Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with fiberglass

My car is like a mullet - sometimes business, sometimes party

Lucinda — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:31:51 -0800

How to put a bumpersticker on fiberglass so that it is easily (and instantaneously) removable and replacable? I like to have many bumperstickers on my car. However, I cannot permanently affix them to the car.

To solve this, I put my bumperstickers on magnetic vinyl and attach them to the metal parts of my car. However, I'm running out of steel parts on the back of my car and would like to move to putting stickers on the (fiberglass) bumper of my car.

My requirements are that whatever I use, it has to be easily removable/reattachable (the stickers are removed from the car 1x to 2x a week), and leave no residue on the car.

(I saw this question but I'm not sure the low-tac adhesive would stand up to repeated removal/attachment.)

Patching and Painting a Fiberglass Sailboat?

LarryC — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:48:09 -0800

I accidentally bought an old 12' sailboat this morning. How do I repair and paint the fiberglass? So I was out garage sailing, minding my own business, and came home with a 12' sailboat. It is a Sunfish (I think) from the 1960s and is in pretty good shape. The pictures linked above show the fiberglass patches it has already, and also a gash along the keel that needs to be patched.

I want to patch and paint it. Any advice? My idea is to get a fiberglas patch kit from the auto parts store and patch the keel, to sand the whole underside down, and to prime and paint it. What kind of primer and paint do I use? Can I get away with foam rollers for putting on the paint or do I need to borrow the neighbors compressor and spray gun?

I am not looking for any kind of show quality at all here, just a functioning boat we can play around with on area lakes. Thanks!

Water-based paint marker on my cast, yea or nay?

dondiego87 — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:31:51 -0800

Water-based paint marker on a fiberglass arm cast? I recently broke a bone in my wrist and was put in a long-arm fiberglass cast with a waterproof liner. I chose black for the color and I thought that it would look really sharp to get people to sign it with a gold metallic marker. Well, Sharpie makes silver metallic markers, but the only gold one I could find actually uses water-based paint. I was wondering if that would be all right to use on my cast. Things I'm worried about specifically are it bleeding through and messing with my skin, and also whether it might wash off (which can be figured out through trial and error if my first concern is not a problem).

Thanks as always!

Is fiberglass duct board hazardous to my health?

wsg — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:31:03 -0800

Is fiberglass heating/cooling duct board safe? My carpenter says the fibers from the duct can get blown into the house and you wind up breathing fiberglass. Some of the reading I've done on the web says newer duct board is safer cuz of longer fibers that don't blow loose as easily and a coating that is applied by the manufacturer that helps. I couldn't find a definitive answer on the web.

The alternatives are substantially more expensive.

Buying a Versatile Kayak

jimmyjimjim — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:18:27 -0800

Can anyone suggest a kayak that's light, sturdy, AND handles decently in lakes, whitewater, and ocean? I mostly have kayaked rivers and streams, but just moved to western CT, where there's not much of that. Most local kayaking is on ocean, which I've never done. I'm not thrilled with the idea of battling big waves, but there are local clubs for this, so I'll join and try to acquire a taste for it.

The problem is that sea kayaks should be longer and heavier, e.g. fiberglass. But fiberglass kayaks get badly dinged up as they scrape over rocks in the sorts of streams I like to paddle....and plastic kayaks (sturdier for streams) handle like crap on the sea.

Also, I'm going to be loading the kayak by myself onto my car's roof rack, and if doing this is a major ordeal, I'm not going to want to kayak much!

So is there anything fairly light, farily rock-scrape-resistent, and yet decent enough handling that it could imaginably be used in the ocean? I don't mind paying extra to get this rare combination of qualities.

Also, I'm not real serious...at least not yet. So I wouldn't mind buying a more specialized kayak later if I really get into sea kayaking.

Is this free hot tub worth the effort?

GeneticFreek — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 20:17:00 -0800

Are the discoloration marks in this hot tub signs that the fiberglass is rotten? We have been offered a hot tub for free. There is some minor mechanical work needed, but we're not too afraid of that. The bigger concern is the discoloration to the fiberglass and we are wondering if it might mean that the fiberglass is rotten.

Please see this picture.

The hot tub has been stored on its side for the last several months. As you can see, it is a bit dirty. What's more concerning, though, is all the spots and streaks. They seem to be a part of the fiberglass itself, now. We can't tell/don't know if they are the starts of pinholes or other concerns.

Can anyone tell us if this is a worry? If so, is it easily fixable? Would you recommend taking this free hot tub?

How do I remove invisible fiberglass splinters?

treepour — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 18:08:43 -0800

Invisible fiberglass splinters in my hands -- how do I get them out? Helped a friend with a project that involved working with sheets of fiberglass . . . the gloves kept out most of the splinters, but quite a few still made it through. I managed to get the visible ones out with tweezers and then duct tape, but I apparently still have several invisible ones in my fingers, making it quite tricky & painful to do anything useful with my hands. Can I get them out? Or do I just have to wait until I shed a few layers of skin?

I need to find a source for a hollow fiberglass sphere / globe

Corky — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 07:48:28 -0800

I need to find a source for a hollow fiberglass sphere / globe, opaque white, approximately 1/4" inch thick, 15 - 16" diameter, with a circular opening of about 6-8". I just want one or two for starters. I'm making a retro hippie lamp with twinkle Christmas lights. The globe will sit over an array of twinkle lights that has a cylinder of clear plastic surrounding the array. The plastic will be decorated with interesting shapes that will cast multicolored light on the inside of the globe. Assuming I can find a source for the globe, that is.

Restoring Gel Coat

monsta coty scott — Fri, 06 May 2005 08:42:39 -0800

I am prepping my old 18' catamaran for the summer and I would really like to restore the gelcoat finish on the fiberglass to a bright sheen. Can I use a regular buffing wheel, rubbing compound and wax that I would use on my car? The hulls are your regular fiberglass hulls with an orange gel coat finish. The orange has faded, has dirt and water lines on it and I would like to try and clean it up. Does anyone have a suggestion on working with gelcoat finishes?

Fiberglass Refinishing

five fresh fish — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 15:34:49 -0800

Fiberglass refinishing: pleasure or pain? I've an old fiberglass bathtub. It's fookin hooje. And the house was built to fit it. And I was stupid and when I removed the tile around it, I didn't protect it at all adequately.

Ergo, it is now covered in chips and dints and scratches.

I spent today with a palm sander, 400 grit wet, and endless patience. Most of the scratches are out, and I can see that all of them will come out.

The chips, not so lucky.

So now I need to consider applying new gelcoat. Just how stupid an idea is this? I believe it's toxic, messy, and will require endless finishing work to create a nice mirror-like finish.

Is there an alternative? Note that the bathtub reglazing guy won't touch the tub: too big for him to do in a single shot, and he's afraid of screwing up.

(My saving plan is to cut the front of the tub out, reusing the majority of it as a base for tiling a very large shower.)

Is there a way to patch a fiberglass sand pool filter?

jasonspaceman — Mon, 21 Jun 2004 08:06:05 -0800

I have a sand pool filter that is made out of fiberglass. It has sprung a couple pinhole leeks. Is there any easy way to patch it up? [more inside] This pool and filter came with the house I recently bought. After vacuuming out the old sand and placing new sand in the filter, I noticed two pinhole leaks towards the bottom of the filter. I would really prefer to patch the holes in the filter so I can enjoy the pool soon. Is this possible with fiberglass?

Can I use a 25 year old fishing rod?

Smart Dalek — Sun, 28 Dec 2003 18:09:00 -0800

I stumbled across an old fiberglass fishing rod in a cardboard mailing tube.
It still appeared to be in excellent shape, yet I know the rod must be at least 25 years old, as it was a parting gift from the previous owner, circa 1979.

Should I risk taking it out on the water, for old time's sake, or would the rod end up snappimg from fatigue? What sort of reel considerations could I make, given it's age?