Here at Industrial Fibreglass Solutions (IFS) we enjoy working with customer’s to bring their ideas into reality, the concept might be started through conversations or sketch’s with the customer and then the team at IFS can work through the design process with the customer making specification’s and if required full 3D modeled drawings. We have a wide array of contacts with in the engineering & design fields such as aerodynamics, structural, mechanical, chemical, process and cosmetic and can liaise and coordinate as required with these specialist designer’s & engineers to suit a customer’s requirements.

Once we have a design be it produced in house or customer supplied generally the next step in the process is to produce a plug. A plug is typically a representation of the finished article, and can be an actual part or a mock up of a part. Plugs made from scratch can be made from a vast range of materials using a wide variety of methods. We produce plugs using MDF, timber, high density foam, styrofoam, body filler, fibreglass and other materials.  

For large parts often a framework is built and then layered with foam, fiberglass, and body filler before priming and finishing. Plugs can be crafted by hand or using a CNC router or a combination of both depending on the finished parts specifications and complexity. The following step is to produce the mold, planning at this stage while making the plug is critical.
Certain factors must be taken into consideration such as surface finish, draft angles, undercuts, and method of production. Once the plug is refined to the surface finish desired and mold release has been applied, it is time to begin constructing the fiberglass mold.

The materials typically used for this are: gelcoat, resin’s & glass reinforcements. Molds take time to build and cure and ideally should be allowed ample time to cure before being put into production. The team at IFS are plug and mold making experts and can produce plugs and molds that contain extreme or simple complexity and geometry’s.

We are proficient at a variety of manufacturing process’s such as hand lay up, spray lay-up, casting, closed molding LRTM & vacuum bagging & infusion process’s. We utilize lean manufacturing principles, and we can produce large or small production runs of articles. We employ in process quality control procedures to ensure parts are built to the highest quality standards.

Generally once parts are fabricated they are trimmed and ground in our trimming booths and then are finished off in the finishing area. At this stage parts can have a multitude of different things done and can have secondary items affixed such as hinges inserts and brackets to help our customer with affixing them to their products. Parts are finished to varying degrees with some items prepped for paint, painted or others supplied as a gel-coat finish.

The team at IFS can repair alter or fix anything made from a composite/fibreglass material be it a large industrial products such as tanks, tubs or drums or repairs to trucks, cars or boats. We also can project manage other contractors that maybe required to provide a turn key solution such as engineers, refinishers & upholsters.

IFS provide a range of onsite services ranging from basic or complex site installations of fibreglass and composite products to completing fibreglass linings, chemical bunds or swimming pool linings or repairs. We also have staff trained and qualified to work in confined space’s to allow for fibreglass repairs or install in tanks or pipes.

IFS has a small trade and DIY shop at its factory selling resins, hardner’s, reinforcements’ and ancillaries’ to other trades such as plumbers and panel beaters as well as DIY enthusiast’s. We have a wide selection of products on offer and if we don’t hold in stock a required product we can often source it. Shop hours are 7:30am – 5pm Monday – Friday and by appointment after hours.