Praufet

I was think about building a bumper and had an idea and wanted some feedback. I was thinking of building a frame work out of tubing then filling the hole with some fiberglass sheets then screwing them in. I'd paint and everything. If a fg got damaged I'd just take it out and cut a new sheet. It will save a lot of weight and be different. Any comments? ideas? etc?

Silver_Truck

I don't really get it...but sounds like a good idea in theory...maybe a picture would help us decide

hamstrungtaco

why no just use aluminum or something like that, hammer it back out, make it so that its permanent

Robinhood150

I was thinking of using cutting board plastic...should be nearly indestructable.

Praufet

Where can you get the stuff? Also can it be painted? It would like kinda ghetto just being plain.

Robinhood150

I don't know, check pirate, those guys are always talking about it...I haven't really looked into where to get it yet. I doubt it can be painted, too slick.

Yeah, it might not look good but it'd be hard to say without seeing it in person.

Praufet

I was reading up and they suggested delrin, hdpe, or even carbon fiber, trying to get more info, will let you guys know as I find out.

Silver_Truck-Basically I want to build a frame out of square or round tube and skin it. So it will have the look of an arb or something similar, but weigh a hell of a lot less.

Piett

Polyethylene, as used in cutting boards comes in colors aside from white, even black. Unfortunately it it pretty expensive to buy in decent thickness and size. Buggies use it for skids and it hold up great.

As for fiberglass or carbon fiber I think it would't work well. Both are really strong, but tend to be brittle. The points where you attach it to the frame would be too highly stressed when a rock hits the panel and would fracture. Attachment is usually the hardest part when using composites and these are costly as well.