Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Has anyone tried this mix used by this guy? Just painting it on sounds pretty cool. It's about have way down on the site. Sorry, I don't know how to make links work so you might have to type it, or some one can help.

www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_post ... 74519&PN=1

Wow !!! The link worked. This magic box thing infront of me amazes me all the time.

That's pretty cool. Here's the picture of the body filler/resin coated part.

What are you wanting to do with it?

The method in the link is pretty standard in car audio. They typically use fleece because it is a quick way to build thickness. The problem with using it elsewhere is that it is heavy, good for a subwoofer but bad if you are going to build your trailer like that.

asianflava wrote:What are you wanting to do with it?

The method in the link is pretty standard in car audio. They typically use fleece because it is a quick way to build thickness. The problem with using it elsewhere is that it is heavy, good for a subwoofer but bad if you are going to build your trailer like that.

Except in this case, they didn't use it to build thickness, they used it to form the plug for the mold. The part they ultimately cast contained no fleece.

It's an interesting process. I wouldn't have ever thought of using either fleece or combining body filler with the epoxy. Of course, you obtain the same means using wood flour.

I've been giving this quite a bit of thought lately as a way to construct watertight door frames, and maybe complete door units. But just thinking, not building.

tonyj wrote:Except in this case, they didn't use it to build thickness, they used it to form the plug for the mold. The part they ultimately cast contained no fleece.

The enclosure is the part made with fleece and resin. They cast a cover aka"beauty board" on top of it using glass cloth. The enclosure is still underneath. You want the enclosure to be thick and stiff so that it will have a lower resonant frequency.

I don't know if this runs counter to the "normal" way of doing things since I've been out of the biz for so long. Usually the enclosure itself is smoothed with bondo and sanded smooth. Then it is then painted or covered without using the separate cover. Why smooth it out two times (enclosure and cover) when you only have to do it once. If you were just going to make a plug, you can make it out foam and glass over it.

asianflava wrote:

tonyj wrote:Except in this case, they didn't use it to build thickness, they used it to form the plug for the mold. The part they ultimately cast contained no fleece.

The enclosure is the part made with fleece and resin. They cast a cover aka"beauty board" on top of it using glass cloth. The enclosure is still underneath. You want the enclosure to be thick and stiff so that it will have a lower resonant frequency.

I don't know if this runs counter to the "normal" way of doing things since I've been out of the biz for so long. Usually the enclosure itself is smoothed with bondo and sanded smooth. Then it is then painted or covered without using the separate cover. Why smooth it out two times (enclosure and cover) when you only have to do it once. If you were just going to make a plug, you can make it out foam and glass over it.

My bad! You're correct--they did do two pieces. I thought only one. Some day I have to spend time and learn to read.

I'm a little confused. Why the cover? Why not just smooth out and paint the actual enclosure/rack? Am I missing something? I have used this technique to make some kick panel enclosures before and I'm thinking about redoing my A/V area in my T/D using this, so the link is nice inspiration, THANKS!

I'm not a expert, but if you need filler in resin for what ever you are making there are other things to used as a filler , local fiberglass expert recommends "fumed silica"...

http://www.glen-l.com/supplies/pxman-products2.html

I have used "fumed silica" and it is like a fine flour and does add body..... I'm a little skeptical of adding 2 products together (body filler and resin) that both require a different form of catalyst, although they are in "same chemical" family...

Also consider these are stereo guys and have a product to produce, its not always best engineering and fabricated from the best materials.... I'll bet theie speaker system only has a 2-3 year life span....

Dale

james tillitt wrote:I'm a little confused. Why the cover? Why not just smooth out and paint the actual enclosure/rack? Am I missing something?

My thoughts exactly, why do it twice. You have to get the plug reasonably smooth, then you are smoothing out the cover. I dunno, I guess they have their reasons.