Poor Man's Fiberglass Durability Test 

i was thinking of building a deep sea submersible, but don't wanna spend $$$$$ on titanium. this looks like it'll be perfect!

It would be interesting to have a regular fibre glass panel as a control or comparison.

regarding bubbles. I used to attach oil paintings on canvas to masonite. I used carpenters glue. The first one I ever attached got bubbles because I used too much glue and it was uneven. After making sure the glue was a thin even layer and using a rolling pin to apply pressure I never got any more bubbles.

This is fantastic backyard science. Especially all the different ways you tried to stress / damage the different materials. Great job man!

this video made me dump lots of time into making pmf campers, this last run i have so much confidence in pmf Im going lazy and coating the outside of an rv with pmf. thank you so much you have a lifetime sub from me

I bet you could make a nice lightweight boat out of that. Or a truck topper. Or an ice chest. Or a garden shed. Or a pickup tonneu cover. Or...or... a lot of things!

Thanks for the taking us on your research and simulation. Excellent!

Your tests were sufficient to answer all of my questions about PMF building. Thank You. I have to admit, the video could have been made in about 1/2 the time you took. I would recommend you either continue to make "Testing Videos" or see the networks for an audition for being a game show host...one or the other. :>)

I would surmise the reason the Cannes had more deflection is due to the fact the chances was applied without stretching. You stated when you applied the sheet you stretched it pretty tight which would basically be preloading it with stress as compared to the canvas being applied without stretching the fibers. Instead of the bed sheet I think an interesting combination would be first layer covered with Fiberglass window screening with the canvas over that. The way it was is impressive but I wonder if the inexpensive window screening would reduce the flexing or if it’s inability to stretch would cause it to fail. Just some thoughts.

Looks like it came out pretty good. I am looking forward to your project!!!

Great test. This gave me the answers I’ve been looking for about how tough PMF is.

You answered a lot of my questions about using PMF for my bike camper I'm going to start building in January. I'm sure you stressed it more then anything I could do to it. I wonder how much of a difference using different formula insulation would make, 150, 250, 400, 500, and 600. I'm sure building anything with 400 or better will create some amazing results for people. I'm glad I came across your channel while researching PMF. Thank you for the testing you did.

Have you thought of trying PMF on real thick corrugated cardboard? Then there's the possibility of foam with cardboard facings.

Both of those seemed incredibly tough! At the start of your video I told the wife, you watch, he'll run over them with something, lol.

Nice scientific testing and gave me the giggles. Looks like both different types of PMF held up pretty well. 👍

That was awesome Mr Fugate. It was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. Has always Liked,shared. All my best.

I have used muslin and glue for “Dutchman” seams on theatre set designs, on a wood frame. I think that muslin would work even better than canvas or bed sheets. The only question I have is was the canvas and bedsheets washed and dried before using to prevent shrinking or if maybe shrinking would help tighten the cloth to the substrate? Muslin is very inexpensive and comes in wide enough widths that you can do large walls without seams.

I am sick and tired of repairing my paint job every damn time I get run over by a bus.

Another benefit to PMF is easy repair - If you scratch or dent standard car paint it takes a bit of expertise and finesse to make an invisible repair - with the rough surface of PMF repairs will blend in much easier. * Always keep in mind that paint can change hue as it cures - If you have something a few years old that you touch up with the exact same paint - it can stand out like a sore thumb for a month or two until the spot cures and blends.

this is the first video of yours that I have come across, Dude that C10 bed in the intro is the COOLEST thing i have ever seen in my life!

The exact info I needed for building my hillbilly catamaran floats. Thanks dude!

Just what I was looking for! Thanks for this experiment!

That's amazing cool thing!!! Titebond Wood glue (we have analogue here PVA D3 wood glue - also strong and waterproof) and canvas... amazing! is it necessary to put it over _styrofoam_ only or other infill materrials (cardboard maybe, or plywood, or drywall) possible? is it possible to use not canvas but maybe _other textile types_ ? I have "crazy idea" to build bicycle (frame and even wheels maybe) or maybe possible even velomobile using cardboard (many layers) and PMF over it. What do you think? Is it possible? :-)

have you done any tests for compression? Like if you built a cabinet and the sides were made up of foam with PMF coating. How strong do you think it would be?

This is valuable information. Especially since these are more realistic tests than a lab.

Have you washed the bedsheet with degreeser? When new there is a waxy coating and also a littlebit waxy coating when washed with washing soap for clothes. I wonder how to prevent these bubles.

I would rather see a stress test with dropping weight on it, bending weight to breakage, how much weight to pull the fabric off. I am more interested in the structural integrity, rigidity.

you need to use a "control" for these tests to show what happens to other more durable material in the same test.

The ATV reminded me of an old Timex watch commercial. It takes a lickin and keeps on tickin.

It’s a amazing. What kind of rust oleum paint did you use sir ? I am trying to build a plywood kayak.

Did you use it for the trike? I want to make a cover for the engine of my trike but how would you mould it to the shape you want?

Great video. What a riot! I would like to make a camper for my motorcycle out of PMF because it's light weight. Now I know it's durable too. It's good to know it would stand up to getting run over by a bus, but I'll try to avoid that.

TRY WINDOW SCREEN . FOAM+SCREEN+FABRIC+PAINT. IN THAT ORDER AND INCREASED STRENGH.

Luke, whatever happened to the trike? Looked for videos of it on your page, but there doesn't seem to be one.

I’d love to see foam skinned with uncoated breathable 1oz ripstop nylon and WBPU and/or titebond compared to regular duck canvas and wood glue PMF, for super ultralight applications like pedal powered bike campers

Hi. Nice work. Your panel say Miami-Dade, do you have information on it? where you got it? thanks.

Hi Luke. How much does it weigh compared to wood? Like ply wood or 2 by 6.

Painters drop sheet will let air through the adhesive

The insulation and other logistics of fitting the chosen material with all the things even just a hobby project would need almost sounds like a nightmare in ways.. But you'll find a way; you always do.

Before fiberglass the nacent rec boating industry and new England lobster fishermen used pmf over wood decks wnd superstructure (not boat hull) because it was more durable than paint or varnish that required regular maintenance and replacement between 1-3 years in New England weather depending on use intensity.... Pmf lasted longer but still required maintenance and periodic replacement... Just not as often, plus it gave a nonskid surfaces for decks (we are talking 1920-1960 or so

Sorry question was to early watched the whole video. Great Video. Just what I was looking for, going to build hollow pontoons and cover them with PMF thanks again.

Theres a guy who has a RU-vid channel that builds campers. He's building a truck camper and he uses poor mans fiberglass on his camper builds. He uses bed sheets, he has a technique that keeps the sheet looking good, no bubbles. He also said the bedsheets are a smoother finish then the canvas. Anyways you may want to look for his channel to get some ideas of how to PMF. I can't remember his name or channel, just type in the search bar DIY campers and may want to try searching DIY campers builds with PMF Im sure you can find him. His bedsheets PMF turned out really nice. The videos I seen he was building a truck bed slide in camper....

I wonder how well titebond 3 or landscape fabric would work in those applications

It occurred to me watching the food trailer update that the panels could possibly be used in place of the 2x4s in that trailer. They hold up pretty good on the flat, but you didn't test them on the edge. I suggest you find something that can actually measure how much force is being applied. I may suggest it as a test for Matthias Wendall.

You are my favorite scientist. thank you for this.

I’ve seen quite a few of these videos and am impressed with pmf. But what I’m really curious about is the crush strength- would it hold up to being walked on regularly or would it crush and delam? …Like on the roof of my boat I’m building. Any experiences or thoughts would be appreciated!

My theory of why u have air bubbles with the bed sheet is that the bed sheet may have fabric properties that does not allow the paint to fully adhere or absorb to the bed sheet fabric whereas the painters cloth does adhere or absorb to the paint. Interesting experiment Luke. The painters fabric did not hold up so well under scrutiny of the twisting of Zephyr front tire...perhaps the roughness of the painters fabric with the paint, and the bed sheet fabric held up the Best under the scrutiny of the twisting of Zephyr front tire...perhaps the smoothness of the bedsheet fabric and the paint with the air bubbles. I do like the idea of the combination of painters Fabric & bedsheet fabric. I might add that u may always have a problem with air bubbles...with the bedsheet fabric...the paint & the bed sheet properties are not balanced enough to make it without air bubbles as the properties of the painters fabric and the paint. Sorry...😞😞 as my usual writing ✍️ is FULL of Emojis 😂😂👍🏼 🧰✂️ 📐📏😀😀👍🏼.. I wrote without them above 😜😜🤪

How about seeing how well bed liner sticks to them and then test them.

Wow that stuff is strong! Next test - does it work as the deck of a bridge?!

Fiberglas on Plywood is more to use a Material (Plywood) which does Not call for precise and Energy excessive Bonding Like metal and make a baselayer (Epoxy-resin + Fiberglas) for further waterproofing (gelcoat, which protects the Epoxy from damage thru UV-light). The stiffness of 2 Plates of multilayered Fiberglas and Plywood or foam as Core is already in 2 different classes. Plywood with it's Natural wood cement "lignine" is stronger regarding vertical pressure than many foam/foam-cores. If Something is stiff by the Plates (Fiberglas) and it (wooden Core) is less stiff than the Plates the strenght as tension flange is still there but less important. The resistence against pressure is important for stiffness. A wooden-core of an alpine-ski is a combination of Plywood-like structures and cross-grained wood. The Flex vs. Torsion-stiffness is the Art of engineering there. A compound with wooden Core is not easy to outperform. The structure of Balsa Wood If you Look on the cross-grained surfaces in a microscope the Structures is another solution by the Nature compared to honeycomb-structure. Like honeycomb the Walls created by Cellulose and cemented by lignine stand vertical. As lignine fills the structure you can Bond Balsa cross-grained wood to e.g. Canvas even better than e.g. Nomex-/Kevlar-/Aramide honeycomb-core Material to Fiberglas or Carbon-Plates. More or less prepreg-concept is the only way to Bond Fiberglas/Carbon Plates with Aramide-honeycomb-cores. As Tidebond also can handle cross-grained wood "the poor man's" compound based on Canvas and wooden Core Out of "Cross grained Wood" is realizeable. Balsa is very light but has very weak robustness against moisture. There are other wood-types Not too heavy while offering better robustness against moisture. Regarding the waterproofing it should be easy repairable by easy overpainting and patching. Something which is Not topped with Tidebond and painted with Latex from the First layer can Not been easy repaired or overpainted. If you dilute Brantho-Korrux 3-in-1 it's even penetrating uncovered Canvas. Last Layers with Iron mica Colours of Brantho-Korrux 3-in-1 give thicker Layers of Paint. Brantho-Korrux 3-in-1 and Brantho Korrux Gas-/Petrol-resistant are developed for Off-Shore applications and have an approval by the German Railways. Brantho-Korrux Gas-/Petrol-resistant is less flexible. E.g. Not flexible enough for overpainting the glue filled gaps at the metal-skin of an light commercial Vehicle Like the Chrysler Van based on the Fiat Ducato (>= 3.5 Ton Class LCV). At Caravans and Mobilehomes there are areas kept uncovered so that the wood can breath. This areas you can Paint with filtered and aged linseedoil and linseedoil based painting. Wood then can still breath but is hydrophobious treated. There even exist linseedoil based Iron mica painting. www.kreidezeit.de/en/product/rust-protection-paint/ That would be for edges and Not the areas where the wood should breath Well. If you Work with linseedoil the wood should Not been covered with Canvas or other textile as linseedoil then let selfinflame the textiles. It even can selfinflame the brushes and other soaked Tools.

I was hoping you would bring a shotgun out to the party.

Very cool video. I appreciate the time and effort that went into it!

You can use just latex paint (no glue required). Paint item, add cloth, immediately repaint while still wet...

Why did you make the panels to different sizes???. WTF??

js if you use bedliner insted of rust oleum it will be 1million times stronger and i higly doubt the presuer waser could chip it

Luke I read through some of the comments didn’t see my question. What is your poor mans fiberglass covering?

Great video, hilarious and instructional. I am thinking of building a camper. So PMF is the way to go. You should apply for a job with National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Funny and informative. Good combo. Thanks for sharing

A real test would be leaving the panels outside where they were exposed to all types of weather and sunlight for at least 6 months.

Hi, what have you put in the middle . Is it timber or foamboard insulation?. Thankyou

I think the sheet did just as good as the other. No one is going to let a bus run over there camper or what ever they make out of it. I'm going to make me a tiny home out of foam and use either the canvas clothe or even a sheet for the outside and inside to give it the strength it needs. So I guess tight bond glue won't eat through the foam. I'm going to try and make it and 8 ft by 12 ft or maybe even go 16 ft tiny home to pull behind my car. I love doing stuff like this. Thank you for your info. God bless 🙏💞🙏

This just might work for my boat pontoons!

What abouts pmf just 1/4 ,plywood without the foam I have a plan, really

It doesn't appear to me that you are comparing Apples to Apples the pieces are not the same size allowing the larger size disperse the weight differently in the smaller one

You should have cut the edge off of the canvas because the edge gives you more strength than you give it credit for having cut the bed sheet off.

I was impressed with the pmf during the entire test, but worried about the bad noise coming from your steering system on the bus. You might want to test the bus more.

That just looks like a good day hell yeah man do you good video 👍

I appreciate the effort. Thank you

On a science note, both or all of the test subjects should have been identical sizes. The weight test wasn't fair as the sheet board is twice is wide thus stronger from the start. Like comparing a 2x6 to a 2x12 in that test. I've seen other videos regarding the bubbles in the bed sheets, seems the issue is that once the sheet is wet is holds air/water (remember in scouts when you used pants legs as a flotation device, get them wet and they hold air because the water seals up the tight weave.) I'm curious of the PMF... I tried something a year back didn't didn't do well... that was canvas and fiberglass resin(sets to fast and absorbs a lot of resin). Debating and comparing between using paint and titebond II as the glue. Paint would be much cheaper as a glue.

This was awesome thank you for the video!!

How water proof is this? My idea is digging out a pool and using this as the shell straight on dirt!!! Could it work?

Try less glue and let the paint seal it. You can use an iron the apply the sheet.

Composites for the win !!!

Hear me out - and this may be a little heavy, but has anyone ever tried the poor man's fiberglass, but with resin?

was this shot in your out house?

that stuff is impressive, Im always amazed at how tough my toilet paper and paint props are and that pmf appears stronger. It looked like the rock that cut through the sheet hit with the edge but it hit the canvas a little flatter. Im looking forward to seeing how you design the body

Man I needed this!!!

Couldn't find a dry area for that final test?

So the moral of this story is don't drive where it says falling rocks

Think this will work good for making a freezer?

thanks ...great vid👍

Well made I'm interested in making that stuff.💯

man, if you stack drop cloth and bed sheet, with titebond II between each, I'm pretty sure you've just made Poor Man's Adamantium LMFAO

The only video I've seen of any one taking an engineering mindset and actually testing this stuff to see how it would hold up over time. Rather than a it looks like fibreglass, it smells like fibreglass therefore it's the same approach. Interestingly with the current move towards forcibly turning everyone into a card carrying long haired sandal wearing hippy the composite industry is slowly moving towards natural fabric based composit materials.

Need more interesting new content vids.. Perhaps a outdoor stove? Wildlife Trail cam with a bridge across the brook?

What kind of foam boards is that?

Man…. That drop clothe is thicker than a bed sheet. I would off the top know that the drop clothe poor man’s fiber glass would be stronger.

Can you make a boat using pmf?

Hey! :) Change "Duribility" in your title to "Durability" and I bet you'll get a TON of views. Sorry for the multiple comments. Just wanted to say this was rad.

So what glue did you use?

I would like to see it cut open after 6 months outside in the direct sun and rain!

What is up with this Guy………..lol

I'm go to wrap my truck and make a truck boat

High thread count bed sheets can't breath...need cheep sheets. 100 thread count.

What thickness foam was that?

Mate, there r different sizes. Not fair test

Perfect example of a very NON-scientific test of two items. So many variances that its worthless to consider it a side by side test.

Muito bom..👏

Is it waterproof? Can you build a boat with it?