# How trustable is fiberglass to build home theater towers?



## BigLouis1971 (Jul 28, 2014)

I was watching youtube and they take you to the whole process of building sub enclosures with fiberglass. Summarizing the process, they make just about 4 walls of the enclosure with MDF, they add some rings where the subs are supposed to be. Then add a piece of fabric really tight. The fabric take some really nice shapes tightened like that. Then they add liquid fiberglass resin so the fabric get really solid. They sand, add some bondo and sand again. At the end they brush some primer and finally paint. The enclosure gets a really nice shape with that process. You can watch a video here: 



 I was thinking about using that technique to make the front baffle of a tower speaker. Can any experienced member tell me if fiberglass is sturdy enough to make the front baffle of a speaker? Can I build a curved enclosure with that method instead than adding multiple layers of thin plywood? Thanks in advance.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

I have also been watching these project builds - mostly subwoofers... It seems to be a rigid enough finish but thats all it really is - a finish exterior that can be sanded reeeealy smooth and painted to look very nice...
Needless to say its a TON of tedious work... Im sticking w wood until I get an automotive sprayer ....

I may consider doing a small project soon to get my feet wet... I have some small cabinets made Im going to use for computer speakers ...


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## Steeve-O (Dec 3, 2010)

One or my friend want me to build him two fiberglass subwoofer enclosure for his car so he can save ton's of trunk space. What they use for the front is fleece covered with fiberglass resin. Then once it's done they add more layer off fiberglass behing the fleece. A general rule of thumb is 3 layer behind the fleece. Since this is dedicated for home theather you could put more layer to make sure that the enclosure don't flex. I would recommend you to not glue the back of the tower so you can put the inside layer then close to back. Some people also glue some dynamat inside the enclosure the deaden it so it doesn't vibrate but I don't know how good it work.


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## BigLouis1971 (Jul 28, 2014)

What I actually plan to do is to make the actual baffle the whole size of the cabinet. Then add a round piece of MDF with the contour of the drivers and about 3 or 4 inches smaller than the first piece of MDF. Also add some rings about an inch bigger that the outer size of the drivers making it taller than the other pieces of MDF. Those 3 pieces of MDF should give a nice shape when I add the fabric. So there will be a sturdy piece of MDF behind the fiberglass. The fiberglass will be just cosmetic. I can't wait to have all the pieces to see how the fabric is shaped with that frame.


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## BigLouis1971 (Jul 28, 2014)

RTS100x5 said:


> I have also been watching these project builds - mostly subwoofers... It seems to be a rigid enough finish but thats all it really is - a finish exterior that can be sanded reeeealy smooth and painted to look very nice...
> Needless to say its a TON of tedious work... Im sticking w wood until I get an automotive sprayer ....
> 
> I may consider doing a small project soon to get my feet wet... I have some small cabinets made Im going to use for computer speakers ...


The job will be tedious but the results will be astonishing. I plan to cover my cabinets with carbon fiber vinyl which looks fantastic so they will look modern and everything.


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