Working with fiberglass

[novacaine]

I need some help from the experts or direct me to a how to site for a project. I am wanting to make a 1 man pit blind out of these metal racks that you see used for hauling chemicals. I think they are around 4ftx4ftx 3.5 ft. I want to wrap the whole thing in fiberglass to make it watertight if possible. What size sheets does the fiberglass come in and how expensive are they? How many layers will be needed and how much resin? If the price gets up to around $500 i could just buy one.
Thank you in advance and let the knowledge flow forth.

[munyoz70]

why not just leave the plastic container in it as well and just use that?

[novacaine]

[munyoz70]

I would dig your hole, put the tote in it then put some treated plywood around the four sides of the tote then backfill. Those totes hold from 250-330 gallons of over 10lb per gallon chemical... Short of an earthquake I wouldnt think that they would give in

[BR549]

How you plan to anchor it in the ground? They will pop up like a cork! The big ones hold about 250. The frame will hold the dirt back no problem. The problem is getting it to stay in the ground! Zip ties aint gonna hold it!

[munyoz70]

He could leave part of the frame on top and that might would hold it it, with either some rebar bent into hooks and spiked into the ground or some 2x4s run thru the pallet part with some length hung out to back fill on. As for containers the standard size is 250 but 330 and even a few 500 are not that uncommon

[duckkiller]

water weighs 8.34 lbs/gallon, I can feel pretty comfortable in saying that those "plastic" sides will hold up

[novacaine]

[BBR12]

Do a search for boat supplies or fiberglass for boats. It is fairly expensive to do fiberglass. I was just looking at some for a pirogue. The resin runs anywhere from $90 to $150 a gallon and there are all types of fiberglass weaves, mats, etc.. I built a plywood pirogue a few yrs ago and just fiberglassed the seams and open edges of the ply and I think i used about 1/2 a gallon of resin. You may want to think about just putting a wooden frame inside the plastic container for support against the outside pressure. You could also use a outdoor plywood to wrap the frame and then put a layer of fiberglass on it to waterproof it and seal it up tight. I dont think you can do it with just the frame and fiberglass. It would take many layers of fiberglass I would think to make it ridgid enough to stand up which would be expensive. If you do decide to use fiberglass make sure you get the slow setting resin and measure it correctly or you will have a mess on your hands.

[Scully]

USComposites have the best online prices for glass and resin. If you use the glass over 1/4 plywood it will cut your cost down, but you still may be pushing the 500 mark.

[gamehog]

I've bought fiberglassing products from these folks before and they've always been helpful and provide good advice. You might want to give them a call.

www.raka.com

I'm guessing you'll really need to lay the fiberglass onto something (maybe like thin plywood sides for your blind?).

[novacaine]

Thanks guys- I took a closer look at one of the frames yesterday and i think your right- i won't be able to put the glass directly on the frame. I have access to some marine plywood and will probably go that route once i get a good cost estimate on the supplies.

[JaMak84]

Would a 48" corrugated plastic pipe give you enough room for a one man blind? It's already sealed and is rigid enough to hold the presure. You could cut it into 4' sections and all you'd need to do is find a way to put a bottom and top on it. Hell, back in high school my brother and I made a couple out of old waste management garbage cans. Already had a sealed bottom and a flip top cover. Of course I wasn't as wide then and comfort was necessarily a concern, but they worked well for us.

[MudHog]

[novacaine]