Fibreglass

Warringah Plastics have successfully been converting traditional fibreglass (or fiberglass) components for over a decade. Plastic vacuum forming offers several advantages over fibreglassing. This includes:

1. Faster manufacturing. Unlike fibreglass which is labour intensive, plastic vacuum forming can form components in just minutes. No more layering! Of course faster manufacturing means cheaper manufacturing costs!

2. Parts are lighter. It is a common myth that fibreglassing produces lighter components then their composite thermoplastic cousins. Whilst fibreglass is lightweight their are now advanced plastic composite alternatives like our famous ECP (Extreme Composite Plastic). Plastic components can be up to 20% lighter than fibreglassed components.

3. Parts are stronger! Not only are plastic composite components physically stronger, particularly tensile and shear strength, they also don’t shatter and leave debris. This is particular valuable for fibreglass components for transport, mining or any kind of vehicle applications where you want to keep the vehicle on the road and fragments off it. Please see the below video showing a side by side comparison of our ECP component compared to a fibreglass component. The results truly speak for themselves. Please note that both components have identical material thickness.

4. Parts are more consistent. Because vacuum forming uses either a timber pattern or epoxy resin tool parts are produced to amazing tolerances. You have the peace of mind that when you re-order parts they will be the same every run. Due to our strict quality controls including our ISO 9001 quality system we monitor the temperature at multiple stages of the forming process to produce consistent wall thicknesses.

5. Parts can be easily painted or formed in different colours.

The conversion process from fibreglass to plastic is best facilitated by one of our experienced product development managers. Depending on your components shape sometimes modifications need to be made to its design so that it can be vacuum formed. This includes ensuring it can work on a 1 part male/female mould. Typically our team can enhance the design of you component during this process. We can even form divets in the components which can facilitate drilling and other operations that may need to occur later in the manufacturing process.

6. Easier to work.

Vacuum formed parts are much safer to work with because unlike fibreglass there’s no loose glass fibres when cutting or drilling. These glass fibres/shards can easily get lodged into the skin when carrying out additional manufacturing or assembly operations.

 

So whether you are after fibreglassed pools/ponds, transport components including medium-heavy trucks and RV’s, to fibreglassed tapes, doors, cloths, insulation, tubs, tanks, bumpers, wind bubbles, boat components or roofing components; talk to us first because we can probably save you money and produce higher quality parts.