Bondo-Forming

[minkster]

I was thinking of making a case by vacuum forming, but I'm not too sure if I want to go into the hassle of building a vacuum forming table. My plan was to first make a mold out of clay in the desired shape I wanted, and then use bondo as a layer on top of the clay mold, so then its nice and sturdy. Then I would plan on using some fine sandpaper to smooth it out. Has anyone tried this before? Or if anyone has any suggestions please tell me

[G-force]

Theres too many problems.

1) By itself bondo is not strong enough to be spread out like that. It would break one way or another. Bondo marine putty might be strong enough, but it would be too hard to mash out that much putty for a case.

2) Getting over all the same thickness would be hard as heck. I don't even know how you would do it.

Vaccum forming would be a lot better and even cheaper. Bondo is like $18 a can, it's only half full, and then it dries of course, so you end up with 1/4 of what the size of the can is.

[superdeformed]

I think G-force hit it right on the money with bondo not being strong enough to make an entire case out of it, and it would be a lot of work trying to sand it down evenly (there's absolutely no way you could apply it evenly over the entire case). You could however use it to add on to an existing base, like a project box or something similar.

As for the price, what size can are you talking about G-force? I can get a 1lb 12 oz can (about the same as a quart sized paint can) for $8 and it's full to the top. It also doesn't shrink at all (atleast not noticeably), so you end up with just as much as you started with when you're done.

[Bay_Wolf]

Where do you get your bondo i need some cheap for my nespc *the bottom of the nes case*.

Regards and Merry Christmas

[superdeformed]

There's a couple of places I get it, depending on where I am when I decide that I need more. Usually its either the marine store nearby, or an autoparts store. You shouldn't have any problems at all finding it at an autoparts store, just go in and tell them what you're looking for.

[Triton]

just heard about this stuff not too long ago, fiberglass reinforced bondo! can be found at auto stores i imagine

[minkster]

Thanks for the heads up....I never worked with bondo, but since I heard it was easy to sand down and smooth, I thought it would be a good idea. I think in that case, I'll take my time building the vacuum forming table since I already own one of those shop vac's. I guess I'd just need to buy a heat gun, and some wood really. As for a table, I don't think I can use any in my house, but I'll manage to find one

[Turbo Tax 1.0]

maybe ask atka i think he has some kinda secret bondo portable idea, but yeah bondo is really frail by uitself

[fatman]

just heard about this stuff not too long ago, fiberglass reinforced bondo! can be found at auto stores i imagine

that stuff is a lot stronger than regular bondo. but its not fun sanding it by hand. you'd be better off sanding it with a DA sander or somthing like that

[Spiderham]

Hey Minkster,

I'm new to the site. Here's a link to a decent vaccum forming table:

(http://www.halloweenfear.com/vacuumformintro.html)

I haven't built one myself but I have used one built from this site's plans and it's one of the best homemade ones I've used. I work in an amusement park and we refurbish our dark ride props on site so the vac. form table's a must. Just keep in mind that the plastic gets REALLY hot so you'll need to be really carefull around it, and keep a close eye on the plastic the first few times you use it or you'll burn right through it. Make sure that the model you use on the table is as perfectly shaped as possible because any imperfections will show in the finished product. You could also use carbon fibre, it works like fibre glass but a lot lighter and nicer looking if you do it right, just read up on it before you use it if you decide to go that route.

[scherzo]

SORRY. I meant to make a new topic

[opadave2000]

Minkster, I did body work for a while - you can use birdwire, aluminum screen, styrene plastic, popscicle sticks, or whatever as a basic framework
and build up bondo on top of it. You can do multiple layers and it sticks to itself very well. The aforementioned "fiberglass" bondo is much stronger, .....but, make sure to wear gloves and use a breathing mask when working with the fiberglass based stuff, it generates loads of tiny glass strands that will tear your nose and sinus passages (not to mention your lungs) a new one. We used to use chicken wire layered with aluminum screen for fender flares etc. It was plenty strong. Might be a little heavy/bulky for a portable though.