Fiberglass back plate

[deepdivered]

i have heard of people making a fiberglass back plate. i would like some info as i cant finde much.

 

[The Kraken]

And with all due respect, why do you want such a light back plate???

the K

 

[deepdivered]

well i dive with steel 130 hp tanks and also want to do twins. i think also it would be vary easy to build a fiberglass back plate. i work at a dive shop and can barrow one to use as a mold/templed. how did every one else who made these do it. i have a basic idea but would just like some more details so i can learn from others.

 

[RAWalker]

well i dive with steel 130 hp tanks and also want to do twins. i think also it would be vary easy to build a fiberglass back plate. i work at a dive shop and can barrow one to use as a mold/templed. how did every one else who made these do it. i have a basic idea but would just like some more details so i can learn from others.

I've done some fiberglass work over the years and I think the best bet would be to borrow 2 SS plates. Using fine weave fiberglass cloth cut into rectangles large enough to be sandwiched between the 2 plates. Create enough rectangles for a stack with a thickness of 3/16- 1/4" when lightly compressed. Using slow cure resin, wet the glass cloth and create the stack on top of wax paper taking care to remove air bubbles as you lay the cloth down on the stack. top the stack with wax paper. Carefully lay over first plate and form to shape. Use the second plate to squeeze the excess resin out. If the center section is too tight flip over the second plate and use a block of wood cut size to compress the center. Use C-clamps to set the compression evenly and allow to cure until completely hardened. Remove and separate plates use a high speed dril to drill the needed whole only. Use a Dremel or die grinder to cut the slots needed. Clean up all ouside edges with a 4" angle grinder and sanding drums on the dremel/die grinder.

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

I've made alot of things from fiberglass and the one thing thats always sticks in my head is how messy it can get, you will most certainly get resin on the ss plates so much care should be taken to avoid that or you will be buying a couple metal plate weather you want to or not. in the past I have rapped things with several layers of plastic wrap to avoid resin issues but in this case that might not work.

if you have a food saver you could pull a vacuum on the metal plates to protect them given you have large enough plastic material.

other than that issue I would follow the directions above and if you really want to be cool make it with carbon fiber mat instead. just make sure you use a woven mat instead of loose fiber mat no matter fiberglass or carbon fiber.

a trick to making this stronger is to alternate the angle of the weeve. place the first layer vertically, than rotate the next layer 45 degrees, than 45 degrees the other direction, than 90 degrees off vertical. repeat for as many layers as necessary.

place a few small patches like 3"x3" or something every other layer to reinforce the bolt holes. you could alternatively laminate another material in the area of the bolt holes like a strip of aluminum/stainless that has been ruffed (an had a series of small holes drilled in it) up could run the full length of the spine.

 

[superstar]

Would it be possible to do a hand layup molded to your back. You could do the layup on a heavy piece of visqueen plastic film and as you lie face down have a helper place the layup on your back, visqueen side down. After the resin cures, trim to shape and cut out slots and holes.

 

[deepdivered]

thanks. well saterday was my first day at work at the dive shop. seeing as i can now buy at whole sale price. i will just buy the transplate setup with the wrek wing insted of trying to build my own harnesss. I love my job

 

[Boxcar Overkill]

Yeah, but building one would have been really cool. I may look into that.

 

[DepthCharge]

i have heard of people making a fiberglass back plate. i would like some info as i cant finde much.

Why not go with an ABS backplate?

 

[350xfire]

Why waste time making a fiberglass BP when you can buy an aluminum one for $60 (Dive Rite). In the end, I think the FB plate will be about $30, homemade and weigh about the same.