Anyone know of a good website for info on Fiberglass work. I want to make a custom speaker box & maybe a console for my Mav.?
Speaker boxes and consoles need a mold or form. I prefer to use styrofoam as an investing type mold that I scrape out after I lay down my glass. That way you can do convex and concave shapes in one swipe. Other people prefer wooden forms or chip board. I'll glue together as many foam blocks as I need with hot glue, then shape it with a sander or rasp. After I get my rough shape, I'll lay down coarse mesh glass with some resin in it. Then brush on more resin and roll it down nice and smooth. After that you lay on some fine mesh in the same manner, brushing on resin and rolling it. After that dries, brush on resin only and let it self level. Then you sand, fill, sand, prime, sand and paint. TADA!!!! If you're really anal, you can wet sand your colors too. I might not worry too much about orange peel on speaker boxes or consoles though. You can also use textured paint if you like. The coarse mesh gives it strength, and the fine mesh gives a good surface finish. If you want it really stiff, add several layers of coarse mesh. The best thing to do is just jump right into it and learn the tricks as you go. Use lots of mold release or PAM on your roller so the mesh doesn't try to stick to it. Also, be careful mixing your resin. Too much activator gives you a really hot pile of jelly if you don't lay it down fast enough. Too little activator means it will never harden properly. I try to mix it up a little bit at a time to avoid waste. Also, I've seen people use wire mesh for their "mold", but that is really hard to do. Makes a really strong structure though.
Alot of people will use a wood base and then have the wooden circles cut out for their speakers and put them on wooden post to possition them where they want and then cover the entire thing with a thick polyester fabric and nail it down on all the edges and around the openings. Then just use fiberglass resin and put over the whole thing smoothly then after that is done just sand smooth and prep for paint. At least thats how they do it on TV at places like unique auto sports.
I get my stuff from Auto Zone or Advance Auto or Who ever is closest. You can buy fiberglass mating and resin pretty much anywhere. I bet Lowes and Home Depot and all your box stores carry it too. Of course there is an over abundance of places to buy online.
