how to reshape a warped fibreglass bio

[frosty]

Well a friend is sending me a bio he bought, he wants me to see if i can straighten it, its a fibreglass part 1, now i know resins like fast cast etc can be adjusted with heat, but i'm unsure of what to do with a fibreglass bio.
Any ideas? i checked the search function and came up empty
cheers in advance

 

[Uratz]

I've tried doing that with one of my thickly cast bios with the FBG permanently bonded to the resin and I used a Heat gun to target the warped area. I found out that it burnt the resin turning it brown and I had to move the heat gun around the area to prevent this. The best result is a thinly cast Bio will work. If its too thick it may be too hard. Also depends on your resin I would think. Some resin that are less hard on the hardness scale may be easier to work with that the tougher ones.

Also when u actually are successful at bending the heated area to the right shape quickly spray cold water on it to cool it down so that it becomes hard to retain the new shape. Otherwise it'll spring back to it old form.

Good luck.

 

[skunk]

it really depends on what resin was used and how far into the curing prosses it is...the older it is the harder it will be to soften...but soaking it in boiling water or just pouring boiling water over the affected area should soften it enough to reshape it......then you can either hold it in place while it dries naturally or simply blow on it or put it in cold water.

 

[crawjaw]

It would be a good idea to post pictures of the Bio so we can see how badly and where it's warped.

I googled "re-shaping cast fibreglass" and came up with a possible solution.
Re-shaping fibreglass

 

[hez1]

A heat gun is probably your best bet, although like Uratz mentioned, if you simply hold it in one spot you will burn the resin. Move it around a little, and do it on the inside of the bio (that way if the resin does burn a little, it won't affect the appearance). Most of all, do it carefully. Heat it to the point where it flexes easily. If you're straining it, it's not hot enough, won't hold its new shape, and is probably on the point of breaking (that should be common sense, but you never know). Dunking it in cold water to hold its new shape sound like a great idea.

Wear some thick leather gloves or similar while you're doing it, or the resin will burn your fingers when you touch it.

On the whole, fiberglass is tough to reshape, especially if it's been laid properly, so good luck.

 

[frosty]

Thanks for all the ideas guys, its not here yet, i'll post pics when it arrives, your all great lol!
I've used heat before on ordinary resin, but as it was glass reinforced i didn't think you could do it, i'll give it a go.