fiberglass items

[tomtrux]

Has anyone here made a snorkel or any other items from fiberglass?? Or does anyone have a suggestion as to anything that would be good to have made from it? I'm looking into making a fiberglass snorkel. It should be a bit cheaper than buying one online but I will also be left with a mould to make moore if its good enough quality! Thought replacenent bumpers may be an idea as they are prone to rot and ver heavy??? Any suggestions would be great.

[wishbone]

Home made fibreglass snorkel on Yotatech.

[western uk]

If you have a load left over you could always make a Surf board !

Fiber glass is a very versatile material and very strong. A good way to get accustomed to some of the processes if you've not used it much before is to look at the tech pages on the West system epoxy website, loads of info on there.

Probably the best former to use would be a plastic down pipe ,that way you can just wrap with polythene so the tube comes off the pipe easy.

Cloth is used in the Surfboard industry which has a nice weave and makes a nice clean strong lamination.
Epoxy comes in lots of different qualities but you must stick to the ratios and make sure you mix it properly.

Good luck with your Snorkel and Bumper constructions.

Cheers Martin

[madcampbell]

Wax the inside of a small section of gutter and make it in sections. If you gelcoat the inside of the gutter first you can have what erer shade you want . Then all youu need to do is carefully join your halves together and fibre glass tape the joins.

[tomtrux]

Thanks mate. I found a local supplier who has a really informative web site! If it stays dry this weekend I'm gonna start with the dummy model. Will prob use some spare soft wood I have and when its finished I'll paint it for a perfect finish! I like your idea for the shaft though might use that. If anybody knows wher to get end pieces cheap let me know or I will make one of those too!!

[JUDWAK]

thats a lot of work
better off useing owt rather than do all that
but its what you like i suppose but i would not no way do that

[wishbone]

btw - fibreglass bumper = chocolate fireguard.

Stock one isn't up to much already..

[tomtrux]

Wax the inside of a small section of gutter and make it in sections. If you gelcoat the inside of the gutter first you can have what erer shade you want . Then all youu need to do is carefully join your halves together and fibre glass tape the joins.

I'll make a dummy and go from there. I did think break it down and make it in 2 halves. Not ruled it out. I don't know which will be the best way until I get the dummy made. Might make an awkward but pleasing to the eye design. Or might go much more basic and make a box on the wing and add a tube??? Will post a pic when the dummy is finished

[tomtrux]

btw - fibreglass bumper = chocolate fireguard.

Stock one isn't up to much already..

I recently bought and painted bumpers so I'm not making them for me. I was just wondering if they might be a good idea. I know they are prone to rot and are heavy. Fiberglass ones are just for show really (not a body kit, just fiberglass replicas) besides what do you use your bumpers for??? Lol

[wishbone]

I'd have hoped that the stock one was good enough to protect the bodywork from damage when I reversed into a tree. However I can safely tell you it isn't

[tomtrux]

What you reverse into a tree for??? Lol gutted mate! I had a focus go into the back off me and just scratched the bumper... Focus bonnet bent into a V shape!! Hilux 1 focus 0 lol

[mattisaLN130]

I would use a complete pipe as a mould rather than doing it in two halves, it is a lot easier to release it from the moulds if it in two but the time you save will be lost joining the two bits together. As long as you wax the surface well and you leave enough of the mould exposed to get a good grip it will release. Also make sure your mould straight and fair, use a straight edge to find any hollows and bends.

A good way of consolidating the wet cloth is by using shrink wrap tape. Once you finished laying up the job, take your shrink wrap tape and wrap it around evenly in the same direction as your last layer of cloth, tape both ends and then gently heat with a heat gun. This will force all the air and excess resin out giving an almost professional job. They use this method when making composite fishing rods.

Hope this is of some help.

Matt

[wishbone]

What you reverse into a tree for???

Boot full of camping gear, nothing in either side mirror thought I had enough room. Lol!

[wishbone]

Safari snorkel fibreglass copy

[DaveHMS]

Hey Tom
Did you get any further with the grp bumper idea? It's def do-able, my local grp shop would do that for me, the problem is getting hold of a bumper set in pristine nick to make the plug.
Cheers
Dave