Introduction

You all must have heard of Fiberglass, right? Do you know how to make fiberglass at home? There are myriads of tutorial books and magazines that mention Fiberglass molds. It is quite an interesting as well as a helpful thing, isn’t it? Well, of course, as it helps you get duplicate copies of a single thing.

How do you think you get to see more than one piece of the same shape and design? Molds are used to get products of the same shape, size, and design. What if we say that you can use fiberglass to make a mold for yourself? Yes, you heard it right. So, let’s get ready to learn the steps to make a Fiberglass at home.

Supplies

Tools

• Scissors
• Knife
• Hot glue gun
• Cup gun
• Mil ridge
• Mat roller

Materials

• Hardboard
• Plywood
• Clay
• Mold release wax
• Spare Cloth
• PVA mold release
• Gel coat
• Black pigment
• Catalyst
• Caviezel
• Resin
• Salvage tape
• Fiberglass mat

Steps To Make A Pen Holder With A Waste Soda Bottle

Step 1: Take a hardboard as a base and the original shape (plug) you want your mold to be like and paste a piece of plywood on that shape with the help of a hot glue gun.

Take plug and base and paste a plywood

Step 2: Apply glue on the surface of the plywood and put the shaped item (plug) on the hardboard (base) with the plywood side down to paste it there.

Paste the plywood side down on the base

Step 3: Make sure that there is no gap between the plug and base. Apply clay on the corners and press it to make sure there are no gaps, and then trim the extra clay with the help of a knife.

Fill the gaps with clay and smoothen the edges

Step 4: Apply the mold-release wax all over the plug and the base, and then rub it with a cloth to make sure that the mold comes out easily later on.

Apply mold-release wax

Step 5: Now, apply for PVA mold release as well with the help of a spray twice to double coat the plug and the base and let it dry completely.

Spray PVA mold release

Step 6: Take a regular gel coat in a cup gun and mix it with a black pigment and then add catalyst and mix.

Mix gel coat, black pigment, and catalyst

Step 7: Start spraying the mixture of gel coat, with the help of the cup gun, on the plug and the base from one direction to another to coat it well and create a layer of around 18-20 mils. You can measure the thickness with a mil ridge.

Spray the mixture and measure well

Step 8: Keep it aside to dry completely for a few hours.

Let it dry

Step 9: Mix Caviezel and resin together to make a mixture to apply on the corners where the plug and the base meet to give it a curve and get rid of sharp corners before applying fiberglass to support it.

Apply the mixture of Caviezel and resin on the corner

Step 10: Spread that mixture on the corners and give it a smooth curved corner.

Spread the mixture well

Step 11: Mix resin in catalyst and start applying it on the base. Then put a salvage tape on it and apply the mixture again to paste it well.

Apply salvage tape with the help of a mixture

Step 12: Now, apply the mixture on the plug and paste the fiberglass mat on it. Spread the mixture again on the mat as well to make it saturated and wet. Apply the layers of the Fiberglass mat cleanly and cut out the extra mat with scissors.

Apply fiberglass mat

Step 13: Use a mat roller to gently remove the bubbles on the surface. Then keep adding more layers in the same way and add up to 4-6 layers.

Remove the bubbles

Step 14: Add a surface curing agent to resin and make a mixture. Apply it with a brush as the outermost layer all over the plug and base and let it dry overnight.

Apply surface curing agent

Step 15: Now, to remove the mold, start breaking the seal from the edges with the help of a knife and loosen the whole plug so that it gets detached from the base.

Detach the plug from the base

Step 16: Remove the plywood and the original shape (plug) from the mold. Take off the dried layer of PVA as well. And, the mold is ready.

Remove the plywood, PVA, and the fiberglass mold is ready

Recommendations

When you decide to make your fiberglass mold at home, you need to make sure that you do it with precaution. So, remember to keep a few things in mind that are:

• Make sure you use sharp instruments with caution.
• Handle the hot glue gun with care.
• Apply all the layers well to make sure that the mold comes out the same.

Isn’t this interesting? Making a fiberglass mold at home so that you can mold something of that shape and size at home is great. It is something new, so you need to do all the steps with concentration. So, be ready with all the required tools and materials as you know how to make fiberglass now.

Saquib Siddiqui

Saquib Siddiqui is a Mechanical Engineer and a content creator. He has special interest in science experiments and teaches the same to school and college students. He is also a technical lead at RUDE LABS PVT. LTD.