How I hate fiberglass, let me count the ways!

[rangemaster]

So I'm making an ironman helmet (4th try, 2nd using fiberglass) the first time and this time i got the first coat right and it dried and was fine. both times on the second coat the little $*** stays wet for practically ever. the difference between those times is this time I did this damn project in late October when its 56 is as warm as it gets.

what tips or advice can you give to an impatient pep-er (aint nobody got time to wait for summer) to salvage the helmet?
I read that heating helms, heating doesn't help, hardner helps after the fact, hardner doesn't help afterwards, babypowder it, just cover it with bondo.

what actually works? I have a cardboard iron man helm. first coat of glass is good for inside and outside. second coat+mat still wet inside the helmet (no second outside coat) since yesterday morning. i've sat down for 3 min with a hair dryer but doesn't seem to be doing anything. do i need to do that for 2 hours to fully cure?

i'd rather not make another helmet. how can i fix this one?

 

[Doc Spengler]

Ive had that happen to me once. I covered the inside with a slush coat of rondo (bondo mixed with the fiberglass resin). That easily covered up the mess i made of the inside and made the helmet more rigid without having to deal with the frustration of fiberglass cloth.

 

[rangemaster]

Ive had that happen to me once. I covered the inside with a slush coat of rondo (bondo mixed with the fiberglass resin). That easily covered up the mess i made of the inside and made the helmet more rigid without having to deal with the frustration of fiberglass cloth.

Thanks ill do that then. Btw when doing rondo which hardner/catalyst do you use? Or is it just fiberglass goo and bondo goo together?

 

[FatMan]

Don't use any resin. Just bondo.

 

[Doc Spengler]

Thanks ill do that then. Btw when doing rondo which hardner/catalyst do you use? Or is it just fiberglass goo and bondo goo together?

I use a little of both hardeners with rondo. It sets up pretty fast but since rondo spreads much much easier then bondo its usually not much of an issue

 

[rangemaster]

Good call on the rondo. I put some on like an hour ago and already it feels way drier than the fiberglass gobblygoo. Thanks.

 

[Doc Spengler]

Good call on the rondo. I put some on like an hour ago and already it feels way drier than the fiberglass gobblygoo. Thanks.

No problem! Glad it worked out for you.

 

[GhostMinion]

Switch to epoxy resin instead. Can be applied indoors and mixing is much easier.

 

[rangemaster]

Switch to epoxy resin instead. Can be applied indoors and mixing is much easier.

Is that that smooth cast stuff I keep hearing of?

 

[MarkKing]

Are you giving the pep a couple of coats of resin, inside and out, BEFORE starting to use the glass fibre cloth/mat/tissue?

 

[rangemaster]

Are you giving the pep a couple of coats of resin, inside and out, BEFORE starting to use the glass fibre cloth/mat/tissue?

Yup. I gave a coat or 2 inside and out before I added the mat, but the resin I used with the mat was too gooey. I put rondo over it (it was somewhat hard with a thin layer of slime) and its almost dry and less sticky now. Going to bondo the outside soon.

 

[GhostMinion]

Is that that smooth cast stuff I keep hearing of?

No, I'm using West Systems epoxy resin. It's resin like fiberglass resin. It's stronger, doesn't fume off and doesn't shrink.

It is, however, crazy expensive.

 

[Insomaniac]

Heat and UV help in the curing process. I was having the same problem with some fiberglass castings and it was probably about 50 degs in my garage. I recalled that putting them in the sun helped way back when I first started to use fiberglass and figured out why. UV rays and keeping it warm, more so the temp I would think. As as substitute I used some blacklight bulbs I had laying around and fired up my heater. Went from not seeming to dry at all to touchable within an hour.

 

[rangemaster]

Thanks for the advice. I might just try the epoxy out.
I've used a hair dryer on it and it seemed to speed it up a bit

 

[MarkKing]

When setting off the resin, all you need is a small amount of heat first off;
This'll set off the catalyst in the resin quicker.

If you leave heat on it constantly, it could cure overly quick & crack, etc.
When setting fibreglass off in car repair, they use a very dry heat, something we'd struggle with at home use.