Strengthening old Masonite

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

I've been given a jig-saw puzzle of Masonite pieces to put back together to make a parcel shelf (Yay me  ).
It is mostly glued together now, any suggestions on strengthening the finished piece without making it look too bulky or ugly?

[FCRB26]

0.7mm aluminium sheet , or 1mm polycarbonate, or colourbond sheeting,

[Stewy]

Or use the jigsaw pieces as a template to cut it out of a new sheet of Masonite   

Cheers Stewy   

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Thanks guys, but there's a twist, the masonite is not flat. There is a complex curve to it 
I was thinking of fibreglass, but I've never used it and not sure if it's compatible.

[hsv-001]

Your thinking of laying the matting over the top and when it dries,  wet the whole thing and the Masonite will fall off the back .

[FCRB26]

buy a diy fiberglass kit from bunnings.

[Ed]

+1 on the fibreglass.

Bunnings is expensive for fibreglass, commercial suppliers are far cheaper and have varying grades of mat dependent on job.

The polyester will bond to the masonite OK and it sounds like a parcel shelf or trim panel so flexing shouldn't be an issue.

the biggest challenge will be getting the masonite to lay down flat or in the same plane at the joins.. Keep in mind fibreglass conforms to the shape so if the buck or plug is warped, the end job will be too... masking tape on the reverse side would help. 

Beware not to try lay glass over masking tape as it does not stick..  In fact it's very useful to tape up surfaces when moulding.

I would be leaning towards reconstructing the masonite, before making a plug of it from expanding foam, gelcoat and fibreglass or even plaster of paris.  All the irregularities could then be addressed and removed from the new plug to create a good quality reproduction in fibreglass.  It's a more involved process though.

Cheers

Ed

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Thanks again for the info.
As this a one-off, I think I will use the fibreglass over the reconstructed masonite (thanks for the buck ideas though Ed), over the course of last week I have gradually pieced it together using Aquadhere.
Once I have done the fibreglass it will be covered in vinyl afterwards.