Woodie bondo seam technique

[Steve Frederick]

Whoa! Cool!!

[madjack]

Rick...are ya gonna f'glass or epoxy or ??? over the bondo............................

[brian_nj2006]

my fear with the bondo would be the different expansion rates between it and the wood.

But it does look good and kills two birds with one stone.

[tonyj]

I can't draw a straight line, much less tape a straight line.

Good tip

[mikeschn]

That's nice! I like it!

Mike...

[GPW]

My brother had a body shop in the past .... I hung around there doing custom painting ...(murals...$$$$) Did alot of Vette' repair ...lots of bondo over glass, and glass over bondo ...seemed to work fine ...and I did several murals over that ..... wouldn't want my artwork to crack now ....would we...???

[b.bodemer]

very nice and a clean look...........................
Barb

[Sam I am]

Great idea, and timed right for me. I just finished skinning my tear, and was debating how to fill & trim the seams. Your idea looks like a perfect solution, and I have a can of Bondo sitting just a few feet from my tear!
Another idea: I have plastic spreaders I use for Bondo. What if I cut a shallow, slightly arched notch in one, and dragged it across the wet Bondo? It might give it a rounded molding look.

[kirtsjc]

Disclaimer: I'm not making any claims on how well this will hold up but since I tried it, I thought I should share it as it may be a unique idea (good or bad) and may trigger some creativity in someone else.

In my quest for a woodie seam moulding, I laid down some masking tape; then put some bondo down; then just as the bondo *started* to cure, I pulled up the tape to make a nice straight edge. Then as long as I didn't sand all the way through the bondo, I had a seam filler/psuedo moulding all in one.

I'm not sure I will keep it in the long run - but there ya have it.
--Rick

Looks like from the pix that you layered the bondo; how many layers did you apply? Did you allow for a full cure between layers? How thick do you think one could go with that technique?

[BILLYL]

Looks good - but I do wonder how long it will last. Filling a gap that wide and not have something underneath for it to grab I suspect that it will crack. The twisting of the frame, etc would make it a candiate to crack. It is like when a dentist fills a large cavity. He/she will put in some anchor posts so that the material has something to bond to.

Like Madjack asked a epoxy coat with some reinforcement fiberglass would give a stronger joint.

But again - this is only my opinion and my family tends to over engineer things

Let's us know how it turns out

Bill

[Miriam C.]

Hey Rick,
that looks real neat. If I was't committed to a clear wood look I would definitely do that. Don't know much about bondo on wood but they use it on cars.

As for the gap, if I am reading correctly, you don't really have a real gap just where the ply comes together right?

If I doesn't work what have you lost? You'll get a fun weekend and have a good project to come back to.

Enjoy
Aunti M

[angib]

My experience on Bondo onto plywood is that it sticks as well as wood glue, providing it is applied to a virgin wood surface, or to a clean, well-sanded surface.

If you have two sheets of ply that meet at a joint where they aren't properly fixed to each other, the Bondo will certainly crack - each side will stay fixed to the wood underneath it like it should, but it won't hold the joint together.

If Bondo fell off plywood, I would look to see what I had got wrong in preparing the job, rather than blame the Bondo. For example the cure of any polyester product is harmed by water so not protecting it from even a light shower is asking for trouble later. Also Bondo must be 'fresh' - a tin that's been sitting in the garage for a year is useless.

Andrew