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Pillar Build Materials

7634 Views 122 Replies 23 Participants Last post by  BobTheBirdTurd
Ok, so those that follow my build log know I have to replace the pillars I had built. I have never done any fiberglass work, so I don't really know what to buy and how much. I've watched a ton of videos and read some old forum posts and came up with this this. The plan is to also build a custom sub enclosures eventually, so their may be some things in here that are not necessary for a pillar build. I'm going to buy from Amazon since I don't have to pay shipping and I can get it in a day or 2.

So, here is my list. If there is a better product or if what I have selected isn't necessary, please speak up. If I need more of something than what I have listed, please tell me. I would rather have to much than not enough. I'm also going to buy the materials for the sub enclosure except the resin as it has a shelf life.

* means I bought it and used it.
** means I bought/was given and found it indispensable, I would not build without it.


**Dremel MM50 Multi-Max with 60 and 80 grit sanding paper (This thing saved so much time knocking down all the high spots and contouring my pillars) (There are other brands, I just happen to already have one)

*3ea Painter's Tape 2"

**Aluminum Foil Tape (Not sure exactly what brand I used as I already had it, but this stuff works great for shaping and keeping surfaces clean)

*MEK bottle

*32oz Mixing cups (12ea)

*2" Chip Brushes (36 pack)

1708 Biaxial Mat (Sub Box Material)

*1Gal Polyester Resin + MEKP Hardner

*True Composites 1.5oz Chopped Mat 50"x15' (5yrds) Will 2 of these be enough for pillars and sub enclosure?

**Evercoat Rage Gold 128Fl Oz for finishing filler Please tell me if 128floz is too much, this crap is expensive.

**Duraglas 128FL Oz for bulk filler

*Clean Sheets 12x12 mixing pad (I was using something else and decided to get this, I don't know why I waited as it was super easy to mix the next batch)

Evercoat Keg Blue Hardener

Rexco Partall Paste #2 Mold Release 12oz (Sub Box Material)

*5" Sanding disks (60 through 320grit)

**Eagle MAXCUT Kovax sanding disks. (Was sent a couple of these by another member, and they are very very good, went through about 10 of the Golds for every one of these)

**Sunmight Ceramic Film (Another item that was sent by a fellow member, and this stuff is very good also)

*7 Mil Nitrile Gloves Large (These kept tearing)

*Bondo Spreaders

**Plastic Cards (better than the Bondo Spreaders, especially on curved surfaces)

*Grill Cloth (for shaping pillars)

**CA Glue (I already have this on hand, but adding to the list)

*Precision Bottle for CA Glue application (Once I started working, I found that I wanted more precision with the glue application)

*Wooden Dowel rods

*Sanding Mouse Mini Detail Sander

*5 inch Sanding Mouse

**Dura-Block Round Sanding Block (This was great in combination with the Sunmight Ceramic for shaping curved surfaces. Mine was cut in half to fix the Sunmight perfectly)

*Dura-block Sanding Block 5.6"x2.6" (Also used with the Sunmight Ceramic Film)

**Jumbo 6 Inch Wooden Multi-Purpose Popsicle Sticks (Multipurpose, but mostly use for mixing resin)

200 Pcs Natural Wooden Food Grade Craft Sticks

*1/4 inch Chopped Fiberglass Strands (Used with Cabosil to make a paste)

*Cabosil - Fumed Silica Thickener (Mix with Resin and chopped glass to make a paste that can be used for build up or milkshake alternative. The paste will add strength when mixed with chopped glass)



Wrapping Materials

*Mellotone Premium Black Speaker Grill Cloth

*3M Hi-Strength 90



Carbon Fiber Material List

Adding this section based on work and instructions from @OCD66 You can find his sub enclosure build here. Spare Subwoofer If you want to join his discussion on "Composites", it can be found here. COMPOSITES

Epoxy Resin "Below 600" Will try and update with a specific resin to use but looks like the 635 should work

Carbon Fiber Twill Mat 2x2 3K

Carbon Fiber Twill Mat 2x2 6K (Holds it's shape a little better. Plus, twice the weight.)

Carbon Fiber Fabrics (US Composits)

36in x 48in! EXTRA LARGE Self-Healing CUTTING MAT

OLFA 9mm Stainless-Steel Utility Knife

OLFA 9282 AB-50S 9mm Stainless Steel Snap-Off Blade, 50-Pack

OLFA 60mm Ergonomic Rotary Cutter

Krylon K07020007 10.25-Ounce Easy Tack Repositionable Adhesive Spray




Anything I am missing? Thanks in advance.

Pillar build log can be found here:

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:mad:

So what I am learning is, those that do fiberglass work a lot prefer Epoxy and those that are just hobbyist use Polyester. Every video that I have found on pillars uses Polyester, I would imagine if there were more videos using Epoxy, it would be more common for this type of work. With that said, is there a particular type/brand of Epoxy and fiberglass mat that is recommended. I know US Composites seems to be highly regarded. I will adjust the build list to include options for both Polyester and Epoxy resin.
Not exactly. Almost every shop is going to be using polyester. I think you may have just found the only 5 people who use epoxy in this field lol.
Not true. I am actually no longer a pro. I am a serious hobbyist. I work in a different industry that gives me much more $$$ for my hobbies. My reasons for switching is because of years of using polyester resins. I was always curious about epoxy and bought some to use on a project just to see if it was less Pungent than poly. Not only was it less pungent but it also solved issues with using it in my attached garage. I will also add that I am in the cold midwest. In spite of using a heater to cure my polyester resin projects, I always ended up smelling the poly in the summer when it starts to kind of re-kick. Those of you that know what I am talking about will get what I am saying. Epoxy on the other hand will cure no matter what (mostly). I can mix up the epoxy and layup all my layers before bed and in the morning it is basically ready. The epoxy gives so much more time to work out bubbles and get stuff to lay down. it is like viscous syrup and really soaks into the glass or carbon fiber. That longer kick period allows it to really penetrate into wood, MDF, etc. And let me tell you, epoxy seems to stick to everything! Sometimes that is a bad thing too but in this case it is good!

Last point-Someone mentioned the flexibility of epoxy. Well that may be true to a certain extent. If you are building the part the correct way, You should not worry about that. The benefit of it's flexibility should not be overlooked. Case in point, My 1972 Chevy blazer has a fiberglass top made with Polyester resin. After many years, the top has become brittle. Had the top been made with epoxy it would have retained its strength.

Anyways, I was just bored at the end of my work day and wanted to maybe provide some of what I have learned from using it. Now I have to go defeat a couple hours of rush hour traffic.
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Not true. I am actually no longer a pro. I am a serious hobbyist. I work in a different industry that gives me much more $$$ for my hobbies. My reasons for switching is because of years of using polyester resins. I was always curious about epoxy and bought some to use on a project just to see if it was less Pungent than poly. Not only was it less pungent but it also solved issues with using it in my attached garage. I will also add that I am in the cold midwest. In spite of using a heater to cure my polyester resin projects, I always ended up smelling the poly in the summer when it starts to kind of re-kick. Those of you that know what I am talking about will get what I am saying. Epoxy on the other hand will cure no matter what (mostly). I can mix up the epoxy and layup all my layers before bed and in the morning it is basically ready. The epoxy gives so much more time to work out bubbles and get stuff to lay down. it is like viscous syrup and really soaks into the glass or carbon fiber. That longer kick period allows it to really penetrate into wood, MDF, etc. And let me tell you, epoxy seems to stick to everything! Sometimes that is a bad thing too but in this case it is good!

Last point-Someone mentioned the flexibility of epoxy. Well that may be true to a certain extent. If you are building the part the correct way, You should not worry about that. The benefit of it's flexibility should not be overlooked. Case in point, My 1972 Chevy blazer has a fiberglass top made with Polyester resin. After many years, the top has become brittle. Had the top been made with epoxy it would have retained its strength.

Anyways, I was just bored at the end of my work day and wanted to maybe provide some of what I have learned from using it. Now I have to go defeat a couple hours of rush hour traffic.
Thank you for chiming in and sharing your experiences with both materials.
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Thank you for chiming in and sharing your experiences with both materials.
Yup, Just trying to help.
I've already bought my materials based on the list in the first post. I think what I am going to do before I ruin a set of pillars is make a simple small tweeter pod for practice first. I have some old speakers and I will test the materials I have purchased and learn how to do it. I may even order some epoxy materials and see what I can do with it, purely a learning exercise before I dive in.
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ALU tape doesnt need to be from TESA, any will do the job, even kitchen alu foil with sprayed glue on back side.

Add to list:

ABS, HDPE, Ply wood, MDF, policarbonate,.... as a material for speaker rings
T Nuts or treated inserts
Small NEO magnets to hold down custom speaker grill
Demoulding wax


When working with fabrics - you can glue it down on the back side of pillar with hot plastics, easier to trim/clean edges, and no hot plastic will remain on surface you are working on (Nothing will stick to that plastic, so this way you aviod some potential issues with bonding materials.

I use ALU tape usually to make template or some kind of shape as a base and I start building off of it,.....better and faster than messing arround with popsicles, and it is easy to remove it after the fabrication is done. Also if working with demoulding wax, wax will stay on surface of alu tape which will be easy to remove.
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Ive always used general purpose 435 resin from US Composites.
Never had an issue with parts becoming brittle or smells after it's cured.

While Rage Gold is amazing, it hardly justifies the current costs for small projects.
Evercoat makes several great fillers at 1/3 of the price of rage. You can buy a gallon of Another evercoat resin and a couple tubes of glazing putty for less than a gallon of rage. I find no need to spend that kind of money on rage gold to save 5-10min of possible sanding

I'll 2nd the aluminum tape as a release masking.
Painters tape,duct tape etc...adhesive will break down once the resin starts to catalyze and get hot which can cause your piece to warp.
Also leaves a residue when adhesive breaks down.

Aluminum tape and cover in thin layer of carnauba wax or petroleum jelly instead of buying expensive release agents.

I get my 2" chip brushes from harbor freight. Same with mixing cups. I haven't compared prices w Amazon.

I use a ton of razor blade to cut stuff. So I'll add razor blade (also get at HF).

A good pair of cheap scissors to cut materials. You're gonna get resin on them at some point. No need to use really nice ones.

But as some have already pointed out. Scuff pillar with 36 or 40grit. Drill a series of small 1/8 or ,1/4 holes where you need to anchor/attach fabric. This creates anchor points so material doesn't separate from plastic.

Depending on how much plastic you remove from the pillar to make room for baffle you may need to do your initial layers in the car with pillar mounted to avoid warping.
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And to add to Mic10is post:

Alu tape will stick much better to dashboard plastics (even if it is a little greasy, it will stick to fabrics and other surfaces even if they are odd shaped.

You can clean scissors with acettone ... or with razor knife/acettone.

You can apply fiberglass to pillar, wait until it hardens just enough so you can cut access material off with razor knife, and then quick put it back in car to fully cure over night - or you can use plaster trick and apply plaster on the back side of pillar to prevent warpage (Check Merc/focal buildlog). It also help if you mix resin not too hot,..it will take longer to cure, but wont warp so much if any at all).

if you build shape out with filler, then you dont need to use the most expensive material for getting basic shape, but for finish it is nice to have Quality material that is easy to sand.
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I use both of these.
Evercoat Lite Weight Body Filler - Clog-Free Body Filler for Aluminum, Fiberglass & More - 128 Fl Oz https://a.co/d/jgzleKm

Evercoat Z-Grip Lightweight Body Filler for Aluminum, Fiberglass & More - 128 Fl Oz https://a.co/d/8AyjLQ3

Then if the piece is being painted I'll finish with this:
USC 26006 Icing 24 oz tube - Glazing & Finishing Filler Putty Amazon.com: USC 26006 Icing 24 oz tube - Glazing & Finishing Filler Putty : Automotive

Otherwise if it's being wrapped, regular body filler sanded to 120grit will be fine.
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Great info, and saved me a lot of time from googling (y)
Great info, and saved me a lot of time from googling (y)
I still gotta update the list with info that was posted, but been busy working on other things, I'll get back the pillars soon. I was going to ask what was a good body filler prior to using Rage Gold.
So, I have a question. Do I use the Rage Gold for all the filler duties or should I use something like the Evercoat Lite Weight Body filler for the bulk and then finish off with the Rage Gold?
I used the dura glass first to get it close. Then the rage for all the fine tuning.
Depending on how much shaping you need to do will determine which filler is best. If you have larger than 1/2" areas that need build up to be shaped, I'd use something like duraglass which is filler reinforced w fiberglass matting strands. Bondo makes similar which may be easier to pick up from auto parts store.
I just used a bunch on some panel areas that needed built up.

The cost of rage, I'd use it as sparingly as possible and use as finishing later.
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I wonder which of these are better? Easier to work with.


Second one! Long fibre can be real pain for spreading over the small pieces where you will end up doing it with fingers and still be thedious.
I’ve had great luck with US Composites 435. I use Rage Gold along with EZ Sand as a top coat. So many products out there so it’s as simple as finding what works best for you.
I wonder which of these are better? Easier to work with.


I watched Nick use the 1st option with my pillars/pods - seemed very easy to use and apply, strong as hell too. Good for bulk work.
I watched Nick use the 1st option with my pillars/pods - seemed very easy to use and apply, strong as hell too. Good for bulk work.
Thanks, that's was I am looking for is bulk work.
Second one! Long fibre can be real pain for spreading over the small pieces where you will end up doing it with fingers and still be thedious.
They both say short fiber and the Duraglass is cheaper.
I’ve had great luck with US Composites 435. I use Rage Gold along with EZ Sand as a top coat. So many products out there so it’s as simple as finding what works best for you.
For my actual build, I'll probably order US Composites Resin.
I can pick up rage gold locally for $95. I've had cans opened and properly researched for more than 2 years. Good stuff has a longer storage life. You can add some strands to whatever filler for strength if your doing serious build up. I suck at this so a great product makes it seems like I have experience!
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@BobTheBirdTurd ups i missed that. Than as you said; use one which is cheaper...
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