Working with wax sheet

General Composites Discussions Composites Talk
#1

Hello all,

I am looking into making some wheel arch liners for a car. Basically, the car came equipped without these so the arches rust out, the front has some made from plastic.

I have the part (the wheel arch) already hacked off the car, I have an oven (probably about 80’c max) which the part will fit in.

I am think of buying some sheet wax and attempting to mould it to the wheel arch and then make a mould from that. The problem is I have never worked with sheetwax so am only guessing that this is what I need and it will do the job well. The wheel arch has many little intricate bits which I need to smooth out and the new part needs to be distanced a bit from the wheel arch hence the wax (in theory).

The question is, am I on the right lines? Can the wax sheet be molded like this without breaking? It’s high temp, so I’m guessing laying it on and putting it in the oven won’t help, or will it?

Any advice appreciated, I’ll try to get some pics later if needed.

#2

No one at all worked with sheet wax? :frowning:

#3

im a bit confused mate. can u post some pics. i havent done much with sheet wax only for m+f moulds but if noone else can help i may be a last resort and perhaps some sort of help.

#4

I think you can do this, but you will still need to fill in the intricate details so you are not bridging with wax.

Just contact molding?

#5

wax sheet works nice. Use a heat gun on low setting to make it conform to corners… also buy the kind that has a sticky adhesive backing. Yep they do sell it with no adhesive.

I have no clue if sheet wax will do what you want or not. I know it does come in many thicknesses all the way up to like 1 inch thick and as thin as .015 inch.

#6

Since you want to form something on the arches to make a flare fender plug and then pull a mold from that, I’d suggest for you to use oil based molding clay instead of sheet wax.

But without pictures…does it really happen? :slight_smile:

#7

You are correct of course, a thread like this is no good without pics…

Ok, here is a pic of the underside of the rear wheel arch:

Pretty scabby eh? That’s because here in the UK it’s very damp and we put salt on the roads in winter to stop them from freezing. Old Italian cars don’t need much of an excuse to rust, especially when the makers don’t put plastic liners in to protect them (they did at the front). The stones get flung at the metal arch which gets worn and chipped to bare metal then rusts. Mud gets trapped against it which holds the water there and makes things worse.

I intend to create a wheel arch liner made from composites. Here is what a wheel arch liner looks like:

It should be relatively easy as a fantastic finish isn’t needed, I just need to smooth over the intricate and sharp parts and distance the new liner a little bit from them hence me thinking of using wax sheet.
The problem is I haven’t used it before so hoped to find out more before buying some…

#8

Just chiming in.
Another alternative would be to apply release agent to the area, and layup some fiberglass. Then just prime it and sand to the desired finish. Make a mold from that.

#9

Yes I like that idea, particularly as we aren’t too bothered about how we leave the plug as it is scrap. It does sound quite labour intensive though.
What would you say are the benefits of this over some wax sheet? I’ve never seen this stuff or worked with it before hence me trying to find out and get a feel for it before possibly buying a box.

#10

freeman supply has good selection and demonstration videos

#11

Thanks for that, the video was very informative.