Fiberglass Supplies

[Guest]

Q. Where would be a good place to get some fiberglass supplies?

A. Try CST, the Composite store, or APC Composites, I found them on the Web. Most of the guys I know, use West Systems Epoxies and supplies, which can be found in boat supply shops such as www.defender.com, who also stock many different weights of glass.

Aerospace Composites: http://www.acpsales.com/OnlineStore.php

CST Composites: http://www.cstsales.com

Thayer Craft: http://thayercraft.com

Another good source if you are looking for S-glass and Kevlar as well: http://sweetcomposites.com

Another source is http://www.fiberglasssite.com

System Three Resins: http://www.systemthree.com
Available in New England, MA through: http://www.mertons.com

[Asher Carmichael]

Another source I use is US Composites.

http://www.uscomposites.com/

Their quart size thin laminating resin is $25 which includes resin AND hardener. I use West 105 when I run out of USC resin and I see no difference. 2-1 mix. They have good prices on cabosil, glass beads, etc. Their FG cloth choices are limited in the lighter sizes.

[ARUP]

I have good results with http://www.Fibreglast.com/

[Xroadie]

I know nothing about this company....but their ad's keep popping up in my "feeds" on the internet....

http://www.rockwestcomposites.com

[Asher Carmichael]

I know nothing about this company....but their ad's keep popping up in my "feeds" on the internet....

http://www.rockwestcomposites.com

They're a good company, especially for exotics and "rods". They were one of the few places I found 12mm CF rod to replace the heavy steel outboard joiners on a HF Ventus.

[ShaunGlide]

I've used several of the above mentioned suppliers. My absolute favorite is a company (also recommended above ) called Fibre Glast. Fabulous range of products. Excellent quality and service reliability.

Superb website, full of information and useful video clips on "what, when, and how to" topics. Link as follows:

http://www.fibreglast.com/?gclid=CIbVpeLTzMcCFUyPHwodq6kPeQ

Shaun

[gunny11]

Ditto what Shaun said.

[LRFitch]

I went to the fiberglast.com website this morning and started looking around. I see that they (likely most suppliers do) sell epoxy, polyester, and vinyl ester resins. Can anyone share a simple set of rules as to when each type is the correct to use in our model building efforts? I know there are differences, but what they are and which to use escapes me. HELP!

[gunny11]

So I'm not an expert in this field but since I do use the stuff to make fiberglass parts I'll give it a shot.
Polyester resin with its little Hardner catalyst stinks very bad specially in the house. It will eat expanded bead Styrofoam. Do use polyester resin for fixing a polyester glass fuselage. You cannot use polyester resin to fix an epoxy glass fuselage, but you can use epoxy resin to fix a polyester fuselage but of course polyester would be the better choice. Polyester resin's are cheaper than epoxy resin's. Gell coats are usually polyester based but you can use epoxy on the polyester gelcoat. As far as epoxy resin's I love the west system. Yes it's expensive but it's a good product.
I don't know anything about vinyl ester resins.

[LRFitch]

Gunny, Thanks for the response. So I take it epoxy resin is a "better" all around resin, as it doesn't stink as much, doesn't eat foam, and can be used to repair most fiberglass pieces. The biggest downer is the price. That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. Thanks again. Anyone else have differing views?

Larry

[lenb]

No other posts because Gunny pretty much covered all the basics in one paragraph.

West systems is the way to go.

[Steve P]

Yep, West System epoxy is all I use. Worth every penny.

FYI FWIW, if for some reason anyone wants more on the other resins:

Video primer on Vinyl Ester resin... http://youtu.be/rVa-VUXWu0A

Video primer on Polyester resin... http://youtu.be/QZga1tbwvRM

[Steve P]

I realize this is a FG thread, but posting a link for anyone interested in Carboline Carbon fabric. Moving to this construction in my choice of F5J ships...

http://carboline.info

[dexcraft]

You can search out below link. This is a leading manufacturing company and supplier of top quality carbon fiber elements.