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Does anybody have a good 'how to' on making enclosures with fiberglass?
I saw how they built the Alpine Civic Show car on their website but its gone now I think..., not that I'm gonna try something that extreme!
Just wanna get some research before I start my project :D
Cheers!
Okay first, what do you wanna build? This is how I built my speaker box. First you have to build a base, then you you need to cut circles for you speakers, when I say circles I mean make them look like "O" with the edges being about 11/2". Then build stands to mount the circles(speaker mount) to the base. These can be any length you want, this is going to give you the basic design on the box, I wouldnt make the stands bigger that 14". Now once you have the circles and the stands all mounted, you'll need some flannel fabric. what you want to do is wrap the flannel into the inside edge of the circles and staple it to the circles. then you want to pull the flannel down to the base and and staple it to the underside of the base. You can pull it tight or you can leave it loose, depending on the look your going for. onces you have the flannel all stapled you need to buy some cat wiskers fiberglass and some fiberglass resin. Follow direction for fiberglass and apply it to the flannel, make sure you cover everything. you may need to put on a few coats but usually one is fine. now the natural weight of the fiberglass will make to flannel sag in so dont leave to much slack on the flannel. once the fiberglass has cured(at least 24 hours) you can start to sand. This can be difficult, so take your time. then do final body work with a plastic body filler. I would use a blue hardner because your subs might cause the box to expand and blue hardner will alow the filler to expand without cracking. Well I hope this help. Good luck later
Okay first, what do you wanna build? This is how I built my speaker box. First you have to build a base, then you you need to cut circles for you speakers, when I say circles I mean make them look like "O" with the edges being about 11/2". Then build stands to mount the circles(speaker mount) to the base. These can be any length you want, this is going to give you the basic design on the box, I wouldnt make the stands bigger that 14". Now once you have the circles and the stands all mounted, you'll need some flannel fabric. what you want to do is wrap the flannel into the inside edge of the circles and staple it to the circles. then you want to pull the flannel down to the base and and staple it to the underside of the base. You can pull it tight or you can leave it loose, depending on the look your going for. onces you have the flannel all stapled you need to buy some cat wiskers fiberglass and some fiberglass resin. Follow direction for fiberglass and apply it to the flannel, make sure you cover everything. you may need to put on a few coats but usually one is fine. now the natural weight of the fiberglass will make to flannel sag in so dont leave to much slack on the flannel. once the fiberglass has cured(at least 24 hours) you can start to sand. This can be difficult, so take your time. then do final body work with a plastic body filler. I would use a blue hardner because your subs might cause the box to expand and blue hardner will alow the filler to expand without cracking. Well I hope this help. Good luck later
Thanks for the info! Thats how I thought you do it but I wasn't too sure.
Here's the design I'm gonna try, just the 'frame' so far.
Also i want to be able to remove it when I need the space so I think I'll have to make it in sections that fit together :(
This is gonna be a tough project!
http://www.recognitiondesigns.com/im...ot_install.gif
looks like a tough project
I think that would be something fun to try...Maybe you should start off with something smaller first though just as a trial so you can get the hang of the whole process and the texture/application of the fiberglass you know? You could make like a smaller version or something else that you might deem useful...I dunno...just a thought. Either way, I'm sure the result will be kick ass and we'd love to see a write up with pics/detailed instructions and of course many pics of the finished product. Where are you gonna mount your amp?
My advice:
For speaker boxes, you can do the initial layup layer with felt cloth instead of FiberGlass, since this will work just as well and cost much less. Then put the fiberglass layers over that foundation.
I prefer to use EPOXY resin over the less expensive poly- and vynil-ester stuff, because it is stronger and holds up better to UV/heat and it is almost odorless, where the esters are noxious. It does cost more, though.
Get LOTS and LOTS of packages of the latex gloves and plastic cups and natural brushes. Every time I've done a layup, I started off trying to be clean and use tools, but end up smearing and sculpting the stuff on with my hands. I just put on a new pair of gloves for each layer.
work somewhere safe from pets and on a surface that is ok to ruin permanently.