How to Make Large Composite (Fibreglass) Patterns by Hand
►Full Project Guide: www.easycomposites.co.uk/lear...
Further information and links ▼
This tutorial is the first in a four-part series following a project to make lightweight, super-tough sledges for a polar world-record expedition. Find out about the project in this interview with Expedition Coordinator Alex Hibbert: • The Dark Ice Project I...
Products featured in this tutorial:
► Polyurethane Foam www.easycomposites.co.uk/high...
► Pattern-Coat Primer www.easycomposites.co.uk/comp...
► Pattern-Coat Hi-Gloss www.easycomposites.co.uk/comp...
► Mirka Abrasive Paper www.easycomposites.co.uk/mirk...
► NW1 Cutting Compound www.easycomposites.co.uk/nw1-...
► Sanding Block www.easycomposites.co.uk/perm...
► ET500 Adhesive www.easycomposites.co.uk/rigi...
I'm not in the market for your products but I watch your videos anyway--so interesting and well-presented; a pleasure to watch.
same\
That's absolutely fine by us. If you ever are in the market, or you know someone who is, then you know where we are :)
Adam E. It is fascinating to see how things are made.
Great video. I have watched my friend do this in his fiberglass business. You have the benefit of the cnc and cad equipment he did all that by long hand. Same result as you. Thanks for the vid
well I am... hoping to score a composites oven before end of the year... but as I'm 'in the states' I have to figure out how to change the power supply connector
One of the best channels for molds and models. Curls for your work
I never realized how much love and labor went into this. Wonderful craftsmanship! For now I will stick to building my projects out of OSB scraps.
Your videos just keep getting better and the scope of the projects are getting really advanced. So impressed.
Thank you, appreciated.
Absolutely love the encouraging attitude and alternative lower end tools and approaches being mentioned. I can see myself possibly doing a project of this kind in the distant future.
That's great to hear Siana, if you go for it, let us know how you get on.
Being US pattern makers since 1958 it's interesting to watch. We also produce a lot of larger patterns and molds for composite products ( fiberglass), mainly architectural , columns , cornices, domes and facia panels. We use the similiar method to this on our larger shapes. On larger parts we do use a wooden strongback to build the parts on if too large for a surface table. We use water jet to cut out main framing materials as it's quicker and cheaper that routing. We also try not to have the framing come to the surface, the difference in material can make them show up in the finished pattern. We also try to keep all our framing running in one direction , it simplifies the assembly of larger parts and the slicing and dicing of the model if using cad. ( add 90 deg framing for strength as reqd) We also use wood/MDF/particle bd for framing but simple wood glue is much cheaper and simpler to use with nails or screws to hold while it sets. My patterns always have to be transported over the road to the customer so they have to have better structure to survive the trip. Great video nice to see pattern or plug making as I used to call it in the U.K. on YT. Cheers Warren , W.D.Pattern co The final surface skin is always the hardest decision. The filling the gaps with foam method we have used successfully but is crazy messy and on large parts requires a lot of hand work on big pieces like large dome sections 20' long and 6-8 ft wide. It also requires the frames on the surface to hold the shape and that leads to frame print thru on pattern or sometimes in the mold. We have used a layer of fiberglass cloth over top to minimize this. And FYI the large foam you are using is in the USA very expensive , $20-50 per board ft so is hard to be competitive with that cost of material. You finishing materials are the same type as we have here in the USA, our choice of sprayable material was reduced when Valspar stopped producing their line a couple of years ago ( Fourseal). Our go to now is Duratec line from Hawkeye Ind. Is there room for another supplier, probably. ( there are various automotive branded options too). Great video , good to see pattern or plug making as I called it in the Uk on YT. Cheers Warren WDPattern Co ( also on IG)
Thank you for your comment Warren, it’s great to hear your methods, experience and thoughts. PU foam is not quite in the $20-50/sqft territory in the U.K. but it’s not far off. The method and materials shown in this tutorial certainly aren’t the ‘budget’ option but they are at least a lot cheaper than an ‘all out’ CNC machined pattern. Anyway, thanks for your comments and look forward to your insights in the future 😀
I needed this tutorial 6 years ago.
Mmmm, sorry about that.
Keep this kind of interesting tutorials coming they are very insightful
I like how you always add information about diy on a budget👍
Thanks Hanes, we all have to start somewhere and certainly when we started out we really had to try to save where we could.
This is how we made supermileage car chassis at university. In fact that sled upside down almost looks like one! Brought back some memories of hours of sanding!
Yes, we’ve been there ourselves, many times, finishing patterns ‘till we have no fingerprints!
Great video material, and very informative! I would totally want to give composite material molds and forming a try one day!
I'm going to use this method for my next project now. Thanks for the inspiration and the education!
you make it "look" easy, great video!
So thats how those concept model plane/car guys able to make a shinny cool looking model ! Thank you
I have learnt a lot from these tutorials. Thanks a lot
Great video, as usual. A good distraction from making CAD videos for my students. Thanks for showing the mistake in the video, it's really important for people to know that they happen to everyone.
Thanks Keith. Agreed on the mistakes, they do happen to everyone so it's not helpful to always cut them out. The bit you *never* see in our videos is LOT of vacuuming up, but there is that too ;)
This workshop just looks awesome! So clean and beautiful :)
Yeah, really realistic... Eh?😊 They're Hell to work in.
Great video and explanation. Keep up the great work. Looking forward to the next one
Thank you, next part is just around the corner.
Perfect timing I’m about to make a mold for my front bumper and fenders and seeing you work something as large as this sled will be an excellent primer for my project can hardly wait. And I second the motion for a store in North America. 👍
Thanks Glen, yes, this should be a good project to follow. We’re on the USA thing!
I'm into sailboats. These guys make me dream about bold plans 🙂
Wow. This is so satisfying!
Such a wonderful video, project, array of products and information. I look forward to your products being in the US at some future point. This makes me want to build a custom workshop sooner than later.
We hope to be in the US fairly soon, so much support and interest from customers over there, we’ve got to make it happen 👍.
Your videos has helped out out student formula team in composite fabrication of Aerowings🙏🙏😊😊. These videos are just good to watch.
Thanks, that’s great to hear.
Very informative and I appreciate your candor!
Amazing job. Really cool stuff.
Extremely well presented. Thanks for uploading this!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed!
I wish I had your patience! Great vid by the way once again!
Lol, thanks. Well, we've learnt over the years that trying to go down what seems to be the simplest or most basic route ends up taking much longer in the long run so we go full-fat from the start and then it usually comes together the way we wanted.
Hi I really like the 3m safety gear during the primer. Great job. ❤
Great job well done and many thanks to share such an experience👍👏
Your videos rock because although you guys use the proper tools and techniques, you also mention how someone could do it in their garage. Rock on!
Thanks Tyler, we try to do that for sure 👍
Hola: como siempre los mejores tutoriales y videos,faciles de seguir y entender,los mejores materiales ...etc...etcñ
Very interesting to watch. I'm learning new things. I was eager to see how you went about making such a large object for making your molds. Now that I've seen it, I can only qualify it as great workmanship.
Thanks Henri, glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you for all the great videos!
You're welcome, glad you're liking them :)
Really like these composite videos you put up. I've done a lot of pattern building, and yes, an arctic expedition sled as well :) I didn't have access to prefab dense polyurethane foam blocks like you used, but had to pour A-B Urethane resin into the frame and sand it down. I'd like to recommend that if you go that way, after sanding the urethane down, wet a layer or two of fine fiberglass cloth over the whole pattern to seal the urethane and create a stable platform for bodyfiller and primer work. Polyester resin is fine. I've had the bodyfiller destabilize the urethane so that the surface was no longer true a few days later.
Thanks Hakon, appreciate the feedback and suggestions for people. Expanding foam is a possibility, for sure, but as you've found, the surface finish and internal texture does result in more work (but cost saving on the PU foam).
Best video, I learned for my body car fibreglass, also I can buy specific materials. Thanks
Is there anything you can’t do lol. Amazing work. F1 should be calling you. Thanks again for another great how to. You’re the reason why i buy from easy comp.
Haha, thanks. This series is a bit more traditional really so not quite F1 this time but maybe more like the composites that a lot of people still need to understand for their own projects. Glad you like the tutorials and thanks for being a customer!
Excellent description of the process. I intend to build a sidecar outfit and naturally will need to form a shape. So with some knowledge from this video will be able to plan out my design.. Thanks👍👍👍👏👏
You’re welcome Simon, good luck with your project.
I've been in the fiberglass industry for 30 yrs. Most of it as a pattern and mold maker. Before we had a five-axis CNC machine we would employ the same methods except we would obviously hand cut all of our profiles. Then we would make our own drag tools for whatever size radius we were implementing. So many things you can do when you have these skills. I've made one off car and motorcycle parts for people, I've put truck caps together that were broken in half, it's really good work and I miss it now that I'm a plant manager running production.
Thanks for the feedback Todd; great to hear about your experience of these methods in the industry. Maybe you should take a composites project on that you can work on from a home workshop, just to keep your hand in on the practical side! We do this all day and still go home and do our own projects; it never gets boring!
dude how nice to see you again! :)
Thanks, it's always good to be back.
Happy caterpillar face at 11:58 ! Thanks, this has been incredibly helpful for an idea for a GRP spray hood for our boat.
Thanks Julia, Paul does have a bit of a Caterpillar or Cheshire Cat grin about him!!
Subscribed! Just a note: Instead of car body filler like used in the video, there is a spray-on filler which would provide a even coating to take care of the porosity of the foam while not requiring much (if any) re-sanding. Then you can just use fairing compound or "bondo" to fill the large gaps. Also note the spray-on filler does not shrink, so that's a bonus.
Thanks for the post, what’s that filler product? We have our own Pattern Coat Primer (which you’ll have seen used in this video) but I guess you’re talking about something much higher build than that? Always interested in new methods 😀
Thanks for amazing tutorials!
Our pleasure, glad you like them!
Best video I've seen on this subject so far!
Thanks Chris, appreciated.
Thanks Charles, that’s praise indeed.
A true master at work!!! This is just amazing
Appreciate the kind feedback!
Very good Video. After viewing you understand how many work is into these parts.
Excellent video!! 👌👏👏
neat video; inspiring
I really wish you guys offered postage to Australia. Your content is second to none. Amazing work
Thanks for the comment. We can ship certain products to Australia but not anything classed as 'dangerous goods', which - of course - does rule out a lot of our products. We do keep our Australian customers in mind and hope to find a better way to support you in the future.
@@easycompositestv Well for what it's worth always share your videos with friends and followers from the UK and Europe 👍
I have made a complete car buck based on the Ferrari 166mm and used your products for the top coats as per your new video. They are fantastic products. I hope to do the fibreglass mouldings soon. Andrew.
Thanks Andrew, that's great to hear. Please get in touch through our website if you have any news or images to share of the project - we're looking for more projects to feature in our new Gallery section; we love to share projects and inspire others to have a go.
@@easycompositestv Thanks I will send those pics. on to you Andrew.
Brilliant! Thank you so much!
You're very welcome!
fantastic! thanks
Brilliant process
Thanks Richard
How refreshing! Very well presented. No usual USA BS!
Thanks a lot, glad you enjoyed it.
@mrarkane: You mean you don't like those how-to vids where every sentence starts with "Now I'm *gonna go ahead* and...", "Now I'm *gonna go ahead* and...", "Now I'm *gonna go ahead* and..."
Great video as always. Really like the skeleton method.
Thanks Miller 👍
This is pretty cool
what a bloody good tutorial!
Haha, thanks!
Super nice. I made a very similar plug a few years back. I drew it up to scale on graph paper then measured the sectionals of it and transfered that to plywood. Then filled the voids with newspaper then topped up with 2 part expander foam. Finished off with filler then coated with epoxy primer.... It was a SUUUUUPER ambitious job for a first attempt but a success in the end. Got a plug a mold and a finished part.
Good skills 👍
Nice tutorial as usual! I'm working on a new pattern myself :)
Great, well, maybe you'll pick up the odd tip or trick. I hope the pattern goes well; look forward to seeing your project David.
Superbe la vidéo..merci a l'équipe 😉😊
Merci Jean Framcois; c'est notre plaisir.
Great, great, great video! Thank you!
You're very welcome, thanks for watching.
great video!
always nice video .
Great video, awesome explanation
Thanks Roberto :)
Very well presented .
Many thanks Peter!
Thank you!
Slicer plugin for Fusion 360 can make the interlocking profiles. You can choose the spacing and amount of slices you want. It will save you a lot of time and work
Great idea...you could then scale it, print them in real size and build paper or cardboard templates for the shapes...awesome.
Very cool video, looks great
Thanks Jonathan, appreciated.
This is relaxing to watch :). It's basically how I was repairing my car, but I used spray cans (one part).
Thanks Rick - One thing to watch with rattle can paints is that Ester based resins can attack them and cause them to pucker or peel off the substrate.
@@easycompositestv Good to know. But the main reason was, I don't have spray booth and all the PP equipment. But the result is almost perfect, I'm quite surprised how it came out.
Amazing video! thank you
Glad you liked it!
3:39: Yes indeed! I really enjoy the precision of this build! inspiring! ^^ Very precise guidance as well! love it! I mean this, among other vids on YT, where you see the actual craftmanship applied (to great aplomp, in this case ^^), and guidance at the same time is just insanely educative!
Thanks for the kind words, great to hear our efforts are appreciated 😀
wonderful video!! thank you so much.
Thank you for your kind comment, I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
Inspirador, ahora tengo una idea más precisa de cómo hacer un molde para un proyecto
Thank you
incredible
Thanks Kara :)
plug mold pattern master. great channel.
Appreciated. To be honest, we've known some real 'old school masters' at pattern making over the years; craftsman who's hand building and hand finishing skills make your heart ache. Not too many of those guys around now!
While you can't automatically generate a framework inside a design in Fusion, there _are_ however built-in tools and features that will allow you to arbitrarily trace a model's cross-section to a sketch, and from there you'd just have to add a few lines to close the bottom, add whatever weight-reducing cutouts you want, and extrude it to make one of the ribs.
Thanks for the feedback. We were aware of some of the 'slicer' type plugins but and maybe tools like this could have have got us to the end-point slightly quicker. To be honest, a lot of the CAD work was making the pieces interlock correctly and designing-in ways to use panels of flat sheet for any areas on the surface of the pattern that were indeed flat, this reduces the amount of foam/filler work a lot but this sort of detail is never going to be understood or provided by cross-section/skeleton plugins.
Pls more videos , so interessting
On their way :)
Clever indeed
I dont feel like im your target market but thank you for takeing the time you share your skills with everyone else in a friendly way, Looking tru the channel you should post a little more often :P
Thanks SnapPilot. We’re trying to post more often but compared to a lot of content on KZhead the amount of time and resources needed to make a video like this are, for us at least, pretty significant.... weeks of work for a single video. That said, the remaking 3 videos in this series should be along pretty soon 😀
Autodesk slicer can take a solid model and slice it up into segments that can then be used to build the frame prior to foam installation.
You might want to consider using a intermediate pad when sanding & wet sanding. Great video
The NW1 does not need it as it is a diminishing abrasive so done in one hit.
Super interesting video and project, thanks for demonstrating the process! I wonder if there is a software that can do something like this using 3D printing in a type of vase mode. Very lightweight 3D prints with little infill that can be put together like a sort of 3D puzzle to form the pattern surface?
yeah, that works, specially for disposable/single use plugs. i use 2 walls and 5% gyroid infill with pla or abs. works fine
Great work and awesome video! Why not coat the foam with resin before filling with bondo? I work building molds for a boat manufacture and your process is very similar to what we do aside from that.
It’s all personal taste but we think of filler as beings coarser treatment that the resin coatings, we’re effectively working from coarser to finer finish processes. Since we would need to coat over the filler again with resin anyway (in order to have a smooth, continuous finish) we might as well use filler first, then switch to resin, rather than need to do resin - filler - resin.
I would like to see a series about making a lost foam piece. Or using a salt or a sugar crystal to fill a dissoluble interior form.
We will do some soluble core videos at some point in the not-too-distance future.
There use to be a slicer part of 123D that sectioned everything out of a solid form and had options for dowel holes to align pieces. It then output everything in a PDF or EPS file to send to the router programme.
Well, that sounds like a seriously handy function for this type of work. Since 123D was Autodesk, I wonder if anything like that made it over to 360. We've not found it, if it did!
@@easycompositestv I dont believe it did make it and I havent found anything like it since.
Awesome video as always! It would be great if you could show in a future video how you're making these profile templates in Fusion 360. I also second what somebody else already suggested: Please open a branch in the USA!
Thanks. Yes, opening a USA operation is at the front of our minds at the moment but will need some planning and time. We may well do some videos on Fusion360; not sure they'd have a particularly broad appeal but certainly, for those actually following these processes, they could be useful. We'll keep it in mind.
Hi ! Thank you very much for this REALLY great video ! :) How would you do if you had a very huge piece to do ? The same way ? I'm speaking about creating a full one piece van headliner board for a Ford E-350. It something like 140" by 70" and it's maybe difficult to get a CAD model. I was thinking to do the profile by hand. I don't really care about the finishing because it will be cover with soft foam and fabric. Am I on the good way ?
Hi Florian, yes, you could just do a much more basic version of this process. Some MDF profiles, cut using a jigsaw, will keep your pattern dimensionally correct. Then some basic infilling and finishing. Pattern Coat (or equivalent) is still a good idea, but you wouldn’t need to create such a good finish.
Another great video guys! How long did it take to get this far? 5 days? Love that its well linked back to the website(like the new look!) with the project materials and step by step - great resource. Looking forward to seeing the interview vid when its up.
Thanks Phil; glad you liked it. Interview video should be there in a few mins :)
Love the video and looking forward to the rest of the series :) One question: could this method be used to, say, a whole car pattern? Im really tempted to say yes just need confirmation I may start a project if thats so keep it up
Hi Joaquin, there's certainly no reason why not, other than the shear size and scale of a full car project. It's probably best to start with some smaller projects to get a feel for the process and the time and quantity of materials involved; that would give you a better idea as to how viable a full car body would be for your budget and your patience!
Awesome video!! You wouldn't happen to have a link to information on how to make those section pieces in fusion 360 would you? I've been trying to find some but I must not be using the correct terminology. I'm coming up empty handed. Looking forward to the rest of the project and more content in general. I've learned a lot for you guys.
As mentioned in the video, there is no method we are aware of to create them easily. In essence a drawing was created for each one.
why I didn't see this video many months before, I do the mould by hand with any ideas that result in a lot of work, this would be very easy... excellent video... where is the next video of this mould? excellent, greetings from Chile
Hi J.P., the next video in the series will be online in around a week. It's already filmed, we just need to get it edited and voiced over.
Для ускорения процесса доводки поверхностей, я бы рекомендовал вначале задуть жидкой шпаклевкой из пистолета . Потом протянуть шпаклевкой поверхности . Это поможет адгезия шпаклевки основных плоскостей.
Exelente saludos de peru
Thank you for watching!
Another great video Paul and so well explained yet again ........................ thank you. I learned so much just following your tutorials over the years ; ) 'Pattern-Coat Primer', superb stuff, I use it for everything! The finish that can be achieved just using that product has to be seen to be believed. I take it the finished product will be made of carbon fibre, after the fibreglass mould has been done ? TURK
Hi, and thanks for your comments and support! The finished product will actually be made out of Kevlar this time; the priorities for the sledges are stiffness but - above all - impact resistance and resilience and you can't beat Kevlar for that! Next episode is the mould, then material evaluation, then finally resin infusion of the Kevlar sledges.
@@easycompositestv Kevlar!!!!!! .................... Of course, I should of thought of that! I've almost completed my current project, with your excellent guidance ( and products ) I managed to design and make some resin tooling plugs for my vacuum forming machine, as I'm producing ABS automotive parts. I'm very interested in the process of 'Resin Infusion' as I'll also be making some parts in carbon fibre, so that chapter will be rather interesting. TURK
Great video! Already subscribed, i would like to start a project building a sidecar body and frame for my bicycle and motorcycle.
Hi Ismael, sounds like a great project, please let us know how you get on :)
Love from india sir
ความรู้สุดสุด
Priceless info, thank you a lot!
Glad you enjoyed it Oleg.
i have no plans to reproduce any of this, i just find it fascinating to watch :D
Thanks cool with us. Thanks for watching.
Wow this is pretty nice, can you guys show how to make a full carbon fiber monocoque for a car? That would be the ultimate thing!
We maybe will do that one day. We work with some good race teams who have CF monocoques; perhaps we could partner up with them for a full-on tutorial.
it's the same process as this one, i'm an industrial designer and did this with my college's FSAE team some years ago.