Fabricating glass fibre tray for a vivarium

[Nozzle]

I'm looking for advice on working with glass fibre. I've not worked with it before, but intend to be making a long shallow basemat/tray for a vivarium (a glorified piece of furniture that has heat and UV light to keep a reptile in).

The tray/base mat will be 145x55x15 and built up using the cabinet itself as a mould (so some kind of plastic sheeting in there first to protect it and to act as a release method).

I know I need CSM, enough resin to cover the area, and then a flowcoat for the top.

I think I may also need "surface tissue" to apply before the flowcoat to give a finer finish.

I am unsure how many layers, or what weight, I should be using for this tray. It doesn't need to particularly heavyweight - it will have corners, edges, built in "ribbing" for rigidity etc, but it does need to be self supporting so it can be removed in entirety and hosed down.

As I understand it, the flow coat is different to gelcoat, and gel coat is appropriate only if making something in a mould - I will be making it from the inside out as it were, much like small pond liner. (i.e. smooth face on the inside).

Is it okay to use a thick plastic dust sheet , carefully formed/folded into corners to create a barrier between the fibre and the wood I want to protect - does the resin rot through it, or become difficult to peel it away?

What weight, or how many layers of CSM is appropriate? I was imagining a final thickness of 2-4mm

Untitled

• Nozzle
• 2 Jun 2015
• 1

This is the closest thing I can find on the 'net to my "vision"

Nozzle

 

[KenGMac]

Nozzle, good evening.

Saw your post and thought of UTube?

There are thousands of videos that are for the most part at least fairly accurate, can I suggest that you go on to that site and look for Glass fibre?

I for one know little on the subject, all I know is that the various gels Etc. smell strongly?

Hope this assists.

Ken.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

My background is architecture and we do a lot of commercial aquariums so I know a little about this kind of thing albeit on a different scale, had you considered making your tray out of say 6mm plywood and then wrapping the whole thing, in the corners say a 25mm fillet could be employed to ensure the grp goes on nicely. Trying to make a grp only tray seems unnecessary to me. There are plenty of online suppliers selling kits for DIY use for ponds etc eg http://www.ecfibreglasssupplies.co.uk/p-1543-pond-packs.aspx That's exactly how a tank in a commercial aquarium would be constructed, plywood with a grp wrap.