Thread: Fiberglass Thickness

Depending on the fiberglass mat weight/thickness is going to be up to you for the most part, i would take account that each layer will be slightly thicker then the mat itself once the resin is applied, i dont think your'e going to find an exact formula in this situation, your going to have to use some good ol fashion educated guestimation.

After all, you can always start smaller and add more as you need, it would be much easier then trying to sand down through the matting, thats just going to make a royal mess.

1/16" t0 1/8" would be a good guess but like he said it all depends. Id get all your material and layer 3 test layers down to see how thick you make. You and I could use the exact same thing and our thicknesses would differ

Looks as if a little estimated guestimation is in order, but your right, it'll be much easier to start smaller and work my way up.

Thanks

What I like to do when building boxes and consoles is to mock up the frame, then stretch fleece over it....fleece soaks up alot of resin, and actually pretty rugged once dried.

After the resin is cured, take it out and add 3-4 layers of matte and resin to the inside of the structure. This way, all I have to do is run the DA sander over the outside with 80 grit until it is pretty smooth, then apply lightweight filler to fill the low spots. Run the DA over that with 220.

Finally apply a thin coat of USC Icing polyester finishing putty (or mix bondo with a little resin and creme hardener). DA with 400. If you have a primer gun, you can skip the last step and get some sprayable polyester filler then sand with 400. Once dry, finish as desired.

Hope this helps!!

Also, after a little thinking if your trying to do what i think your trying to do and make the console meet up as flush as you can with the edges of your dashboard, what i would normally do in something like that is i would tape or foil over the area of my dash id want the console to meet with and lay about 2 layers of fiberglass down to make a mold of the contour to follow the
dash lines.

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*heres an example molding i did on an speakerbox/console i build for a friends f150*



I made a mold of the floor, the factory console and later on the seats edge.






And ended up with a nice ported enclosure that fit flush against every surface it came in contact with and still kept the factory lines, just a shame it was never finished he ended up selling stuff off before we even made it to paint, oh well lol.

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Once the mold has cured id take the console frame and secure it to the mold, and wrap my material (whether it be fleece, grille cloth, an old shirt or whatever you choose to use) around the console and the backside of the molded dash piece to make a flush fitting solid shape from the start, then you would have the ability to add fiberglass from the inside if possible to keep the original shape better and to cut down on sanding.

Post up some pictures if you can, projects like this always interest me and im sure if anything would help some other members spark some ideas.

I know what your saying, and your close. I'm at work, when I get home I can post some pics and you can see what I'm talking about. I might be able to modify your plan a bit to better suit my application.

Originally Posted by NCSadist

I know what your saying, and your close. I'm at work, when I get home I can post some pics and you can see what I'm talking about. I might be able to modify your plan a bit to better suit my application.

Thats what its all about sir =D, looking forward to see what kind of project exactly this is.

This is the project I'm about to start, its a center console for my truck, since the manufacturer didn't make a real one for it and I don't like the aftermarket ones, so I figured I'd make one for my truck that include some functionality that I'm looking for.



The reason I started this thread is that I want the center console to meld into the dash as part of the center bezel. Although I don't want it to be 1 single unit, but rather 2 pieces. If you look at the pic below, I plan on cutting the center bezel just below the heat/ac controls under the small protrusion. I want the console to slide underneath that small protrusion, but also along the sides I want it to fit tightly into the dash in the void left behind from the removal of the lower half of the bezel. I'd like for it to look as stock as possible.

Here is a bit of an update on the project. Its the base for the console, I've got a bit more work to do on it, then it'll be ready to glass over.

This is where I cut the bezel and the console will tuck just underneath it.








I still have to make the cup holders before I can start on the glass, but its coming along. I'll be able to get more done next weekend with fewer distractions

Don't worry ... After the next semester starts, I plan on building and installing a carputer, its the reason I started coming to this site, but I like the fabrication section so I posted this thread on here.