So i have been reading a lot on fiberglass and how to work with it. Seems like a few people enjoy working with it and some people don't but i would like to try my hand on it as a hobby. So my question is where to buy fiberglass cloth in phoenix and surrounding areas? thanks

 

you can buy some decent stuff at Home Depot. also try Space Age Paints or Group 5 in Mesa.

hope that helps

 

Thank you peterbilt i will Definitely go to them places.

 

Actually go to walmart and buy the super streachy fleece for doing angles & enclosure skins and so forth. Use kitty hair from home depot soaked in resin to re-inforce areas. And no I really am not into glass work anymore so no asking me to do anything haha.

 

Space Age has the really good stuff, like the resin and fillers that are light years better than the regular Bondo-brand stuff you can get everywhere else, but the good stuff isn't cheap.

 

I use bondo brand resin, I like the stuff. Cures fast and hard as a rock. But my fillers, primers and so forth come from spaceage. Cool paint and you leave high as a kite haha!

 

home depot and lowes ftw

i prefer the mat over the sheet, the sheet is woven uber tight and seems to take twice the resin to soak up and get firm.

but x2 on the fleece, makes a great forming agent for angles and curves.... eats resin like crazy tho ;)

glass is fun!

 

Yeah fleece EATS resin like no tommorow. usually takes 3-4 good coats before sanding.

 

Home Depot FTW! They have everything you pretty much need.

 

ive been doing some work for my boss, and ive been a few places now, and have found that auto zone and wal-mart have the best prices for big jobs. a big jug at lowes is $35 at auto zone its only $31. not a big differnce but if you have to buy more than one then it can add up, they also have "kiity hair" mat and cloth the woven stuff just depends on your application

 

fleece sucks. its hard to get it wet all the way through.
spandex. FTW!

 

I used pantyhose. All you need is something that will stretch into the shape you want and absorb enough resin to become stiff so it supports the mat.

 

i thought you used paper mache'?

 

I like to wear pantyhose under my pandex...

 

Pantyhose seems like it would be too thin to hold resin. Grill cloth might be better. It's stretchy and thick enough to give some structure.

 

I only use paper mache when I'm not going to use mat

 

grill cloth is probably best, but the pantyhose worked really well except it can tear where you staple it to the MDF. It's really thin so it doesn't take much resin at oll to fully wet it and it cures plenty stiff enough to support your mat layers without flexing. The tearing is a problem though, so I wouldn't really recommend it unless you were in a bind. You can really use pretty much any fabric that will stretch into the shape you want, though I can't figure out why fleece is so popular since it wastes so much resin. I guess a lot of people don't realize that the strength comes from the fibers, not the cloth.

 

Was going to recommend a boat supply store... but you guys are in AZ lol.

 

Surprisingly, we have boat/boat supply stores. Typical of Arizona, though, they're nowhere near a lake.

 

There a couple lakes about 1/2 hour or so outside of town