Anyone used fiberglass before?

[BlueTahoe2001]

If you're building a simple enclosure, use MDF or birch for the flat spans and then you can use fiberglass to get the contours you want on the baffle. Try to restrict fiberglass usage to contours and irregular shapes. When using MDF for enclosures, you can brush on a thin layer of fiberglass resin on the inside panels to completely seal the enclosure. MDF is still porous and can leak air. A layer of resin will seal it.

Cool, So in a nut shell Fiber Glass is a no-no for flat surfaces? Contours and Irregular shapes only?

Also, Just to double check, I am building a box that is 12x12x9" Is that to much flat surface to use fiber glass. What is the max flat surface you would use FG on when still trying to achieve strength?

The reason I ask is because I would like to get the finish of FG on the simple box I am building. Just to give it a custom look.

 

[JKmotorsports]

Cool, So in a nut shell Fiber Glass is a no-no for flat surfaces? Contours and Irregular shapes only?

Also, Just to double check, I am building a box that is 12x12x9" Is that to much flat surface to use fiber glass. What is the max flat surface you would use FG on when still trying to achieve strength?

The reason I ask is because I would like to get the finish of FG on the simple box I am building. Just to give it a custom look.

You can use 'glass for flat surfaces, you just have to reinforce it more compared to curved surfaces. The larger the span, the thicker you need it, especially for sub enclosures.
A box the size you're building would be ok to use fiberglass, but it would be much more cost and time efficient to use MDF. If you want to paint it, you can brush on a couple thin layers of resin first then paint it. From what it sounds like you want, I would build the entire box from MDF and cut the opening for the sub. You can then build a trim ring for the sub to mount onto to raise it. Mount the ring to the enclosure, stretch cloth over the top to give it the shape, then apply resin to the cloth. Once you finish applying the needed layers of resin, you can cut the opening for the sub, sand it, finish it, paint, then mount your sub. This way, the sub is directly mounted to the MDF enclosure for strength and the finished 'glassed cloth will be there strictly to break up the square look of the box to give it a custom look. Doing it this way will help prevent unwanted flexing of the walls and provide optimal strength by using MDF and provide a custom look with the slightly raised, painted fiberglassed baffle. This will also be a lot less time consuming than building a completley fiberglass only enclosure.

 

[syndicatesteve]

aint nothing like the smell of a fresh fiberglass job on your ride. for flat surfaces use strips of fiberglass, and for curved ares use " chop" its stronger and offers more surfaces for strength. also dont mix the glass to hot or the end product will be very brittle

 

[BlueTahoe2001]

You can use 'glass for flat surfaces, you just have to reinforce it more compared to curved surfaces. The larger the span, the thicker you need it, especially for sub enclosures.
A box the size you're building would be ok to use fiberglass, but it would be much more cost and time efficient to use MDF. If you want to paint it, you can brush on a couple thin layers of resin first then paint it. From what it sounds like you want, I would build the entire box from MDF and cut the opening for the sub. You can then build a trim ring for the sub to mount onto to raise it. Mount the ring to the enclosure, stretch cloth over the top to give it the shape, then apply resin to the cloth. Once you finish applying the needed layers of resin, you can cut the opening for the sub, sand it, finish it, paint, then mount your sub. This way, the sub is directly mounted to the MDF enclosure for strength and the finished 'glassed cloth will be there strictly to break up the square look of the box to give it a custom look. Doing it this way will help prevent unwanted flexing of the walls and provide optimal strength by using MDF and provide a custom look with the slightly raised, painted fiberglassed baffle. This will also be a lot less time consuming than building a completley fiberglass only enclosure.

Sweet, Thanks for all the information! This will come in handy when I get to building the box this week!