5 Axis Filament Winder
Filament winding is a process that can be used to create round fiberglass shapes with exceptional strength characteristics. Used for piping, tubing, and tanks, filament winding is normally an automated process that has computer-controlled equipment to place glass and resin around a mandrel- the piece that functions as the mold.
There are many variables that can be modified for filament winding, and these will affect the strength characteristics of the finished piece. The angle of the glass, number of passes (thickness), use of glass mat, and type of resin will affect the finished product strength characteristics.
I found a short video that demonstrates the equipment and the process.
As you can see, the glass is applied in a consistent manner across the part, allowing for uniform strength characteristics. As you can see, this is yet another process that the composites industry uses to create useful products with advantages over those of competitors.
Moldless Car Body
Building a custom car body with fiberglass can be achieved without using a mold! This will be a truly custom, unique vehicle. It will take lots of planning and hands-on work, but is very possible as shown in these YouTube videos.
There of course are several ways to go about building a basic structure to use for the basic shape. This video gave lots of good ideas and examples of materials that are relatively inexpensive.
The second part of the video shows some of the actual fiberglass work. This video of less than eight minutes does not nearly do justice to the amount of work and effort that went into finishing this project! It was great that the author documented his work and shared with all. This was a major project that is not for the faint of heart.
He does a very good job explaining the process and materials used in this construction. Every project is unique, however. When discussing the thickness of the fiberglass skin, there are many variables that determine the finished strength. The number of layers to use is dependent on the amount of underlying support structures, part geometry, and required load bearing capacity of the structure. Some areas may need to be stronger for impact resistance and structural loads.
The video author discusses only using epoxy resin with Styrofoam as opposed to polyester resin which will react with the Styrofoam. Polyester resin can be used if separated from the Styrofoam with an additional layer. While I have only seen it advertised, there are new spray on primer materials available to cover the Styrofoam and allow polyester resins to be utilized afterward.
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