Okay, I've probably already got close to 20 hours in building this box, mostly because of all the time it took to figure out angles and measurements so it'd fit perfectly in there. So I really don't want to make a huge mess of it now that it's fiberglass time. And no, I've never fiberglassed before. I have to make some pods for my front speakers so I'll practice on those first, but I'm hoping there's someone out there that can give me a bit of advice. Now I understand what I have to do as far as mounting the speaker rings (I made them already btw), and wrapping it in fleece. I'm just curious as to what would be the best way to go about laying down the glass. I'm cutting out the bottom of each chamber of the box so I can glass the inside, but it's a pretty large surface so would it be best to start laying the glass down around the endges and work my way inward? or start around the ring and work outward? should I just work from one side to the other? How long should I let each layer harden before I put the next layer down? should I do one chamber at a time? Any tips anyone can give me would be hugely appreciated. I'm going to have some black and blue vinyl stitched up to upholster this thing, so it's going to look pretty sweet as long as I can get through this step....... And no, the sides and center section aren't staying square like that. I'm going to cut them more round once I see how the fleece stretches over them so I can make it look how I want it. Thanks guys.
Thanks man. It's back as far as it can go. I put those slots on both sides. the side panel on the car is notched out lower so I had to go around it. I was going for somewhere between 1.7 and 2.0 cu.ft. per sub and thought I was going to have trouble, so I was looking for every bit of space I could. Now looking at it, I think it's going to be plenty big if not too big. Once I get it wrapped though, I'll have to figure out the volume so I can make the right sized ports for it. I'm putting 2 type r 12s in it.
okay that box should work well with fleece. if you have crazy curves i reccomend swim/dance wear. its like under armor material.. but anyway. just put the fleece over it (pull it tight) and staple it down (or hot glue it tape it w/e works for you) now one thing your going to have to know is that whent he fleece gets wet it will weigh more obviously but it will slouch down. if you want a perfectly flat round (wow that is an oxymoren. like flat across but rounding over the edged) make sure the fleece is REALLY tight and im not even sure that will work. witht he first layer, id wait a good 3 hours to let it dry. after my first layer i go fomr the inside and put that stuff on thick (saves a bunch of time) but dont put more then one layer of mat down before you resin it. layer of mat, resin, layer of mat, resin lol. oh and apply the resin with a cheap 50cent paint brush. i think the ones i use are 2 inches wide. take note it will be expensive! with that massive thign yoru going to need prolly 3 gals of resin and many bags of mat, many brushes and a ton of sanding... oh wait your not painting it so the sanding wont be bad for you. id cut the bottoms out before you put the fleece over, much easier. and just make clean cuts and when the time comes fiberglass them right back in. with that much surface area your giong to have to make it VERY thick and strong. but its not too hard if you do it right. i already made my rookie mistakes lol. oh! and wear gloves! get a box of like 100 lol. you dont want resin on you... get it on yoru leg... yeah that b!tch hurts takin it out lol. goodluck man you can do it!
Thanks Trevor, awsome description. How many layers of mat do you think I should go? And should I make sure it's built up a lot in the corners where it stretches over the mdf? And if I'm fiberglassing the inside, is it okay just to leave the resin soaked fleece as the outside layer? or should there be a layer of glass on top of that too?
Glassin not that bad... Theres a ton of info "out there" on it... Doesnt matter where you start, gest keep the layers even. Try using less resin until your comfortable working with it. It set up real quick. Are U using the Mat or cloth? I would use the mat for the first few layers and then use cloth on the top layers. Make sure U brush all the air bubbles out. A small roller will also help spread the stuff around quickly. If using brushes on a big area like that the epoxy might set up while your still applying.. Good Luck, Post pics when finished
okay there's the stuff that's just all the fibers mashed together in a mat, and i'm assuming that's what you mean by mat. and then there's the stuff that's woven into a fabric, and I'm assuming that's the cloth. am I right?
when you have the outside layer of fleece soacked in resin, dont put any over that. just sand it then bondo it, then sand it, then primer filler it. the inside yes, build up a little in corners but make sure there is no air bubbles. i dont go by layers... i just keep adding it until its VERY solid. i push as hard as i can and if it doesnt flex, your good lol. although with a big area like that, you might get some flexing even if you did it an inch thick. (btw, if you reach an inch thick, thats definetly enough)
yup, for a smooth finish, just use epoxy/resin for final coat. If your out side with it, a beltsander will smooth it out real quick, Use a dust mask tho. after belt sanding fill any viods, sand, fill, sand,fill, sand,you will see where it needs fill as it will not have sanding marks in it. Use a course paper too, like 60 or 80 then topcoat, you may need a few applications to really smooth it out. Another trick is, to work upside down, this may not be possible in your case. This methods is the same technick, but you put wax paper down where the finished area will be and build out from it, this will make a glass like finish on the top when you peel the wax paper away when its cured.If you could make a mold of it somehow, lay wax paper in it, then layer, layer, layer, cure, remove wax paper and your done. very little sanding involved. ....Its a lot of work getting it smooth. good luck.
since you have the walls made up for your box like that it will be hard to get an unwrinkled job when u wrap the box, just makes it a lil more work to get a nice outside appearance.. have you made MDF rings to mount the subwoofer yet?
yeah I made rings. I put quite a bit of work into them too, they're 2 layered so the sub will mount flush, and I used anchors so I can bolt the subs in. I'm pretty happy with them. and yeah, the side walls and center aren't staying that high and square. I'll cut and round them as I pull the fabric over until I get the curves I want.
alright .. takes alot of just looking at it to figure out how u want it to look.. if its a fairly large span try and get 7 layers on it.. obviously curved areas will be stronger than flat stretches.. id use mat over cloth.. just because its easier to work with.. simply rip it into little pieces.. place into a bucket and u can keep grabbing them and applying as you go.. the cloth also takes alot more resin to saturate it and will take longer
I just finished soaking the fabric in resin. I used this stretchy sh!t called lycra that ended up working quite well. There are no creases anywhere and it pulled tight so it didn't sag when put the resin on. I'm hoping that it's thick enough that it'll dry rigid, but I'm not too worried about it. I should have the glassing done by the end of the day but if I run into any trouble I may be posting some questions......hopefully not.
