought sinple fiberlgass, not kevlar, carbon any crazy something) you use the squegee to spread it around, you dont need to press hard, but you dont want pools. you ideally want JUST enough resin to turn the resin clear. this step is called "wetting the cloth". make sure every part around teh edges that is attatched to wood gets a good lamination. now your done with the first layup
heres a neat trick for glove disposal. rather than pulling them off, turn the glove inside out. all the crap and resing and junk is inside, your trashcan, your hand, nothing ever contacts that resin, other than that glove. unused resin remains in that mixing cup.
after a time, you will be ready for teh next glass layer. if you have laminating resin, you can begin while the resin is a bit tacky, or if its solid. if you got surface curing resin, and you wait for the full harden, you will need to sand off the wax layer on top to get the next coat to adhere. you can reuse your mixing cups, you cna reuse your stir sticks. if you bend teh mixing cup a bit, the resin inside will come off (it sure is brittle, isnt it?) and you can just restore your cup to perfect functionality (its a MEASURING CUP) and useability.
you wont need nearly as much fiberglass as wetting the resin, but youll need a fair amount. the exact amounts as you play will get easier and easier to judge. same as before, you can reuse your squeegee too, definitely break off teh fully hard resin first! pour resin on, and work teh resin into all those little holes. youll have noticed wetting the cloth left an extreme uneven surface, not on a major scale, just tons of little pinholes form the corners of each weave intersection. this we take care of now!
this process is called "filling the weave" what yoru doing is using resin no longer for strength (that was don when you wet the cloth) but for cosmetic purposes. it can take many many layers of resin depending on how thin you make them, the thinner the coat, teh less chance youll have an uneven surface when you go to sand.
soon teh pinholes will closeup. doesnt have to be perfectly flat, only reasonably. start wetsanding with 150 or so grit. 220 is a good start only if its really really ultraflat to begin with. 120 is good for removing any peaks that may have occured by accident. alwya always alwyas always always always always wetsand! i cant stress this enough. its just a pain in the *** to drysand, and far more dangerous, theres NO advantage to drysanding! as soon as you get uniform scratches in one direction (since you are sanding by hand and in only one direction) you switch up to the next grit paper, washing THOUROLY between grit switches. dont forget to keep that paper moist! 120-240-320-400-600-1200-2000. where you stop depends on your goal. if you are gonna carpet it, you stop at 120. if you paint stop at 400-600. if your gonna clearcoat it and wax it and polish it, you gotta go up to 2000, at LEAST OVER 1000.
since this is a test piece, go to 2000. ooooo I can see myself! youll want to build up a HEAVY coat of clearcoat on there now, in VERY VERY thin coats. spray one, wait 5 minutes, spray another, wait 5 minutes, spray another, you want to build up a good 16th onf an inch on there. sand down again with teh 2000 grit paper when the coat is FULLY CURED (very important) then wax. so shiny!
you need to practice this alot, many many times, tho i wouldnt sand every time [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG] dont even need to fill teh weave every time, but its good practice! and you bought a gallon, so you have the resin to throw around. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] after a few coats, you cna try diffrent cloths, try a roving (god they suck) or a real thin matting (isnt it puffy?) but the only real glass you sand fully and care for so greatly is weave. most of the others were designed as a slap job. I cant tell you how sexy this processs works out when you use a CLEAR marine grade epoxy on carbon fiber! you wouldne believe me if i could describe it [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]
lesson #2: fleece
so why did i have you buy fleece? stretchyness has its advantages! youll need to build a wood frame of some sort, my favorite kinds involve 10-15 inch rings made of MDF sitting above a board or some structure held up by supports [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]
contact cement/spray adhesive works best (contact cement = spray adhesive without the "spray") i start on one side of the outer frame, and tack down an inch of cloth or so. then i stretch the cloth around 180 degrees, teh other side, and tack it down. i hope its tight! working my way around, i tack down every bit around, till its all smooth and perfect looking. even one ripple messes the whole thing up!
using the same method above, i wet teh cloth. the fleece is usually too weak to use the squegee, so i use my hands (gloves!) to work it in. as long as its wetted, it doesnt matter how non-uniform the layup is. that gets fixed later. once dry, the hole is cutout and strips (about 2 inches wide an X inches long) of fiberglass are wet then layed inside. fibergglass gets its strength form the cloth, not the resin! its key that you use only enough resin to get the cloth wetted, and no more! you end up with a very brittle piece, otherwise.
also, youl wanna put a bit of resin (no glass!) on top, to fill out teh weave of the fleece. if you dont want to, bondo works well too, to get a flat surface. youll be sanding this too!
again, if you carpet, no sanding is required. if you wanna paint tho, definite sanding will happen, or even carbon, which has to be taken to 2000 [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]
in this manner, you cna do any fiberglass job making curves, no matter how complicated, as long as you have a frame. the curvature is taken care of by the fleece itself as you stretch it! heres a neat idea: make a box (you could cut a corrugated cardboard box if it were stiff enough) and cut the top off. but dont cut it off by the right angle, cut it off below, in a wavy pattern. or random waves. no sharp corners! it will disrupt teh flow. stretch your flece ofver that and glass it. makes for a neat box [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] get creative! your limited ONLY by what your imagineation can come up with!
lesson 3: building a fiberglass subwoofer enclosure
i could go on, but id only be repeating myself. you have, above there ^^^^^, 97% of the information you require to buld a subwoofer box, and 100% of the information if you build a composite mdf and fiberglass box. this is where you let your creativity shine! above is how you get all the skill you will gain using fiberglass too, and once your good at it, (takes time) you will discover just how open the possibilities can be! all it takes is some time, some dedication, a small investment, and a bit of creativity. and you will go far.
lesson #3 is self taught. it is the culmination of dedication to learning, of dedication to the audio hobby, and dedication to glass. very few can claim to have a fiberglass box, then show you something kinda junkie. anyone that cna build a glass box has the skill to crank out some pretty crazy things! a glass box is atrue sign of an audio enthusiast.
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