Fiberglassing door pods, have questions....

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

I'll be making fiberglass door pods for my next project, but i have a few random questions to ask first.

1) when making the layout for the pod (glueing dowels in place, wrapping in fleece, etc etc), after the fiberglassing is completed, leave the dowels in or rip them out?

2) when fiberglassing over the fleece to where the speaker holes are, where do you stop fiberglassing? Obviously, i'll be making MDF baffles to mount the speakers too, but do i glass all the way over the baffle mount, then drill out mounting holes? any reccomendations to this?

3) I cant decide if i want to paint or wrap these. I kind of like the idea of wrapping them so i wont have to deal with the possibilities of chipping/scratching paint. Is wrapping these going to be hard, say, with suede?

any input/tutorials would be greatly appreciated. I've read a few tutorials, and the whole process is pretty basic, but none of those questions/topics seemed to be focused upon

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[BassMechkanic 10+ year member]

i pull out............. the dowels

i do a rabbit around my baffles and staple the fleece around there, then cut off fleece that goes over baffles, when i resin it i dont get any on the baffels, then glass up to the baffles keeping it off - it is way easier to sand and finish this way. the speakers sit nice and flat. depending on how much angles you have - wraping might have to have stitching.

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

have any pictures of what you mean by using a rabbit bit around the baffles? I am guessing this is just with a flat baffle (not a flush mount), then you rabbit around the cutout area with a jasper jig or something. Then, just staple right into the rabbit?

bump for my other questions as well //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[BassMechkanic 10+ year member]

i cheat, i use a roundover bit and cut it deep to give 1/8 drop until the round over, staple the fleece on the edge you created, cut fleece off flush with speaker baffle mount, done correctly the fleece will set just under the baffle after resin, then you have enough space to smooth with bondo for a smooth transition.

 

[dappa5 10+ year member]

i cheat, i use a roundover bit and cut it deep to give 1/8 drop until the round over, staple the fleece on the edge you created, cut fleece off flush with speaker baffle mount, done correctly the fleece will set just under the baffle after resin, then you have enough space to smooth with bondo for a smooth transition.

stop giving away the trix bassmechkanic lol that's xactly how I do it too

and I do that into my ports on any box I'm gonna wrap space the staples even so they look like stitching

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

i pull out............. the dowelsi do a rabbit around my baffles and staple the fleece around there, then cut off fleece that goes over baffles, when i resin it i dont get any on the baffels, then glass up to the baffles keeping it off - it is way easier to sand and finish this way. the speakers sit nice and flat. depending on how much angles you have - wraping might have to have stitching.

This. Big time, the rabbet along the edge of the baffle is key and saves you a lot of time and makes the mounting much easier and cleaner.

Also, depending on the location, speakers, and the angles... you don't necessarily need to used chop mat. If you soak the fleece ALL the way through, and I mean ALL the way lots of resin on the first coat. Follow up with a second coat, then use bondo you can also save yourself a lot of time. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

nG

 

[ramos 5,000+ posts]

This. Big time, the rabbet along the edge of the baffle is key and saves you a lot of time and makes the mounting much easier and cleaner.
Also, depending on the location, speakers, and the angles... you don't necessarily need to used chop mat. If you soak the fleece ALL the way through, and I mean ALL the way lots of resin on the first coat. Follow up with a second coat, then use bondo you can also save yourself a lot of time. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

nG

But please use some reinforced filler aka kitty hair / bondo hair. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[BassMechkanic 10+ year member]

yes 2 coats of resin on out side and i normally do another coat on inside, i use gray fleece, you can tell when you have it saturated when it turns dark gray when wet, yes my staples look like they we sewn stitches - leaving no spaces between them, on trick i also found out is to do your tnuts before any resin gets on your baffle, if not dry resin is a mother f***** to get the tnuts to sink into.

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

seems like a pretty basic concept. When you guys are talking about soaking the fleece, this is before any glass is applied i am guessing.

Also, if anyone has pictures laying around of the rabbiting/roundover stuff you are talking about, finished or in progress, that'd be appreciated. I think i get the just of what you are explaining, but pictures always help //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[nineball 10+ year member]

Also, depending on the location, speakers, and the angles... you don't necessarily need to used chop mat. If you soak the fleece ALL the way through, and I mean ALL the way lots of resin on the first coat. Follow up with a second coat, then use bondo you can also save yourself a lot of time. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif
nG

fleece, soaked in resin or not, gives you no structural integrity. it is only used to make the shape of the enclosure being built. the strength of the enclosure comes from the glass mat/cloth and resin. fleece actually makes things harder to work with in the end. the best thing to use is a super thin stretchy material, like the stuff gymnastics uniforms and swimsuits are made from. (it's not actually lycra but it is very similar to that). this will give you the smoothest possible surface to begin laying glass on which will save you hours of sanding later.

this isn't the best pic but here is an enclosure i made using fleece. once it hardened the surface was anything but smooth. it required tons of sanding before i laid down the glass to keep out air bubbles.

conversely here is another enclosure where i used the gymnastics material. you can see how the surface is like glass.

don't waste your time with bondo brand filler. get some rage gold and you will be much happier both with the end results and while working with it.

 

[BassMechkanic 10+ year member]

i agree that when doing a sub box you must glass it for strength, but for door pods and such, use a thick fleece that you wet all the way thru, when dry it is strong. using a Da and 40 grit the bumps come off fast, in a couple minutes it is good enough to skim coat it with bondo (yes use rage gold, it speads smoother and easier to sand,, but it does cost more (ppg brand is rage gold relabled and cheaper)) normally 2 coats and it is good to cover with swead or vinyl.

What is the exact name of that material? where can it be purchased?

 

[Supergumby5000 5,000+ posts]

I'm going to do a layer or two of glass, just to get some actual experience using it.

but x2 on that material. its not lycra?

 

[mmouse57 10+ year member]

you want thin material that doesnt grow/stretch when wet.

if you ahve alot of old kids cloeths stetch some and wet it 'thin stuff' you will know what will work well.

if your material is thin and stretches good but when oyu wet it down it sags or grows lol do not use it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

fleece, soaked in resin or not, gives you no structural integrity. it is only used to make the shape of the enclosure being built. the strength of the enclosure comes from the glass mat/cloth and resin. fleece actually makes things harder to work with in the end.
don't waste your time with bondo brand filler. get some rage gold and you will be much happier both with the end results and while working with it.

Well durr. But if you're making a tiny kick panel, and you use kitty hair... there's not real need for chop mat at all. This is obviously on a per application basis...

As for sub enclosures, large panels, entire doors... of course I use chop mat. I usually try to use it on the inside as well...

And a big old x2 on the Evercoat Rage filler...

nG

 

[nineball 10+ year member]

What is the exact name of that material? where can it be purchased?

for the life of me i can't remember what it is called but i got it at joanne fabrics. the stuff is amazing. it stretches in every direction super easy and seems to be really snag/tear resistant. it is not cheap either. if memory serves it cost about $7-8 per yard but i don't mind spending a little more to get the best that i can to work with. same thing applies to rage and the b440 resin i use.

here are a few more pics of it in action. you can see that when it is not stretched it has a sheen to it.

and when it is stretched it is practically see through.

as far as using mat, well i guess i always build things to be as strong as they possibly can be. i weigh 225 and i am not satisfied with any type of fg project until i can jump up and down on it and have no flexing. all the sub boxes i build have a minimum of 7-8 layers of 3/4oz chop on them and most have more.