Fiberglass cloth VS fiber glass matting

[chrisrunner55]

Hey I was wondering if fiberglass cloth can be used in place of fiberglass matte, are they the same thing or not? any help would be welcome thanks.

 

[vv7]

I think it is a matter of personal preference. I myself have a difficult time with fiberglass matte's random fiber structure. Once I have a layer of resin in and lay down the matt I can not get a consistant thickness as the fibers move around. Clothe on the other hand is in a uniform weave so the thickness of the fiberglass for me is easier to control. Now, i figure matte with its random fibers are more rigid as the fiber goes every direction. In working with fiberglass, I also found it hard to form matte into a convex shape (I was making a tube). Clothe is a lot easier to shape in a convex. But since we are normally glassing the inside of things (like helmets) the shape is normally concave, which matte can do easily. So like I said, it is more a matter of preference.

 

[matth101]

First, use the search function. Tons of topics on this

Mat will give you more strength per layer, but people say cloth is easier to work with. I personaly used one layer of rondo to cast the inside, then one layer of fiberglass mat over that and my pieces are rock solid. I've heard people using cloth for large flat surfaces. I only used cloth when I mudglassed the inside of my back piece on my mk v ce.
Also, I liked using the mat because when I soaked it with a good amount of resin, it was easy to form while when I used cloth it tended to wad and bunch up.
Try both and see what you like best. Its all a matter of your personal preference.
Good luck!

 

[chrisrunner55]

thanks guys thats very helpful. i used rondo for my helmet but i figured fiberglass wud be good for my big pieces. thanks again

 

[Toacrabman]

its a good idea to use cloth, but a random wad of fiberglass strands is okay, it just takes alot more time because you have to remove stray pieces that will poke you in the face, and little stray pieces will get stuck to everything, and get everywhere. Which is bad if anyone you live with is allergic to fiberglass like my dad.