composite body

Does anyone have experience making fiberglass panels using 1/4" wire mesh as a form with both sides fiberglass?I'm in the parts collection stage of a build.I would like to use this method to make the panels.I want to either tack weld or screw the wire mesh to a wire body form then fiberglass both sides.I read a couple lines about this on a small home built airplane site.There was very limited info on the site.Can someone share their experience and/or sites on using the wire mesh method?

I've only tried it once, to be honest I didn't like the process or result very much. Getting the 2 layers (either side of the mesh) to bond without air pockets caused by the mesh was difficult and I ended up with a lot of air pockets and a very uneven product which required a lot of body working at the end to make right.

I'm sure much of that was user error but I haven't bothered to try it again (haven't really had a need either)

I always wanted to try the method used to make custom speaker enclosures.

Fleece stretched over a frame of ones choosing then soaking with resin. Then fiberglassing on top.

I tried the wire method for a custom dropped front balance panel. Like jthw8 I didn't like the way it was laminating and abandoned it. I make a buck and stretched fiberglass cloth over it instead and mopped resin over that building successive layers of cloth and resin to reinforce corners etc. I then cast blades of fiberglass on the backside near stress points to make the panel more rigid.

I'm sure the wire mesh idea can work. Im just not sure why anyone would want to go through the extra effort. You will need to reinforce it anyway for strength.

I tried wire mesh 'glass wheelwells and I couldn't get the stuff to not buckle and bend. It REALLY wanted to stay in the shape it was in.

Felt like Three Stooges episode: I'd push one spot into shape but the opposite end would pop out.

Thanks guys for sharing your first account experiences.

I tried the wire mesh method to make a single seat for a motorcycle. Like has been mentioned the results were not too good. I ended up getting a big piece of Styrofoam and shaping it to what I wanted. I glassed over the Styrofoam and then cut and dissolved the Styrofoam.

I have had pretty good results tack welding pieces of stiff wire together to get a basic shape, and filling with spray foam. Make a mold off the spray foam and then pull the panels. Those wires you use to hold up insulation in between floor joists work pretty good. They hold their shape well and weld together nice.

Whats a good source for cheap foam that won't melt when it comes in contact with the epoxies? (Spray or otherwise)

I have used clear packing tape over foam that would be melted by the resin.

I use spray glue and trash bags over the foam.

once you have your shape with the foam skim coat it with either body filler (may still melt foam) or drywall compound. You can sand and polish out the compound to make a very nice form.

JThw8 thanks for the drywall compound suggestion.I've had a fair amount of experience with it.

Masking tape works too, or a trash bag and your vacuum.

The wire mesh strategy can work out just fine - you have to stay away from using chicken wire or cheap material. Use something stronger, like a woven wire mesh material - Wire Mesh - Woven and the material should be able to hold its shape and form without any problems or headaches.

Best way to do this type of thing is with foam, either expanding foam, blue or pink insulation foam boards and EPOXY resin, not polyester. Epoxy won't melt the foam, is much nicer to work with, and doesn't stink to high heaven. Once the epoxy is cured, the foam can be cut out or melted out with gas or acetone (gooey mess). If you slather some latex paint over the foam shape before you epoxy it, the foam will come out easier.

epoxy is the stuff to use. I am using it -inside- my boat with it all closed up. Regular resin would cause my little heater to make small explosions as it combusted and stunk to high heaven as it made you high. The Epoxy, you barely even notice a smell

Epoxy cannot be beat - I especially like the duel-tube 5 minute drying clear stuff. Super powerful bond that lasts a lifetime.

West Systems epoxy is really good. You can get pumps for the resin and hardner, so 1 pump on each gives you the correct mixture. That way you waste very little resin. It's very nice to work with, smells very little, and there are three hardners available, so you can taylor the cure time to your needs or temperatures. If you post cure it at 120-130 degrees (heat lamps can accomplish this, just don't get them too close and over heat a small area) it will be really strong. It works equally well with Kevlar and Carbon Fiber. I spent 6 years building composite model aircraft. I made my own molds and laid up thousands of parts. I love working with composites.

West System is what I use. If they can use it to build a boat that will live it's life in saltwater without rotting.. it will work for a car

The model aircraft I built with West Systems were all Fiberglass, Carbon and Kevlar. They were subjected to flight loads as high as 30Gs, wings flexing every time a hard turn loaded the wings up, so they were acting almost like springs. Some of the planes I built are still flying today, and I went out of business in 1997. I only say all this as testimony of why epoxy is much better than polyester. We used to, in the 70s, make race car parts with polyester resin, and they were extremely brittle and would shatter easily. I hope all this helps the original poster.