fiberglassing foam

[00000dan]

hello everyone, i was hoping i could get a little help. im working on a project and im looking to make a plug and then making a female mold.<br /><br />the plug is going to be made of styrofoam. and im going to use fiberglass to make the female mold.<br /><br />this mold is going to be a 18 to 20 foot canoe. <br /><br />i thought i could just fiberglass the foam but found out very quickly that it is not possible. tried using paints with no luck because when the resin and hardner mix the thing gets so darn hot that it melts the paint.<br /><br />does anyone know how i can do accomplish this?? <br /><br />differnt paints??? foam??? resin??? fiberglass???<br /><br />thank you in advance for taking the time in helping me.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: fiberglassing foam

You can use plaster over the foam, cheap and easy. It can be difficult to seal the plaster though, wax it many many times and a bunch PVA.

 

[00000dan]

Re: fiberglassing foam

thank you ondarvr, i have another question for you. what is PVA????

 

[ondarvr]

Re: fiberglassing foam

It's a release agent that disovles in water, you can brush, spray or wipe it on. When it dries it protects the surface of the mold from the resin, some will come off on the part, some will stay on the mold, you just clean it off with water. Ask for it a place that sells fiberglass supplies.<br />You still need to use wax though.

 

[LubeDude]

Re: fiberglassing foam

I have had success glassing over styrofoam by putting several coats of latex gloss paint over the project, then one final coat of enamel. If your resin is getting that hot, you are using too much hardener.

 

[00000dan]

Re: fiberglassing foam

i think i am using too much hardener. im using what the tube says i should use but its hard and hot real quick. im going to play with the hardener this week. also i dont think i was using a latex gloss paint. that could also be part of my problem. thank both for your help im going to try both and see which works with not only my budget but time as well.

 

[Bondo]

Re: fiberglassing foam

Epoxy is Much More Friendly with Foam,......<br /><br />Build the Plug with Epoxy,+ then build your Mold out of Polyester,........(The resin You're calling "Fiberglass")..........

 

[ondarvr]

Re: fiberglassing foam

Epoxy can work well on foam.<br />One reason I like plaster is that it can be difficult to sand foam and get a good smooth surface. Plaster is easy to sand and shape, if you make a mistake you just add more to that area and sand it again, plus it's very cheap and no health issues. If I was planning to make more than one part off of it, I wouldn't use plaster, it normally won't hold up more than one time.

 

[00000dan]

Re: fiberglassing foam

thanks guys...doing to work on project thursday and will let you know what happend