Fiberglass Mold Help

[Ludicrous]

How would someone go about smartly building small boxes out of fiberglass? I work with fiberglass from time to time in the automotive body repair business, but other than that....

Mold? Or other method? Here's what I am trying to build:

[nitz]

How would someone go about smartly building small boxes out of fiberglass? I work with fiberglass from time to time in the automotive body repair business, but other than that....

Mold? Or other method? Here's what I am trying to build:

Just build a box (female mold) out of MDF. Give the box a slight taper (opening bigger than bottom) so your humidor will slide out easily (also helps to drill a 1/8" or so hole in the bottom for air later). Then wax the mold w/ several coats of wax. Spray the inside w several coats of PVA mold release. Spray in your gel coat (let cure). Then start laying in your glass. Once it has cured use a blow gun and shoot a little air in the hole in the bottom of the mold and with any luck out pops your humidor. Good luck and post some pics!

[OReely]

First off, the resin used in the manufacture of fiberglass gives off a distinct odor for days, weeks, or even months, depending on the resin chosen, lay up conditions catalyst level, etc. I'm not sure that it would be the best material for a humidor unless you were prepared to let it age for quite some time.

If you still want to build from glass the you can do as was stated by nitz for a quicky mold that will take some post-finishing to make it look decent. I would use melamine instead of MDF. The plastic finish on the melamine only needs one coat of wax and will allow easy release of the part. It will still need post-finishing, although not as much.

If you want to build really nice parts you would need to build a pattern (also known as a plug) and then a mold. The pattern is made to look exactly like you want the finished part to look and then a mold is built off it.

[Schmaltz~Herring]

First off, the resin used in the manufacture of fiberglass gives off a distinct odor for days, weeks, or even months, depending on the resin chosen, lay up conditions catalyst level, etc. I'm not sure that it would be the best material for a humidor unless you were prepared to let it age for quite some time.

If you still want to build from glass the you can do as was stated by nitz for a quicky mold that will take some post-finishing to make it look decent. I would use melamine instead of MDF. The plastic finish on the melamine only needs one coat of wax and will allow easy release of the part. It will still need post-finishing, although not as much.

If you want to build really nice parts you would need to build a pattern (also known as a plug) and then a mold. The pattern is made to look exactly like you want the finished part to look and then a mold is built off it.

Find a chinese company, they can copy anything well.

[bly]

First off, the resin used in the manufacture of fiberglass gives off a distinct odor for days, weeks, or even months, depending on the resin chosen, lay up conditions catalyst level, etc. I'm not sure that it would be the best material for a humidor unless you were prepared to let it age for quite some time.

If you still want to build from glass the you can do as was stated by nitz for a quicky mold that will take some post-finishing to make it look decent. I would use melamine instead of MDF. The plastic finish on the melamine only needs one coat of wax and will allow easy release of the part. It will still need post-finishing, although not as much.

If you want to build really nice parts you would need to build a pattern (also known as a plug) and then a mold. The pattern is made to look exactly like you want the finished part to look and then a mold is built off it.

I agree with both how to build and why not to build out of smelly resin!

[Ludicrous]

The smell is a major concern. I can negate that by using paint instead of gel coating. Melamine, where can I buy some?

[aitkenkingfish]

doesnt the wood help keep the cigars at the right humidity not sure fiberglass will do that but im not an expert on how the humidor works.

The smell is a major concern. I can negate that by using paint instead of gel coating. Melamine, where can I buy some?

[OReely]

Resin, as well as gelcoat gives off those odors I mentioned. You'll still need to gelcoat the part before layup or you will have pinholes that need to be filled. Whether or not the paint will seal the odor is another question entirely. I guess you'll have to experiment on that one.

Melamine is usually based on a particle board substrate but can sometimes be found with an MDF substrate. It's usually white at home centers, although it can be found in other colors at wholesale supply houses. At the home center, it's usually available in 1/2" and 3/4" thickness in 4' x 8' sheets in the plywood area. They might also have smaller, cut sheets available. You could even buy ready made shelf stock since the project is small.

[schoolsout]

Might be a dumb reply, but why not just use wood?