Thanks for the positive input. The world needs more of them. Good luck with all your fibreglass projects.

I'm glad you like the video. Once the tank plug is built I use a router to round the corners. I then sand them very smooth with fine sand paper then wax them so they don't stick. Sometimes I use PVA release agent on the rounded corners just to make sure they don't stick.

When making a mold there are multiple ways of starting.. when you have a physical object (a plug) you want to copy you would take a mold of it to make the master mold, usually with a tooling gelcoat .. then to make the copies you would use the master which is an inverted version of the original .. In this vid there is no original part, he made a master mold ( the inverted version of the pool) then put a coating of wax on the master mold to keep the blue gelcoat from sticking, applied the fiberglass to the blue gelcoat.. reinforced and once dry demolded now he has a pool

Hi MeataHolic BD, I've been in the industry since 1984 and haven't seen any charts worth looking at Engineers may have something but all the engineers I have worked with really don't have any idea or very little about fibreglass or composites My information is based on actual results from all the projects I have done If the tank is sunk into the ground you can use the vertical sides of the hole to help support the tank sides. You could get away with 5mm fibreglass Pack some soft fine sand or dirt around the sides in the hole to help the support If the tank is free standing above the ground you will need to make the sides minimum 8mm thick If the tank walls flex too much you may need to glass a rib round the outside of the tank half way between the base and the top similar to what is in the video Make sure you have a flange around the top like in the video This acts like a rib Also a lot depends of how the tank is going to be used If there is a lot of hard handling, and maybe jumping in and out of it, then I would beef the sides up to 10mm minimum and probably put 1 or 2 layers of 600gm woven rovings for increased tensile strength. If you are going to walk on the floor then I would make the base minimum 5mm thick I would put down a bed of soft fine sand to sit the tank on just to make sure no rocks or sharp things in the ground fracture the base If you build the tank the same way as the tank in the video, you will be able to build it say 5mm thick, then release it from the mould and try it out If you need it stronger, just turn the tank over and add more glass and some ribs Keep doing this until you have what you want Hope this helps

@@CustomFibreglassing thanks that helps a lot. I will be keeping fish and it will be above ground. do you have any idea how collapsible tanks work. I mean after it is put together how it stops the leak from the joints? do they fiberglass it again once brought in the facility

@@meataholicbd7163 Hi MeataHolic BD, in the late 1980's I use to build pools in sections for a client. They were just bolted together with silicone between the panels. But the pools looked ugly so they would put a vinyl liner inside the pool. This also helped prevent any leakes. I don't know how the collapsible tank you want works. Personally I would make your pond in one piece. It is very small and easy to build. Making it in separate pieces would make the whole process more complicated and also all the joins are potential leak points. You would have to make panels that butt into each other properly so they can be bolted together and you would have a lot of ugly joins that need to be sealed. Also the bolts will eventually rust and cause more problems. I would make a wooden mould to the shape you want, like in my tank video and build the pond over it in one solid leak-proof piece. The finished tank would look more professional, and would be very light. One person could carry it, but because of its size and shape two people would carry it easier. Good luck

I did the job a few years ago now so i can't remember exactly but I would say it had a finished laminate of around 8mm. I just had some PVC pipe off-cuts that I cut in half length ways and stuck them on the tank and glassed over them. You can use anything. All you need is the shape for the glass to go over. If you are interested in fibreglass then i would like to let you know that if everything goes to my plan i will be building a 24metre trimaran early next year. I will be posting videos of the entire construction, and showing everything about it. If you haven't already, please do me a favour and subscribe so you can see when i start. Thanks

Hi. You can make the rib shape out of anything. I used pvc pipe cut in half and bogged it to the side of the tank to get the shape. Then i just glassed over it. It all depends on the size of the side you are putting the ribs on. If it is very wide like this tank, use wide ribs. If it is narrow use narrow ribs. I have used rope in the past on small jobs and wide stripes of foam on other bigger jobs. Remember it isn't the thing you use to get the shape that creates the strength it is the glass you put over the shape. Hope this helps. Good luck and thanks. Hope you have subscribed.

@@CustomFibreglassing thanks the tip and yes just subscribed on hope you could release a video in making tanks with glass... :) god bless

The gelcoat is the colour on the fibreglass. It is like paint. To stop it sticking you have to put chemicals on the wood first and then build on top of it. Glad you like my work. Thanks

what chemical you put in the wood first? thanks

@@abuxxx3607 apply a wax first.

the mould is what you just made from wood or anything ells in the shape you want it to be round or square then you apply a wax release agent to that mould first the gel coat is a resin with pigment added in any colour you want you have chosen blue. the pigments come in tins like paint. when you mix it with resin you now have a base colour to paint onto your mould the gel coat resin drys on the side that will become the finished surface and it will stay tacky on the side you build up fibreglass on this is where your other resin called layup resin comes into play it is used for wetting your fibreglass mat to lay onto the tacky side you are working on. a paint brush and paint roller are used to eliminate air bubbles as you lay it on. two or three coats of fibreglass are used depending on what thickness of mat you use. you can ad pigment to this as well if you want to.the layup resin and fibreglass will go rock hard so the mould is now cured on the outside and the inside of the mould. when you pull it of the mould you constructed when you put your first coat of resin on known as the gel coat put a generous coat on ant this will give you a really nice shiny finish you can polish using a wax polish the result will be very impressive @@CustomFibreglassing i understood your cool video and hope i have helped your viewers understand.

Hi Michael. Thanks for your help. I am trying to put together more detailed tutorials but unfortunately time is the issue. Business is just flat out. And to add to that work load, I have a new 24metre trimaran building project i am starting early 2019 and will be making detailed videos of that. I would just like to clarify and extend on some of your information. You can add pigments to resin without any problem but the end result wont be as good as using gelcoat. The final mixed colour in resin will probably be slightly translucent and may not be very close to the actual pigment colour you want. You generally use a neutral gelcoat or even white gelcoat will do the job. The nuetral will allow you to mix a very accurate colour match of the pigment and using white gelcoat will give you very pleasant pastel versions of the colour but not an accurate match. Also the type of light the final gelcoat is being seen under can still change how the colour looks. I did a job with a custom made yellow colour but the client wasn't happy with the look. This was because the finished job was being seen under fluorescent lights and made the yellow look green. I had the pigment reformulated so when seen under the lights it looked the correct yellow. The Gelcoat has a resin base but is actually a lot more than resin. It has fillers and UV inhibitors and other stuff that makes it very hard and long lasting. It's the same principle as going to a paint shop and getting a colour mixed. They add pigments to a paint base. The neutral gelcoat is the base used for pigments. Using neutral gelcoat will give you more accurate colour matching. Also pigmented resin will only stay tacky if you use unwaxed resin. If you use waxed resin you will have to lightly sand the surface to get a good key with the laminate. But if you use waxed or unwaxed resin it still wont behave the same way as gelcoat. If you want a long lasting, UV resistant and a super glossy finish it is best to use gelcoat. Thanks again and click the alerts button so you see when i start the 24 metre Trimaran.

Yes it is

That's correct. wood => mould release chemical => gelcoat => fibreglass. I started in the fibreglass industry in 1984 building ocean cruising catamarans. Since then i have personally built 7 catamaran hulls 45ft long, a prototype reef craft and repaired or altered too many boats to remember. If everything goes to plan early next year i will be building a 24metre trimaran. I will be posting the videos of building it here on KZfaq. If you haven't already, please do me a favour and subscribe so you can see when i start. Thanks.

I did subscribe now , are you based in uk , it would be interesting to see the boat being built , how many layers of fibreglass will be put on a hull ? a trimaran would be incredible to be on once it lifts out of the water and starts to take off , to buy one would be out of the question for most of us but to make one maybe its possible

Thanks for subscribing. I am in Sydney Australia. The hulls will use quadaxial glass plus some kevlar and carbon fibre. I may even put some basalt fibre in. The first yacht is 24m but i can scale the design down for people who want a smaller size. I will be showing everything that happens during the build on social media plus i have a website where you can see lots of things as well. When the project kicks off all this will be available for you to see. Thanks

your very clever , my trade is a butcher but our style is kiwi its broken down off the hook very fast by scratching the bone which will release the meats hold and it all strips off , I gave up butchery at 50 I now enjoy doing building , eg Impey wet rooms which are easy to do and with the fibreglassing I mainly did flat roofs I call tech for anything new , as most do things wrong , like if a slopping roof onto fibreglass I only nail flat part and tuck the fibreglass role on to the joist as to allow movement and if on top of celetex ill put a board below and above the celetex so no cracking sounds after fibreglass , but the things u are able to build is really way above me , I love to learn as I cant afford to buy my own boat but maybe making one is an option , a few New Zealand guys and Australia like owning a boat in uk as they say instead of going just around an island they can travel to France or eu which they say is more fun , but only summer times I would think , he he

Building the hull, deck, bulkheads, floors etc are the easy parts. The hard part is fitting all the electronics, electrics, engine and all the fidly bits. That takes a lot of time and patience. But still if you want a boat, building is a good alternative. You just need to plan it all very well before you make a start and have a few good mates and trades people around to help. Either that or you find a cheap old boat and rebuilt it. Lots of people do that. In fact the owner of the company that supplies me fibreglass materials is doing it. He is going to take me with him next week to check the boat for him and discuss how to rebuild it. When he is finished he should have a complete 50ft yacht for only about $100,000.00. Now that is cheap. Thanks and good luck.

It's not an instructional video. My videos just show the different things I build

sorry but it was a waist of 7 min for everyone that watched. if your going to film and post at least make it worth watching. people explore youtube to either learn or be entertained. get it?

Thank you for wasting his time. He's just being a little bitch, thank you for the video!

I'm agreed with Jeff Franz. This video is useless.

The video was great. I found it useful, informative and inspiring!