How To Make Fiber Glass Roof Sheets At Home

Chopped strand matting, resin, gloves, mask, roller, big table, mold, mold release... soothing ointment to put on your hands....

It's messy, smelly, not cheap...I can't for the life of me see why on earth you would want to do this.

Just buy the panels it is probably going to be cheaper, cleaner and be a better product.

iam in need as i am doing some designing part so thats why i need these materialto do it my self as they are vey costly in the market but some one had told me that it costs nothing if we made them at home

so tell me how to make fiber glass sheets that we stick on roof ... as they r rigid n transpartents

so any one with a better idea on how to make them .. the material required n the technique needed

Make a mold probably from wood, coat it with mold release...some sort of wax or cling film. Lay a sheet of chopped strand mat over it, mix the resin and hardener, spread it over the glass stippling as you go to ensure you really wet the glass...reapeat this half a dozen times to build up the thickness...wait 24 hours...done.

You can also get woven mat in various grades...the hard thing is getting good wetting without too much resin and making a nicely designed mold. The shape will give the strength, these panels are often corrugated.

Glass fibre suppliers will doubtless have plenty of info' on how to use their products. Ther must be tons of stuff on the web... google glass fibre resin supplies.

Del

Look to boating supplies for the fiber glass cloth and the epoxy.

Epoxy is REALLY good, but expensive. Not having the money for epoxy, I used ployester resin when building in fibreglass, and found no problems with it. As long as you spend the time to wet out the matting completely, it should be almost transparent when done.

Unless you need the higher strength or lighter weigh, I would not spend the extra money on the epxoy resins, as the poster was stating the reason for doing this was to save money.

(I'm a cheap g!t anyway!)

The epoxy resins will extend the life of the panel because they will resist the intrusion of water whereas the polyester will absorb water over time and deteriorate.

The vapors from most of these materials is not good for your lungs. Work outdoors if at all possible or provide plenty of air movement in the work area.

An appropriate respirator is the way to go inside or out. Especially if you use any thickening agents which are often silica based.

Polyester, once hardened cannot be repaired with Polyester, only epoxy will stick to it.....

I'm sorry Andy, I have to disagree. You can always repair polyester resin with polyester resin. There is also a myth that you cannot repair epoxy resins with polyester although there is a grain of truth in it. The fact is that the epoxy resins must be thoroughly cured, like for a month before you can repair with polyester then it will be ok. This info came from a resin manufacturer in an article.

I agree with you you can use polyester to repair polyester. What you cant do is repair epoxy with with polyester, it will not stick

Mike

Epoxy requires a 28 day curing period to allow all the chemicals to become inert before you can use polyester for repairs. Then it is fine

There are several ways to make fiberglass panels. Google VARTM which is a vacuum bag process that makes a very strong panel. Also add some UV block to your resin or you will have a mess in several years.

Also, be careful mixing if you're using a two-part resin. Some of the reactions between resin and catalyst are strongly exothermic. Temperatures can be high enough to start a fire. Or burn you. Or both.

Is there a really good reason to use fiberglass, I mean...the glass itself? Could you not use cotton cloth, for instance? Its not as strong, but at one tenth the price, use a lot more of it? And rags are often free.

I used to work at a company (a lifetime ago!) which made fiberglass chop bodies for snowmobiles....the big moulds would get coated with wax, a clear coat was sprayed on, then a colour coat, then a layer of chop would get sprayed on. Then I would step in with the metal bits which would be fitted onto pins stick in the moulds. These would be packed down with glass cloth and resin, then I would back off, and the guys would spray down the chop again until it built up to about a centimetre thick. There is a lot of air incorporated in this method...on purpose. I always sort of figured it was the bulk which provided the stiffness...and that possibly that bulk could have been created with most any stiff fibre.

I don't use fiberglass now for anything other than repairs, but I have found that cling film is the answer....the resin simply does not stick to it! That stuff is great! I cover the floor, the bench, my hands, my gloves, everything that could get spattered, and most things that could not! I smooth out surfaces with it. Its great.

Keep us posted on how this project works out. And seriously, has anbody ever tried making fiberglass without the glass?

. thankz ppl . but can any one tell me that :

1) what is the temperature that it can sustain , I MEAN if i have to make it in use for storing some hot liquid then what is the limit for it .

2) Can we store any sort of chmicals in them .. if we make tanks of them . more over the reaction is exothermic ..

so tel me can a fiber glass sheet sustain these materials ......