Sealing Box

[SirSteve 10+ year member]

Ok, box is all cut and holes are pre-drilled. Now, it's time to seal it. Do I lay a bead of liquid nails and screw it together? Then I want to apply a coat of fiberglass resin to give it more strength... not sure how though.

Click to read more...

 

[Randy Savage 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by SirSteve Ok, box is all cut and holes are pre-drilled. Now, it's time to seal it. Do I lay a bead of liquid nails and screw it together? Then I want to apply a coat of fiberglass resin to give it more strength... not sure how though.

What is it made out of? I put on some liquid nails, drilled it together, and added more liquid nails. If you use 3/4 MDF, liquid nails should be good enough, no need for the fiberglass if you use a lot of liquid nails.

 

[SirSteve 10+ year member]

Originally posted by snova031 What is it made out of? I put on some liquid nails, drilled it together, and added more liquid nails. If you use 3/4 MDF, liquid nails should be good enough, no need for the fiberglass if you use a lot of liquid nails.

It is 3/4". My cuts are not exactly straight (cm off here and there) so I was hoping the fiberglass would help out on that as well...

 

[mgaidica 10+ year member]

wow, um 1cm is kind of big to play around with. is it that off on all boards or just one, i would recomend just cutting a new board... sealed box's NEED to be sealed, if you have a leak you can get into many, many problems.

 

[evo2k3 10+ year member]

yeah i cm is pretty big -- i did that with a few boxes when I messed up by a mm hear or there and it worked just fine, if you think you can seal it up with glass, you can try it, but a cm is an awefull lot to mess with.

 

[SirSteve 10+ year member]

yeah... going to recut. Wish I had a table saw to cut with... the skill saw ***** (or I **** at using it). //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[nswartley 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by SirSteve yeah... going to recut. Wish I had a table saw to cut with... the skill saw ***** (or I **** at using it). //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

heh yea...you can always put caulking on the inside too...or should //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Savant 10+ year member]

If you have a way to sand the edges, you could clean it up that way too.. waste less wood (unless you could re-use the bad piece for something else, but it sounds like you have all the pieces cut already)..

As for sealing.. I didn't really seal mine well, now I have to pull all the subs and get in there and make sure it's sealed very well.. I say this so you know I've not any real experience with sealing a box.. That said, you shouldn't need to put any glass or resin on the seams to seal it.. decent cuts cover 'most' of the seal, then run caulk (or liquid nails if you have enough, but a good caulk should work just fine) along ALL of the seams inside the box.. and don't be shy about putting it on.. You want to make sure you have a thick enough layer of caulk that it won't blow through, but you don't have to get crazy with it either (1" of caulk would be.. well.. um.. crazy //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif ) I'd think a nice 1/4" thick bead on the main seam flattened to the sides for a good bond should be fine..

I have 'adhesive caulk' for tub-tile applications.. Dries clear and I'm presuming the adhesive bit will make it a stronger bond than normal silicon caulk (but I could be wrong)..

Another thing you could do to fill that gap would be to mix some glue and saw-dust from the cuttings.. make it into a pase of mostly dust, but wet enough to be sticky with glue.. then spread that on the crack, push it in good.. Hell, that would probably even be the best sealant if you had enough dust..

 

[paikiah 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by Savant If you have a way to sand the edges, you could clean it up that way too.. waste less wood (unless you could re-use the bad piece for something else, but it sounds like you have all the pieces cut already)..

 

As for sealing.. I didn't really seal mine well, now I have to pull all the subs and get in there and make sure it's sealed very well.. I say this so you know I've not any real experience with sealing a box.. That said, you shouldn't need to put any glass or resin on the seams to seal it.. decent cuts cover 'most' of the seal, then run caulk (or liquid nails if you have enough, but a good caulk should work just fine) along ALL of the seams inside the box.. and don't be shy about putting it on.. You want to make sure you have a thick enough layer of caulk that it won't blow through, but you don't have to get crazy with it either (1" of caulk would be.. well.. um.. crazy //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif ) I'd think a nice 1/4" thick bead on the main seam flattened to the sides for a good bond should be fine..

 

I have 'adhesive caulk' for tub-tile applications.. Dries clear and I'm presuming the adhesive bit will make it a stronger bond than normal silicon caulk (but I could be wrong)..

 

Another thing you could do to fill that gap would be to mix some glue and saw-dust from the cuttings.. make it into a pase of mostly dust, but wet enough to be sticky with glue.. then spread that on the crack, push it in good.. Hell, that would probably even be the best sealant if you had enough dust..

Very well said~

Ok, if you want to use a jigsaw to cut straight lines, clamp a piece of wood parallel to the intended line.. the space between the wood and the line depends on your jig. My black and decker has a 3.4cm spacing between the blade and the side, and I've always used this method to get (near) perfect results.

When working with silicone, apply saliva to your finger and work with it. Water won't work, only saliva will. Trust me, it works.