Thread: where to buy fiberglass materials

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where can i buy resin, matting, etc to do some fiberglassing? i can't find it in the usual chain stores and it doesn't seem like it should be too hard to find thanks

hit up boat shops, marina's ect...

Matt is right. If you hit up the "discount marine stores" like West Marine or Boater's World, you will pay about 2 X as much. Even Home Depot and Lowes for resin is not such a great deal. You want to find a true boatyard type dealer, or a fiberglass supply house. Look in the yellow pages and shop around for price.

I normally pay about $ 20-25 a gallon for polyester resin, but when I have been out and had to go to Home Depot I have paid almost $ 40 for the same thing, and West Marine was near $ 50 a gallon.

As for the other consumables, you will get your best deal there on plastic tubs, throwaway brushes, acetone, etc too. And don't let anyone kid you, polyester resin is polyester resin, regardless of what you pay or the name on the label. Also, buy your supplies by the box, like throwaway brushes and latex gloves. You won't believe how many you go through doing fiberglassing. And, don't buy your mat and cloth in the prepackages, those are waaaaaaaaay overpriced. Buy it where they cut it off of the big roll and sell it by the yard.

Don

.....I got mine at a surf board shop that makes surf boards. Don't know if I got a deal or not but they had what I needed...... Bill

Originally Posted by billlsbird

.....I got mine at a surf board shop that makes surf boards. Don't know if I got a deal or not but they had what I needed...... Bill

Now the only question is which surf board shop in Kansas.... You guys on the coast have all the advantages. (Just kidding... struck me funny to think of trying to find a surf shop in the heartland).

thanks that helps...i couldn't even find it in Lowes if i wanted to be ripped off and west marine is 40 miles anyway so i was trying to avoid that. i'll have to check the yellow pages...

Buy good stuff here. We use the epoxy for nearly everything. Hotrods, model airplanes (big ones) boats, special projects.

http://www.westsystem.com/

I second the West System site. I used them for years when I was into sailing...buying direct from them was less expensive when using larger amounts of glass and resin. for small jobs/small amounts West Marine or Boats U.S., though more expensive, worked as did buying from most boat repair shops

Autozone has gallons of resin for about $30/gallon but the fiberglass will cost ~$4-5 sq/yard

If you need some of the hi strength matting, let me know. I have a whole roll of it and would sell part or all of it...

I am not sure which "Centerville" or "Centreville" you are at but there are several of each in Virginia. I built two small boats and covered them with glass cloth and polyester resin which I bought from a shop just north of Petersburg on Route 1 but I forget the exact name. I seem to recall I paid about $40/gallon for resin several years ago. Also there is a boat repair shop in the Hanover Air Park near Ashland from which I have bought yards of woven glass cloth at a reasonable price. Surely there must be a boat repair shop near you? One humorous warning is that when I built the first boat I glued on the cloth with a little resin and then "kicked" about a quart of resin and dumped it on the bottom of the inverted hull thinking I would spread it around. Well, later I used a body sander for hours (!) to get that lump of hardened resin blended in to the rest of the hull. Lesson: don't "kick" any more than you can spread within about 5 to 10 minutes or be prepared to do a lot of grinding later!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

i'd like to not wait on shipping for this first project, but i'll check that website for the future.

t0ol- do they have resin and matting at autozone?

Dave- my second project is to fiberglass a corvette style "waterfall" over a wood frame. would the high strength matting work for that or would i want to use cloth to stretch over the frame? i would definately like it to be as strong as possible since it might get elbowed or knocked around and i don't want it to be flimsy.

Don- I'm somewhat outside DC and if they're are boat shops around I am not aware...I'm sure there are with the Potomac and all, but I would have to drive a bit which if i know i'm going to find what i need i don't mind. point taken on spreading the resin

Not sure I understand what you're doing... We use it for roofs and other areas where strength is required.... Takes a layer or two of conventional type matting to cover it .......

im building something that wraps behind the seats and comes down between them to the console similar to what is found in the corvette. i would like it to be durable, but it is purely cosmetic so i don't think i would need the high strength matting

Out here in Ca. we have a chain called Tap Plastics that is good for this stuff. I agree with all of the above, stay away from West Marine, unless they are close by and it's a time factor thing, because they are way over priced. Ran into the same thing doing boat repair 2 years ago!