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AFTER READNG CC'S TANK BUILD ABOUT 20 TIMES AND GETTING REALLY EXCITED... I WENT ON THE HUNT FOR KNOWLEDGE AND SUPPLIES... I GOT A BUNCH OF FOAM FROM A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT HAPPENING BEHIND MY WORK 2"X24"X48"... BRAND NEW SHEETS (COST $0)... THE GM AT THE PROJECT IS THE MAN!!! I ALSO FOUND A MARINE SUPPLY (MARINE WEST) RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER THAT CARRIES ALL THE RESIN AND GLASSING SUPPLIES THAT I NEED... I HAVE A DONOR CB350 TANK THAT I'M USING FOR THE GAS CAP BUNG AND PET COCK BUNG... I WANNA BUILD A BREAD BOX SHAPPED TANK AND SEAT TO MATCH... THIS WILL BE MY FIRST TIME GLASSING ANYTHING ANYONE WHO HAS DONE THIS BEFORE I'M ALL EARS FOR ANY TIPS OR SUGESTIONS... THIS IS KIND OF LIKE WHAT I WAS THINKING...
All the info ya need is out here in DTT land. Take your time, use the right materials and tools, build proper molds, and expect to spend more time and cash than you planned. Stop yelling at me , and good luck. Make sure to take lots of pics, I for one am really interested in how this all turns out!
Is that the kind of foam like used in coolers? The kind made up of a trillion small pellets? Thats a huge pain in the ass (read: impossible) to shape. Just a heads up. The pink or blue stuff is where its at.
its what they are connecting to the building to stuco it... its polystyreen or how ever you spell it... i'm not to concerned with shape i'm b/c the shape i'm going for is pretty square... is it being square going to be an issue structurally?
Square should be an ok shape, but getting sharp corners is pretty difficult with glass.
The problem with the styrene foam is that the beads like to come apart and it is really difficult to get a smooth plug to glass over. The closer your plug is to the final shape you want, the less work you'll have to do later with body filler and sanding. I think that is why most people stay away from it. If you get a rough shape then foil it over until it's smooth or something like that, it might not be a problem.
I'll brake this down easy for you using basic skills and resources.
when you have the shape you want, brake out the body filler. Cover that sucker, sand to a smooth finish.
Use some news paper to mock up what general shapes you will need cut out of glass for a smooth wrinkle free layup. Remeber to over lap your seams by about four inches inches each layer.
Use a carnuba wax ALL over the now smooth body filler.
Impregnate your glass, cut out your shapes and lay it down!
After you have the glass on top, pending your resources try a mylar/ plastic on the glass to keep everything smooth. It will peal off very nicely when the glass has kicked.
Ive used it, at least the one I used I found that it was so fragile you had to be very carefull when you handled it after glewing because the glue couldent hold on to the powedered surface worth a damn. Cut like a dream tho.
The white and pink stuff is also trickey because it will grip to the knife blade and rip off in chunks.
I dont actually know of "the perfect" foam for this, I'm sure its out there.
dont be affraid to think "outside the box" look around your house, in the garbage, home depot for something close to the size and shape your looking for, you never know it could be your toaster oven is close to want you want, then some small mods and your in the mix.
SM foam from Home depot. The pink or blue foam found in the insulation aisle is the stuff I've used. use a bread knife and a rasp to get it to rough shape you want and then you can use sandpaper to get to the final shape. If you're careful enough you can get it super smooth, a much better starting point than using pelletized foam.
It may be free but it'll cost you time, frustration and materials.
I've used the blue insulating foam before and am about to go that route again soon.
Use an electric carving knife to get your shape close, followed by a palm sander with 220grit. This should get you awfully close to what you want. Then mix up some epoxy glue with a thinning agent (I think acetone was cited here in someone else's built. Once that hardens break out the bondo as Mr.Rat suggests and smooth it out. For mold release I prefer the release spray you can get a tap plastics, though I've heard of lots of guys using car wax successfully too. Just make sure your buck is really smooth and well coated with release.
At this point you can pull a female mold, then you're golden!
If you do attempt it with the white foam then one way to cut it with minimal mess is to heat up a knife with a propane torch. We do this when making packing material for custom pieces at work. Cuts through it like butter and reduces the tendency for it to crumble, but it's stinky so do it somewhere with plenty of ventilation. Good luck!
I've thinned out polyester resin using using Acetone. mixed at 10% per volume. So 300 ml of polyester resin I mixed in 30ml of acetone then added the 2% of hardener, 6ml then mixed it again. It took awhile before the acetone and resin were completely mixed. I found this amount worked for me to get a couple of layers down before it started to gel and the thinned resin mixture saturated the cloth/mat much more thoroughly and quickly.
Another thing I've done is to warm my can of resin, (I'm in the basement of a barn), in a tub of hot water. Flows better.
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, and good luck. Make sure to take lots of pics, I for one am really interested in how this all turns out!
