It might make it weaker as armor. Ballistic fabrics work better with loose bonds, delaminating is good in armor (absorbs more energy) where it is bad structurally.
I had the idea for laminating thin sheets of high density, abrasion resistant, plastics. I wanted the bonds to fail. The body armor industry beat me to the market. Plastic plates are good but I know how to make them better.
Some of this could be due to 'resonance' , Yamaha developed the first Real motorcycle-tyres , they found shorter chopped-mat material absorbed impact better than long-fiber materials , this started modern tyre-technology . They applied their knowledge from musical-instrument making and piano-frame-casting with effects on frquency-distortion .
I found that layers of 1`6 GA annealed carbon steel works over mild common steel plate. I agree the Tyvek landscape fabric is better to work with, takes blunt hits better than fiberglass fabric, but neither in single layers take sharp impacts, which makes me wonder how layers of combinations of each back to back would work together, gaining the best penetration factors and reducing thickness and weight. Thanks for the video.
You make a valid point, but there’s steel core ammo out there. You have to have some kind of impact plate to absorb all of that kinetic energy and not spall. You could add a layer of polyethylene (like the blue poly drums), to absorb the impact and prevent any if not all of the spalling from the bullet. If someone has any welding experience and the equipment, one could hard face weld a steel plate; hard facing is a welding process of welding mild steel with a hard facing electrode, basically welding an armor plate, that is impact and abrasion resistant), and combine that plate with fiberglass or Tyvek, or both, and you’d basically have military grade ballistic plates. Don’t take my comments as “The Gospel”. It should be tested extensively with ALL calibers of ammunition to get a 100% TRUE AND ACCURATE TEST with valid evidence results. I hope this helps everyone understand ballistics better.
@@roberthamm9304 In all of the home rounds and mods I've seen that will get through were made of 1/2 metal jacket hollow point 308 Win where the hollow was cleaned and extended a little with a bit to accommodate a hardened steel carburetor float valve needle, glued in with modified teflon plumbers thread dope to harden fast, and though I never found the points, they drilled past everything but layers of 1/2" steel boiler plate. I think these are hardened to around Rockwell .60 and its not likely that they exploded or discriminated, I think they just bounced back. They went through kevlar like it was made for it. With modification I expect the rounds were in the 150 gr range, but the size and power out of a 308 Winchester shell is a meaningful amount of punch and velocity. Keep your head down.
@@robgad2271 there was a story I heard several years ago, where someone parked 3 mobile homes side by side and then parked 3 cars side by side next to the mobile homes, and conducted a ballistics comparison test using a.44 magnum and a .50A.E. Desert Eagle to see how far the rounds would penetrate the mobile homes and the cars. I can’t remember what the results were, but if I remember correctly, I think the Desert Eagle went through the mobile homes and stopped at the exit side of the 2nd car, and the .44 went through the mobile homes and all 3 of the cars and kept going for a few more feet. I could have it backwards, but like I said, it’s been so many years since I heard this story. I’d actually have to see it to believe it. I guess anything’s possible.
@@roberthamm9304 I think you are right, and I've also seen the difference between a 44 and 357 magnums, and the 44 will penetrate a engine block. the 50 cal has high mass, but the 44 has mass and speed.
Very informative, it fractures way less than fiberglass but I believe the fiberglass offer more protection, but then again the landscaping material is lighter, with the right backing it has potential.
3mm plate external, then 5mm fibreglass, 5mm fabric, 5mm fibreglass and another 3mm steel plate. Then put it all in a vacuum press to draw out any air bubbles.
Try other commercially available high density fabrics, like deniers (Cordura), microfibers and look for the best bonding agent for the materials like polyester to polyester bonding agents
Look at Aircraft Spruce & Specialty and West Marine. I’m not so sure about the last one but Spruce is definitely for doing your own homebuilt aircraft so they have all the strongest composites available in all the various weaves. Their prices were alway pretty fair as well .
I’ve actually done this with alternating 5 layers of cloth and then 5 of fiberglass to a total of 30 layers of material. It works well. I didn’t back it with metal because I was only trying to stop pistol rounds. Maybe in an upcoming video I’ll make one with the steel to try and stop rifle rounds.
What about starting with the full thickness of fiberglass with the steel plate in the last layer next to the body, The wrap the in entir plate wit the land sacpe fabric for bullet spalding.
Man do I have an idea for something similar but very different that I bet won't delam and would stop green tip 556. It's similar in logic, but different materials and different technique without the fiberglass
I just cut the fabric to size and brushed Bondo resin from Home Depot on each layer. As soon as I had completed that, I placed the filter fabric between two pieces of metal and clamped them together. This squeezes any excess resin material out. After a day I cut and grind the plate and that was it.
I seen welders blanket and fiberglass resin hold back a lot of grouped power rounds so I’d go with what I know works if I made my own. Who know next time someone will claim toilet paper will stop a 50cal 😂
Dude, I literally just had this idea the other day when looking for a new back insert for my motorcycle jacket. They have fairly cheap D3O inserts that would be perfect for this application.
@@richardhenry1969 He is saying the welding blankets are just fiberglass, then he follows it up with "no?" As to ask if you mean the fiberglass curtains or another material.
@@3RBallistics I recommend either one has a pretty good start for a lot of things. If you have an old gun that's kind of questionable on to whether it will shoot or not that Kevlar would go a long ways to wrap that gun and keep it from spitting a piece into your eye.
Some tires do also but just because something is made of Kevlar doesn’t mean it’s bullet resistant. It needs to be in a certain configuration and thickness.
@@robpolaris7272 I'm kind of pig ignorant. I'm not willing to risk too much on somebody saying Kevlar bulletproof and one layer and not really too interested in risking much on shooting it to see but I would think if a person cut out a couple big pieces of Kevlar from the junkyard and bought an old gun and wrapped in the Kevlar the first time he shot it with a good load to see if it's spent any pieces out wouldn't be a bad way to spend a few bucks at the junkyard no guarantees. You can put it in between two stacks of newspaper and stop anything that comes flying out to when you test shoot.
Just depends on how much fiberglass you want to pick out of an open wound I would do fiberglass in front of boilerplate just to stop the fragmentation.
The boilerplate has got to weigh damn near 50#-60#. That’s not including your gear on the plate carrier, an assault pack, and the ammo for your rifle and pistol. Because a piece of 1/4” plate, 12”x 12” weighs somewhere around 20#. Multiply that by 2, 1 plate for the front and 1 plate for the back, that around 40# right there, roughly. So, you’d have to seriously think about the materials to be used to make the plates. I’m not criticizing or nitpicking. It’s all about the weight and mobility effects.
@@roberthamm9304 he said it weigh the same, whether it's a bulletproof vest or the boilerplate mild steel whatever if it's quarter inch I can take a rimfire yes Rimfire and and shoot straight through it. Myself I don't go for torsos I'm more of a ass man you know the million-dollar wound I like slowing multiple people down at one time
@@damnu8089 I’ve never seen a rim fire penetrate 1/4” plate. Now, a .308 round, that’s a different story. With 1/4” plate, along with Kevlar fabric, a piece of polyethylene plastic (to prevent a round from spalling), and the fiberglass, that should make for a decent armor plate.
I love your gritty hard-hitting viewpoint you have a point even if it saves you, Kevlar would be better than fiberglass because I think it sticks together in one piece better.
Polyester resin is worse in UV and 35% weaker than epoxy when used for FRP. While the resin itself can only hold 1/4 the amount of stress epoxy resin can take
@@randybugger3006 [NOT reccommended, while sure it makes epoxy stronger, it also makes it super flammable as in going from don't want to melt to straight up catching fire. Not a great idea) -15% activated charcoal-epoxy mix is the cheaper option to that compared to Graphene- (which is like several dollars per gram vs 3-4$ for couple hundred grams) for about 20% stronger epoxy mix Quote - "An Investigation of Tensile and Thermal Properties of Epoxy Polymer Modified by Activated Carbon Particle" paper Going to experiment with Graphite and Graphene next
Outstanding work testing different multiple options.... just by watching you, it has given me basics knowledge and motivation to start making a "bullet proof" room or closet at home.... Thank You
For a wall like application, you have enough more depth that I've wondered if a hard plate on top of an inch or two of foam might flatten/expand/tumble a projectile enough to make it easier to stop. (IIRC NASA has looked into that for micrometeorite armor; turn it to dust, wait for it to expand and then stop a cloud rather than a pellet.)
@Benjamin Shropshire Ive seen tests where just a couple inches of river rocks in a duct taped ziploc bag was enough to stop multiple rifle rounds. I think they were using hard stone like quartz or granite though. The smooth rocks would probably do better than rough rocks when it comes to shatter resistance.
Unfortunately I can't. I was about 5yrs ago when I was researching the American industrial hemp/ industry before prohibition. I learned that Ford built the auto-body of his cars with a material derived from industrial hemp and it was tested to be stronger and lighter than steel. If i remember correctly this same hemp material was used in cement, bricks and cinder blocks producing extremely strong and durable products.
A number of common materials are, weight for weight, stronger than steel. At least in terms of tensile strength. In the realm of woven fabrics, there are Polyester, Nylon, fibreglass fabric and silk to name but a few. At least 3 of them can be combined with resins. But hemp and Jute/Burlap are plant based fabrics, which whilst stronger than cotton, fall short of the former 4. Again, they can be combined with resins.
It's so funny to see all the people who think hemp is the be all end all of miracle plants just as an excuse to make it easier smoke on the side. It's just a plant, yes it has its merits in the medicine industry, but what makes the hemp cellulose any better than the cellulose of any other plant.
I used a fiberglass welding blanket from Harbor Freight when I made and tested my plate. I did not do any grinding and there were far few pieces of fiberglass breaking off when I cut it. I did not need to grind my plate. 25 layers will stop pistol rounds but will not stop rifle rounds. I tested again putting a ceramic tile in front of the fiber glass and it did stop 7.62x39 and 5.56. I want to try a steal plate backing next. I think a mix of materials is the way to go. I do like that with the fiberglass you don't have to worry about fragmentation nearly as much.
@@ross9128 Interesting. I was thinking that placing the fiberglass in front of the steel would slow the bullet down thus making the steel more able to finally stop the bullet. The fiberglass in front would also eliminate the risk from the bullet fragmenting. I also think allowing the steel to deform before failing as the last layer would not pose a significant risk of injury to the wearer. I'm also thinking that with this setup you could get away with reducing the number of fiberglass layers to 20. The whole idea will need to be tested of course. I'm going to give this idea a shot when I get some time to actually build and test the plate.
@@TUKByV Maybe I wasn't clear in my initial comment. I tested this against .22LR fired from a rifle and a pistol. .22 LR was stopped cold. I tried .22WMR from a pistol and it was stopped. I next upped the test to 9mm from a pistol and it was stopped. I tried 9mm from a PCC with a 16 inch barrel and it was stopped.. Then then moved to .357 Magnum from a revolver and it was stopped. I tried .45ACP from a pistol and it was stopped. The .45 hit very close to the edge of the plate and was still stopped. Finally, I tried 5.56 and 7.62x39 from rifles and both of those made it through with no trouble. I'm not expert and I would always recommend purchasing armor plates from a reputable and tested company. Home made plates are fun to play with and test to see if you can make one that stops a bullet but they should not be relied upon to save you life.
Ya. What's up with that? You can't walk the streets with out the free of being shot at or a stray bullet hitting you. I looking at an interior liner for a car. How many vehicles have been hit by a stray bullet?
I like your idea of landscape fabric! There are several thickness grades of landscape fabric, I used the thickest I could find at Menards for a french drain install last fall. While the fabric is 'non-woven' there may be a 'preferential nap direction' from the manufacturing process, even just tugging and stretching that happens when they roll it onto spools -- so alternate cut direction of panels from the roll as you stack layers like you see in plywood. Second is using landscape fabric+fiberglass+landscape fabric sandwiched and glued together or try more thinner components like three fiberglass shuffled between four landscape fabric layers.
A buddy of mine use the 12’ wide stuff under his driveway that started to sink in spring rains. Holy crap, we were driving around with a full sized back hoe and dump trucks spreading the biggest quarry fill rock he could get . Some of it was bowling ball sized. 15,000 lbs of backhoe sometimes tires spinning pushing rocks against that fabric and I never once saw it tear. Even the bucket edge hitting it didn’t seem to cut the stuff. If you are looking for this try asking contractors who put in driveways and foundations. This was back in 2015 -16 before the Brandon inflation it was cheap by the linear foot. I’m thinking 6 bucks maybe s then.
When you are building a plate you need two things hardness and tensile strength. You want high hardness on the face mohs 6 or higher. Tile, tool steel, high carbon steel, alumina oxide(grinder discs) glass. You want tensile strength on the back. HDPE, fiberglass, nylon, hemp, aluminum, mild steel. Horse mat. My rule of thumb if it can stop 9mm a backer it will stop 556 with a strikeface
I just tested many strikeface options and the performance. The video should be out this week. Overall I agree with what you said and have already made a few plates that can handle high threats. I’m now wondering what is really needed for certain lower threats, very similar to the different NIJ levels. I will work with each item to find a strong strikeface and backing with lower weight and cost to hopefully put something together.
There is lots of discussion about hardness and strength, but maybe toughness deserves more consideration. It's how much energy a material can absorb without breaking. You can think of it as a combination of low hardness and high strength. So, high hardness at the strike plate to deform and deflect, then a tough layer to absorb energy from the deformed/fragmented remnant, and finally a high strength layer to reflect the remaining energy back through the tough layer without deforming too much toward the wearer. I apologize if this is something everyone already knows and has covered. I'm just thinking about toughness as an independent material property that has a role here.
But if the material deforms enough without breaking, that can still be quite deadly. Saw a video where he shot a .308 at it, and armor stopped the bullet sure, but the material stretched 6"- 8", enough to get inside a human body. It's gotta be both tough and rigid.
@@abeclark524 What they need is something that absorbs the energy and disburses it sideways that is strong enough to stop any deformation or penetration Say half the layer of the filter mat on the front to absorb the impact then a tin sheet of metal to absorb the force and disperse the energy and then another part fiberglass to cushion the impact.
Could always use a sewn fiberglass welders blanket as soft-armor padding behind the hard plates, if you were to get penetration of the plates there’s the chance that the soft armor padding can catch the bullet, having slowed significantly going through the plate, as well as shrapnel from the plate itself and slight absorption of the back deformation Hacksmith made a full tailored John wick soft armor sport suit and formal vest, looked amazing and zero penetration.. however, quite painful I’m afraid 😏
@bearup1612 there’s an amazing young Russian engineer with a channel called AlexLab, he’s making an real-life functioning Ironman suit, armor plates over pneumatic exoskeleton, hydrogen powered hand blasters… literally the guy is whiplash lol But seriously, he’s working on trying composite armor using mostly Kevlar over thin 3D printed body pieces, then he electroplates them in copper first then nickel, so he ends up with exactly what your describing a layer of metal to absorb and deflect the initial impact and layers of carbon fiber or Kevlar underneath to withstand the energy and catch the bullet should there be any penetration Really amazing stuff he’s doing
You're absolutely right. There's a whole lot going on when you have a collision with this kind of energy per kilogram. If you had a bulletproof vest that would stop a bullet while it was standing against a concrete wall it would stop a bullet easier when it was on a person that could move when he got hit.
Also, an idea I had was to alternate the "grain" of the fibers on alternating layers. (e.g. one layer where woven fibers are horizontal and vertical, next layer where they're at 45 degree angles) to help spread out the energy.
I use type S fiberglass in many of the projects. It’s good stuff. I’ll be using it in an upcoming video showing how to reduce weight when combining composite materials.
just an observation, and im sure its for safety reason, but a handgun round would likely be encountered at 1/2 that distance. may not mean too much for the test, just a thought
Having worn body armor each shift on the job, I would wonder if the hydro-static shock, or transfer of energy from the round, would still cause a debilitating injury? I would like to see the impact force reading from a projectile on impact to the armor to see if the force is survivable. The armor may stop the projectile and keep it from penetrating the body, but the force will do damage to the underlying organs, especially the hollow ones.
i an really looking to make some plates to fit behind my car seats as we saw some of the mostly peaceful protesters will shoot at your car as you try to escape.
Have you considered linen? Gambeson armor was made of it in the dark ages, and I seem to recall that it was glued (laminated?) to wooden round shields to stop blades.
It's not about blocking or catching mass. It's more about efficiency of disbursement of impact energy. Your approach or (assumptive capital) isn't on target.
Putting a tile layer over the front of fiberglass or other plate material that can stop up to 44 magnum could easily bump it up to level III or even level III+.
Are you aware of the polypropylene Glycol/sand version? Highly flexible until struck with high velocity round when it crystalizes. I think they would be nice door liners...
@@thedude883 What Box? My name is real. Any St.Martins in your Fam? My Grandad immigrated from Canada. Great uncle Alexis was shot by friendly fire during our British Insurrection. He enlisted as a Guide, scout, woodsman, instructor so our merry band of Marines could survive the frozen wilderness. Unka Alex was healed by a physician studying the gastric systems of chickens and such. Alexis was shot in the stomach, and the local physician was the logical choice. He studied the wound and healing process and restored Unka Alex to duty. He has a hospital in his honor, Dr. Robert Morris, if memory serves me well. It does. Come to think of it, that makes Uncle Alexis the 1st recon Marine.
@@bryanst.martin7134 Thinking outside the box implies that you are not confined to thinking of the ordinary thought processes of the general public. You are a thinker. That's how many inventions came to be throughout history, some people can see potential in building things in unconventional ways, with unconventional materials. It was meant as a compliment. As for being related, I was making light of the fact that we are both kindred spirits in our thought processes.
@@thedude883 I knew that. 35 years ago I 1st heard the term. As a "nonGrad" I was not educated in the Box. Moved around too much in youth, always playing catch up, dealing with adversaries, and the appeal of all my new Fem classmates. My teachers thought I was dumb, USN said I had unlimited potential, frequently. The intellectually infirm despise me, I just want to help.
These are entertaining but you have at least 30 companies out there with money, the best technology, materials and manufacturing process...so the only reason to make your own out of kevlar, or milk jugs, ceramic floor tile etc is if shtf and its an emergency and absolutely necessary...me myself Im not putting on home made armor to get shot at with .223, 5.56 FMJ, M855 green tips, SS109, or 308.
Agreed. These videos are for entertainment purposes only. However, there is a slight informative nature as well. Many people don’t even know what is in body armor or how the material works. I have a ballistic background in material science and these videos are more of a journey of my own curiosity.
Ceramic is the key here. Ditch that steel. It adds unnecessary weight for minimal protection. Rubber over tile, tile over fiberglass, all painted with bed liner after being vacuum sealed to cure. Buy in bulk and make plates for about $40 a piece. The ceramic busts up the bullets and the fiberglass catches the shards. Try building angled plates. That's the next frontier in home armor. The methodology comes from tank armor in WW2.
Not sure why the love for the landscape fabric, seemed to pretty much suck in these tests. Maybe a fibreglass/steel/fibreglass combo plate would do well?
Laminate 2-3mm steel in 1-2 layers of glass textile for spall mitigation. Then use laminated filter fabric for the backing and then have a separate plate backer made out of a few layers of canvas/denim/nylon/polyester.
Absolutely, that’s where I’m headed. Right now the biggest challenge will be to keep it all under 8 pounds. Ultimately the goal would be to have that level of protection within a weight around 7 pounds.
@@cjf-rw8vl thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) It's got very high impact resistance, its light and still has flex so its less likely to shatter then a normal plastic would.
@@desro5494 Ah, my idea for hard laminated fiberglass cloth over a steel strike face is to mitigate spall/ricochet while still meaningfully contributing to stopping the bullet.
It would be interesting to know the amount of energy delivered to the plates. It may not be the bullet that does you in but instead the crushing blow to one's internals. I believe I once read of a flexible armor called "Dragon scales". I wonder what became of that concept. Good show.
You are correct. Even with commercially produced for bulletproof vest with the best engineering in the world to get the policeman if you get shot the vest will stop the penetration, but the flex of the vest will distribute that energy, and if it can't get spread out big enough it'll snap a rib or something.
Bullets don't generally have very high energy, for example a 9mm FMJ has around the same energy as a mediocre punch. The instant the energy is spread the felt blow diminishes exponentially.
Yeah there's so much involved in a collision that mirror energy doesn't catch it all you have to consider linear momentum. You could get hit with a fairly high energy round that didn't have a lot of mass and it may deflect or shatter and not do much damage behind the armor. They used to have an 80 caliber cap and ball Derringer with a 2 inch barrel. You could pull it out of your pocket and shoot it up through an oak table top the ball would go through the oak table top and hit another card player and kill him. If you got hit on a bulletproof vest with that 80 caliber ball it could crack a couple of ribs and kill you easily especially if you were leaning against the wall so you couldn't move when the ball hit you.
Have you tried soaking 100% layered cotton t-shirts in a borax solution, then firing them in a kiln until the cotton carbonizes? That is literally how the first boron carbide body armor was developed in the lab.
Anybody who has had to wear plates for an extended period of time will tell you that the best part about it is when you het to take them off 😂 It sucks.
You know something that's amazingly bullet-resistant for what it is is a square transfer shovel. It's very thin very light and it is apparently metal that has been heat-treated. I've had it stopped 22 long rifle 22 magnum 38 Special 380 auto and 45. But it tends to fail at 9 mm FMJ's. Actually I've had it stop and fail on 9 mm so it's got to be on the edge. If you could cut it without changing the heat treatment and maybe something to use as a middle layer. The whole reason I found out about this is I wanted to make a flat shovel with holes in it to pick up Kohl's from the fire. I thought an easy way to do this would have been to punch a couple holes in it with a few bullets. But I was wrong.
What did you use to bunch the landscaping material? How about a thin sheet of tempered steel and try it on the inside or on the outside with landscaping cloth backing? Nice review.
@@3RBallistics someone mentioned banding - steel banding is spring steel, typically 1095 and a proper strong spring heat treat - could be a cheap/free material to experiment with reinforcing armor with.
Aluminum is stronger than steel pound for pound. This is why armored trucks and some tanks are made from 5083 aluminum. I have some 1/4 inch aluminum scraps that I shoot at and it stops pistol rounds and is super light.
I have looked into that material and it seems very strong. I will check some applications and material compositions then give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion.
What’s your goal? Make something better or cheaper? Rated body armor isn’t that expensive for the value it provides. If it’s for science I would imagine you would return to first principles and identify the desirable material properties of your composite, tensile strength, elasticity, weight. Aramid fibers are ideal for this purpose because they absorb kinetic energy as they elastically deform. Carbon fiber and glasses will snap but have high tensile strength. If it were me, I would use a ceramic face backed with a dozen layers of alternating aramid and carbon fiber. I bet a deep dive on this would get a bunch of views.
I completely agree. As for my goals, I will lay that out slightly in the next video. It’s not so much about better or cheaper than current NIJ rated body armor, it about those that may not have the luxury of purchasing body armor or might be confused what will and will not work so they don’t try DIY body armor (but not science, more like entertainment). I do have aramid and carbon fiber and plan on testing that combination soon.
I've been thinking that a shovel or spade body or a pair of them wrapped in fibreglas might be better than 3a. if your landscape filter adapts well to that, maybe it will be something to try. I'm just using what is handy.
Agreed. A shovel will be thin, yet higher tensile tha MS. Possibly sandwiched between fibreglass, the front might catch the Spall and start the projectile slowing and beginning to deform, the steel following may expand and slow it right down and allow the rear FG to stop it? 🤔
@@1980Baldeagle Mightn't need to mess with that mate. Most good quality shovels are curved slightly in the face. Cut off the fold and handle insertion at the top and it might be a great intermediate "insurance" layer sandwiched in the centre.
@@gw5436 That's how I was thinking of using these 'ingredients'. The difference in the size and shape/curvature of the shovels (etc), could serve to fit different sizes and ages. Coal scuttles might serve well for the broad of frame.
I have been learning about composites and could give you a good direction for your design. I have a recipe I believe would work incredibly well with easy to get materials.
intresting . Kentucky ballstics shot up some stretch armstrongs and they were quite resistant , so whatever that stuff is inside them would make a good test if you can find out what it is .
You might think about hemp or even jute burlap. Henery Ford was planning on using hemp fiber and a resin of some sort and even made a car out of it. That was before fiberglass was actually invented. I have used brown paper and resin in a project, but never shot it. Wasn't making armor. Good luck.
@3RBallistics definitely worth trying out . I found out about horse mats when I moved to Kentucky and that's what I got my shooting box lined with to aid in round control . They aren't terribly heavy for a 12×16" but you'll want to make sure a good adhesive is used to bond it to the plate. Definitely staying tuned , if I can get some free time I'll put a plate together for ya and send it out 👌
@@3RBallistics I'd like to try that 8” Plastic Natural Gas Pipeline pge uses . They use big hydraulic jaws to pinch it closed while working and it pops right back , like super hard rubber. Might not be good for target practice tho.
Every time I see someone shoot a steel target, I cringe. My dad, who has been shooting since he was 9 years old, told of a friend he had when he was 16. The kid took a hunting rifle and shot a steel target from about 50 feet away. It ricocheted back and killed him. True story.
Hi, silly thought but when testing new materials why not make thinner plates and stack them... ...because that takes more equipment and why not see if it will perform as well as fiberglass first. Whoops. I did say it was a silly thought. To be fair, I think it's been found that many thinner layers with a small amount of spacing can outperform the same amount of material as one solid block, at least for tank armor.
You could use a combination of fiberglass and steel plate to stop .44 magnum. But, you need to also test with high power rifles. There’s a lot of ammo out there that have steel and tungsten carbide steel cores that will punch right through those plates. You’ve got the right idea, but you also have to include rifles in your tests. I’ve seen some 7.62x39, and 7.62x54R ammo that have steel cores in them. So, everyone out there, don’t assume that if you make these plates for your own protection that you’d have bulletproof plates, because there’s ammo out there that WILL defeat those plates. Please don’t think that I’m a know-it-all. I’m speaking from experience and I’m looking out for your own personal safety.
Agreed. This test was strictly to compare against level IIIA body armor which only provides protection against pistol rounds up to 44 mag (240 gr). However, I do have other videos that test against many rifle rounds.
@@3RBallistics cool. I’m going to have to check them out. Also I left a reply to someone else’s comment. You should go check it out and see what you think of my reply.
I've got a bunch of that 3 rated "bullet board" that I got from a job at a certain military base I was working at ( it was cutoff pieces ) and that shit stops 44mag from a Ruger 44 carbine with no problem at all.
When they do fiberglass layup for marine applications they vacuum bag it to ensure all of the air pockets come out; might make the rig tougher.
It might make it weaker as armor. Ballistic fabrics work better with loose bonds, delaminating is good in armor (absorbs more energy) where it is bad structurally.
I had the idea for laminating thin sheets of high density, abrasion resistant, plastics. I wanted the bonds to fail. The body armor industry beat me to the market. Plastic plates are good but I know how to make them better.
Ever try epoxy and sand paper layers?
Some of this could be due to 'resonance' , Yamaha developed the first Real motorcycle-tyres , they found shorter chopped-mat material absorbed impact better than long-fiber materials , this started modern tyre-technology . They applied their knowledge from musical-instrument making and piano-frame-casting with effects on frquency-distortion .
I found that layers of 1`6 GA annealed carbon steel works over mild common steel plate. I agree the Tyvek landscape fabric is better to work with, takes blunt hits better than fiberglass fabric, but neither in single layers take sharp impacts, which makes me wonder how layers of combinations of each back to back would work together, gaining the best penetration factors and reducing thickness and weight. Thanks for the video.
You make a valid point, but there’s steel core ammo out there. You have to have some kind of impact plate to absorb all of that kinetic energy and not spall. You could add a layer of polyethylene (like the blue poly drums), to absorb the impact and prevent any if not all of the spalling from the bullet. If someone has any welding experience and the equipment, one could hard face weld a steel plate; hard facing is a welding process of welding mild steel with a hard facing electrode, basically welding an armor plate, that is impact and abrasion resistant), and combine that plate with fiberglass or Tyvek, or both, and you’d basically have military grade ballistic plates. Don’t take my comments as “The Gospel”. It should be tested extensively with ALL calibers of ammunition to get a 100% TRUE AND ACCURATE TEST with valid evidence results. I hope this helps everyone understand ballistics better.
@@roberthamm9304 In all of the home rounds and mods I've seen that will get through were made of 1/2 metal jacket hollow point 308 Win where the hollow was cleaned and extended a little with a bit to accommodate a hardened steel carburetor float valve needle, glued in with modified teflon plumbers thread dope to harden fast, and though I never found the points, they drilled past everything but layers of 1/2" steel boiler plate. I think these are hardened to around Rockwell .60 and its not likely that they exploded or discriminated, I think they just bounced back. They went through kevlar like it was made for it. With modification I expect the rounds were in the 150 gr range, but the size and power out of a 308 Winchester shell is a meaningful amount of punch and velocity. Keep your head down.
@@robgad2271 there was a story I heard several years ago, where someone parked 3 mobile homes side by side and then parked 3 cars side by side next to the mobile homes, and conducted a ballistics comparison test using a.44 magnum and a .50A.E. Desert Eagle to see how far the rounds would penetrate the mobile homes and the cars. I can’t remember what the results were, but if I remember correctly, I think the Desert Eagle went through the mobile homes and stopped at the exit side of the 2nd car, and the .44 went through the mobile homes and all 3 of the cars and kept going for a few more feet. I could have it backwards, but like I said, it’s been so many years since I heard this story. I’d actually have to see it to believe it. I guess anything’s possible.
@@roberthamm9304 I think you are right, and I've also seen the difference between a 44 and 357 magnums, and the 44 will penetrate a engine block. the 50 cal has high mass, but the 44 has mass and speed.
Pre-glue the fiberglass in a grid pattern before cutting to mitigate fraying.
Very informative, it fractures way less than fiberglass but I believe the fiberglass offer more protection, but then again the landscaping material is lighter, with the right backing it has potential.
3mm plate external, then 5mm fibreglass, 5mm fabric, 5mm fibreglass and another 3mm steel plate. Then put it all in a vacuum press to draw out any air bubbles.
Try other commercially available high density fabrics, like deniers (Cordura), microfibers and look for the best bonding agent for the materials like polyester to polyester bonding agents
Great idea. I have some of that on hand and do plan on testing those in the future.
Look at Aircraft Spruce & Specialty and West Marine. I’m not so sure about the last one but Spruce is definitely for doing your own homebuilt aircraft so they have all the strongest composites available in all the various weaves. Their prices were alway pretty fair as well .
You should try a front layer of floam, or in between two solid layers to absorb energy!
Please wrap mild steel with woven material. Seems like you'd get the best of both; steel to stop it and fabric to absorb the spalling.
Just about to do some tests on this exact thing. I should have the video posted in the next few weeks.
Find a weaver for cane or hemp; coarse lon grain.
I sleep under a silk duvet. Made by silk worms. It’s made in many layers. I wonder if bonded what it would stand as part of a multi layer setup.
You should alternate your layer between fiberglass and yard cloth. Then back it with a steel plate.
I’ve actually done this with alternating 5 layers of cloth and then 5 of fiberglass to a total of 30 layers of material. It works well. I didn’t back it with metal because I was only trying to stop pistol rounds. Maybe in an upcoming video I’ll make one with the steel to try and stop rifle rounds.
@3RBallistics I was wondering for myself if it worked well or not.
What about starting with the full thickness of fiberglass with the steel plate in the last layer next to the body, The wrap the in entir plate wit the land sacpe fabric for bullet spalding.
12 layers of fiberglass, steel then fiberglass, all resin'd together. I bet it would be 3+
Man do I have an idea for something similar but very different that I bet won't delam and would stop green tip 556. It's similar in logic, but different materials and different technique without the fiberglass
Fire hose material, Kevlar firemans coat
Tried silk ? Awesome stuff !
I have and it is awesome stuff. I just wish I could find silk at a better price.
Thanks for your video. Question: What was your process to build a plate with landscape fabric?
I just cut the fabric to size and brushed Bondo resin from Home Depot on each layer. As soon as I had completed that, I placed the filter fabric between two pieces of metal and clamped them together. This squeezes any excess resin material out. After a day I cut and grind the plate and that was it.
What resin compound did you use with the landscaping fabric?
For the video I used Bondo resin from Home Depot. I’ve also used vinyl ester resin but found no added performance.
I seen welders blanket and fiberglass resin hold back a lot of grouped power rounds so I’d go with what I know works if I made my own. Who know next time someone will claim toilet paper will stop a 50cal 😂
Try putting a thin metal sheet "between" two thinner layers of fabric. 🤔🤔
I have something similar to that I’ve put together that I’m getting ready to test.
How about car seat belt straps
I’m actually on the hunt to do a salvaged car parts build. It will have the seatbelts and the airbags (both are nylon) built into a level 3A plate.
How do you join the landscape fabric? Coat and layer? What with?
I just use epoxy resin on each layer then clamp it all together to squeeze out any excess resin
@@3RBallistics thanks for your quick response. Your plates perform amazingly well
Imagine the welders blanket with resin then the mild steel with thin layer of D30. I believe that would be anything you could ask for.
I think those are just fiberglass no?
Dude, I literally just had this idea the other day when looking for a new back insert for my motorcycle jacket. They have fairly cheap D3O inserts that would be perfect for this application.
@@idontwantcorporateretaliat6301 not really sure what your trying to say.
@@richardhenry1969 He is saying the welding blankets are just fiberglass, then he follows it up with "no?" As to ask if you mean the fiberglass curtains or another material.
@@leelandlagasse6517 actually there was more to this conservation a while ago some of the comments are no longer there. Very strange
You may be able to go to a junkyard and buy an air bag that has been deployed it's made out of Kevlar.
I’ve done this before. However not all air bags are made of Kevlar. Some are made only of nylon but still very strong material.
@@3RBallistics I recommend either one has a pretty good start for a lot of things. If you have an old gun that's kind of questionable on to whether it will shoot or not that Kevlar would go a long ways to wrap that gun and keep it from spitting a piece into your eye.
I did air bags keblar
Some tires do also but just because something is made of Kevlar doesn’t mean it’s bullet resistant. It needs to be in a certain configuration and thickness.
@@robpolaris7272 I'm kind of pig ignorant. I'm not willing to risk too much on somebody saying Kevlar bulletproof and one layer and not really too interested in risking much on shooting it to see but I would think if a person cut out a couple big pieces of Kevlar from the junkyard and bought an old gun and wrapped in the Kevlar the first time he shot it with a good load to see if it's spent any pieces out wouldn't be a bad way to spend a few bucks at the junkyard no guarantees. You can put it in between two stacks of newspaper and stop anything that comes flying out to when you test shoot.
Just depends on how much fiberglass you want to pick out of an open wound I would do fiberglass in front of boilerplate just to stop the fragmentation.
The boilerplate has got to weigh damn near 50#-60#. That’s not including your gear on the plate carrier, an assault pack, and the ammo for your rifle and pistol. Because a piece of 1/4” plate, 12”x 12” weighs somewhere around 20#. Multiply that by 2, 1 plate for the front and 1 plate for the back, that around 40# right there, roughly. So, you’d have to seriously think about the materials to be used to make the plates. I’m not criticizing or nitpicking. It’s all about the weight and mobility effects.
@@roberthamm9304 he said it weigh the same, whether it's a bulletproof vest or the boilerplate mild steel whatever if it's quarter inch I can take a rimfire yes Rimfire and and shoot straight through it. Myself I don't go for torsos I'm more of a ass man you know the million-dollar wound I like slowing multiple people down at one time
@@damnu8089 I’ve never seen a rim fire penetrate 1/4” plate. Now, a .308 round, that’s a different story. With 1/4” plate, along with Kevlar fabric, a piece of polyethylene plastic (to prevent a round from spalling), and the fiberglass, that should make for a decent armor plate.
I love your gritty hard-hitting viewpoint you have a point even if it saves you, Kevlar would be better than fiberglass because I think it sticks together in one piece better.
Suggestion: Don't use polyester resin. Use epoxy resin.
I have seen very good jackets made with polyester.
Polyester resin is worse in UV and 35% weaker than epoxy when used for FRP. While the resin itself can only hold 1/4 the amount of stress epoxy resin can take
I've also heard that adding graphene powder to your epoxy can make it more resistant to penetration
@@randybugger3006 [NOT reccommended, while sure it makes epoxy stronger, it also makes it super flammable as in going from don't want to melt to straight up catching fire. Not a great idea) -15% activated charcoal-epoxy mix is the cheaper option to that compared to Graphene- (which is like several dollars per gram vs 3-4$ for couple hundred grams) for about 20% stronger epoxy mix
Quote - "An Investigation of Tensile and Thermal Properties of Epoxy Polymer Modified by Activated Carbon Particle" paper
Going to experiment with Graphite and Graphene next
Outstanding work testing different multiple options.... just by watching you, it has given me basics knowledge and motivation to start making a "bullet proof" room or closet at home....
Thank You
For a wall like application, you have enough more depth that I've wondered if a hard plate on top of an inch or two of foam might flatten/expand/tumble a projectile enough to make it easier to stop. (IIRC NASA has looked into that for micrometeorite armor; turn it to dust, wait for it to expand and then stop a cloud rather than a pellet.)
@Benjamin Shropshire Ive seen tests where just a couple inches of river rocks in a duct taped ziploc bag was enough to stop multiple rifle rounds. I think they were using hard stone like quartz or granite though. The smooth rocks would probably do better than rough rocks when it comes to shatter resistance.
I've been thinking about hemp polymer that has been noted to be far more lighter and stronger than steal.
Point me in in the direction to get some and I’d be willing to try it out.
Unfortunately I can't. I was about 5yrs ago when I was researching the American industrial hemp/ industry before prohibition. I learned that Ford built the auto-body of his cars with a material derived from industrial hemp and it was tested to be stronger and lighter than steel. If i remember correctly this same hemp material was used in cement, bricks and cinder blocks producing extremely strong and durable products.
A number of common materials are, weight for weight, stronger than steel. At least in terms of tensile strength. In the realm of woven fabrics, there are Polyester, Nylon, fibreglass fabric and silk to name but a few. At least 3 of them can be combined with resins. But hemp and Jute/Burlap are plant based fabrics, which whilst stronger than cotton, fall short of the former 4. Again, they can be combined with resins.
It's so funny to see all the people who think hemp is the be all end all of miracle plants just as an excuse to make it easier smoke on the side.
It's just a plant, yes it has its merits in the medicine industry, but what makes the hemp cellulose any better than the cellulose of any other plant.
Interesting option for a composite. Bamboo fibers are pretty long too. Bamboo and hemp I believe are two of the most versatile plants in the world.
Five years ago I didn’t give body armor a thought. Nice video
I used a fiberglass welding blanket from Harbor Freight when I made and tested my plate. I did not do any grinding and there were far few pieces of fiberglass breaking off when I cut it. I did not need to grind my plate. 25 layers will stop pistol rounds but will not stop rifle rounds. I tested again putting a ceramic tile in front of the fiber glass and it did stop 7.62x39 and 5.56. I want to try a steal plate backing next. I think a mix of materials is the way to go. I do like that with the fiberglass you don't have to worry about fragmentation nearly as much.
Agreed. I have a video coming up showing exactly this.
I wonder if steel in front would slow velocity enough to make other materials more effective?
@@ross9128 Interesting. I was thinking that placing the fiberglass in front of the steel would slow the bullet down thus making the steel more able to finally stop the bullet. The fiberglass in front would also eliminate the risk from the bullet fragmenting. I also think allowing the steel to deform before failing as the last layer would not pose a significant risk of injury to the wearer. I'm also thinking that with this setup you could get away with reducing the number of fiberglass layers to 20. The whole idea will need to be tested of course. I'm going to give this idea a shot when I get some time to actually build and test the plate.
How did the test go?
@@TUKByV Maybe I wasn't clear in my initial comment. I tested this against .22LR fired from a rifle and a pistol. .22 LR was stopped cold. I tried .22WMR from a pistol and it was stopped. I next upped the test to 9mm from a pistol and it was stopped. I tried 9mm from a PCC with a 16 inch barrel and it was stopped.. Then then moved to .357 Magnum from a revolver and it was stopped. I tried .45ACP from a pistol and it was stopped. The .45 hit very close to the edge of the plate and was still stopped. Finally, I tried 5.56 and 7.62x39 from rifles and both of those made it through with no trouble. I'm not expert and I would always recommend purchasing armor plates from a reputable and tested company. Home made plates are fun to play with and test to see if you can make one that stops a bullet but they should not be relied upon to save you life.
It's a good goal considering some states are trying to make body armor illegal to own right now.
Ya. What's up with that? You can't walk the streets with out the free of being shot at or a stray bullet hitting you. I looking at an interior liner for a car. How many vehicles have been hit by a stray bullet?
so just make lore-accurate cosplay.
"I identify as a Spartan II, this Mjolnir armor is my fursuit."
Yeah. What's up with that? Criminals can get their hands on anything.
Why do us law abiding people have to be left out to soak up bullets.
I think that most are only making it against the law if you use it to break the law, otherwise not illegal!
@@robertporter6507slippery slope fallacy.
Man, this vacation I'm gonna watch all your videos. 😀God bless you and give you good health.
I like your idea of landscape fabric! There are several thickness grades of landscape fabric, I used the thickest I could find at Menards for a french drain install last fall. While the fabric is 'non-woven' there may be a 'preferential nap direction' from the manufacturing process, even just tugging and stretching that happens when they roll it onto spools -- so alternate cut direction of panels from the roll as you stack layers like you see in plywood. Second is using landscape fabric+fiberglass+landscape fabric sandwiched and glued together or try more thinner components like three fiberglass shuffled between four landscape fabric layers.
A buddy of mine use the 12’ wide stuff under his driveway that started to sink in spring rains. Holy crap, we were driving around with a full sized back hoe and dump trucks spreading the biggest quarry fill rock he could get . Some of it was bowling ball sized. 15,000 lbs of backhoe sometimes tires spinning pushing rocks against that fabric and I never once saw it tear. Even the bucket edge hitting it didn’t seem to cut the stuff.
If you are looking for this try asking contractors who put in driveways and foundations. This was back in 2015 -16 before the Brandon inflation it was cheap by the linear foot. I’m thinking 6 bucks maybe s then.
I wonder if flex seal will help hold everything together and help absorb the impact. Maybe not, but worth a shot.
I have used some of that on other projects. It does very well at holding tile together.
Post curing the epoxy laminate helps as well.
What an interesting project. Looking forward to further experimentation. Subbed. Greetings and cheers from Alaska. Looks nice and warm there.
Thanks for the sub!
When you are building a plate you need two things hardness and tensile strength.
You want high hardness on the face mohs 6 or higher. Tile, tool steel, high carbon steel, alumina oxide(grinder discs) glass.
You want tensile strength on the back. HDPE, fiberglass, nylon, hemp, aluminum, mild steel. Horse mat. My rule of thumb if it can stop 9mm a backer it will stop 556 with a strikeface
I just tested many strikeface options and the performance. The video should be out this week. Overall I agree with what you said and have already made a few plates that can handle high threats. I’m now wondering what is really needed for certain lower threats, very similar to the different NIJ levels. I will work with each item to find a strong strikeface and backing with lower weight and cost to hopefully put something together.
16g fibreglass resin 16g. Stop everything.
Fantastic work brother! Interesting results.
Thanks a ton.
What about geo grid , for retaining walls. That *hit is like steel?, I have tons of scraps. Thoughts? 👍✌️🖖
I have used geo grid and it works very similarly as they are both made of polypropylene
That 44 absolutely went trough that inch thick plastic plate.
If you have to homemake go with fiberglass.
How about using Dyneema? It's very strong and should work well.
I have some dyneema and Kevlar but want higher threats to use those materials. Also, they cost quite a bit more and are not readily available.
There is lots of discussion about hardness and strength, but maybe toughness deserves more consideration. It's how much energy a material can absorb without breaking. You can think of it as a combination of low hardness and high strength.
So, high hardness at the strike plate to deform and deflect, then a tough layer to absorb energy from the deformed/fragmented remnant, and finally a high strength layer to reflect the remaining energy back through the tough layer without deforming too much toward the wearer.
I apologize if this is something everyone already knows and has covered. I'm just thinking about toughness as an independent material property that has a role here.
But if the material deforms enough without breaking, that can still be quite deadly. Saw a video where he shot a .308 at it, and armor stopped the bullet sure, but the material stretched 6"- 8", enough to get inside a human body. It's gotta be both tough and rigid.
@@abeclark524
What they need is something that absorbs the energy and disburses it sideways that is strong enough to stop any deformation or penetration Say half the layer of the filter mat on the front to absorb the impact then a tin sheet of metal to absorb the force and disperse the energy and then another part fiberglass to cushion the impact.
Could always use a sewn fiberglass welders blanket as soft-armor padding behind the hard plates, if you were to get penetration of the plates there’s the chance that the soft armor padding can catch the bullet, having slowed significantly going through the plate, as well as shrapnel from the plate itself and slight absorption of the back deformation
Hacksmith made a full tailored John wick soft armor sport suit and formal vest, looked amazing and zero penetration.. however, quite painful I’m afraid 😏
@bearup1612 there’s an amazing young Russian engineer with a channel called AlexLab, he’s making an real-life functioning Ironman suit, armor plates over pneumatic exoskeleton, hydrogen powered hand blasters… literally the guy is whiplash lol
But seriously, he’s working on trying composite armor using mostly Kevlar over thin 3D printed body pieces, then he electroplates them in copper first then nickel, so he ends up with exactly what your describing a layer of metal to absorb and deflect the initial impact and layers of carbon fiber or Kevlar underneath to withstand the energy and catch the bullet should there be any penetration
Really amazing stuff he’s doing
You're absolutely right. There's a whole lot going on when you have a collision with this kind of energy per kilogram. If you had a bulletproof vest that would stop a bullet while it was standing against a concrete wall it would stop a bullet easier when it was on a person that could move when he got hit.
Nice video, invest on some vice grip clamps to hold the plate for future videos 👍
Loosely hung is probably better
Also, an idea I had was to alternate the "grain" of the fibers on alternating layers. (e.g. one layer where woven fibers are horizontal and vertical, next layer where they're at 45 degree angles) to help spread out the energy.
Remember Taurus supports gun control in Brazil, so just say no thanks. Better options: S&W or Colt.
The best fiberglass is aluminum oxide, also called structural or sapphire fiberglass.
I use type S fiberglass in many of the projects. It’s good stuff. I’ll be using it in an upcoming video showing how to reduce weight when combining composite materials.
also older dates (i forget which year) Canadian nickels 99.99% pure nickel sandwiched within at least one layer
just an observation, and im sure its for safety reason, but a handgun round would likely be encountered at 1/2 that distance. may not mean too much for the test, just a thought
Having worn body armor each shift on the job, I would wonder if the hydro-static shock, or transfer of energy from the round, would still cause a debilitating injury? I would like to see the impact force reading from a projectile on impact to the armor to see if the force is survivable. The armor may stop the projectile and keep it from penetrating the body, but the force will do damage to the underlying organs, especially the hollow ones.
Of course it would, but without the armor you get the impact force AND the penetration - and quite possibly the exit wound.
Maybe put some thin hardy backer board wrapped in the landscape fabric for a test. Layered
Interesting but too much jumping around at the beginning. Talk about one thing then move on to others.
IT LOOK GOOD WHAT YOU GOT STARTED ...LET ME HOW YOU MAKE OUT IN THE END WHEN YOU FINE OUT WAY TO STOP THE BULLETS THANK YOU BROTHER BILL
i an really looking to make some plates to fit behind my car seats as we saw some of the mostly peaceful protesters will shoot at your car as you try to escape.
Have you considered linen? Gambeson armor was made of it in the dark ages, and I seem to recall that it was glued (laminated?) to wooden round shields to stop blades.
I do have some testing on older material types. Hope to have that video up in the next few months.
It's not about blocking or catching mass. It's more about efficiency of disbursement of impact energy. Your approach or (assumptive capital) isn't on target.
Putting a tile layer over the front of fiberglass or other plate material that can stop up to 44 magnum could easily bump it up to level III or even level III+.
Are you aware of the polypropylene Glycol/sand version? Highly flexible until struck with high velocity round when it crystalizes. I think they would be nice door liners...
You are obviously a "thinking outside the box person." Are we related???! 👍
@@thedude883 What Box? My name is real. Any St.Martins in your Fam? My Grandad immigrated from Canada. Great uncle Alexis was shot by friendly fire during our British Insurrection. He enlisted as a Guide, scout, woodsman, instructor so our merry band of Marines could survive the frozen wilderness. Unka Alex was healed by a physician studying the gastric systems of chickens and such. Alexis was shot in the stomach, and the local physician was the logical choice. He studied the wound and healing process and restored Unka Alex to duty. He has a hospital in his honor, Dr. Robert Morris, if memory serves me well.
It does. Come to think of it, that makes Uncle Alexis the 1st recon Marine.
@@bryanst.martin7134 Thinking outside the box implies that you are not confined to thinking of the ordinary thought processes of the general public. You are a thinker.
That's how many inventions came to be throughout history, some people can see potential in building things in unconventional ways, with unconventional materials.
It was meant as a compliment.
As for being related, I was making light of the fact that we are both kindred spirits in our thought processes.
@@bryanst.martin7134 And by the way, that is an impressive family history!
@@thedude883 I knew that. 35 years ago I 1st heard the term. As a "nonGrad" I was not educated in the Box. Moved around too much in youth, always playing catch up, dealing with adversaries, and the appeal of all my new Fem classmates. My teachers thought I was dumb, USN said I had unlimited potential, frequently. The intellectually infirm despise me, I just want to help.
These are entertaining but you have at least 30 companies out there with money, the best technology, materials and manufacturing process...so the only reason to make your own out of kevlar, or milk jugs, ceramic floor tile etc is if shtf and its an emergency and absolutely necessary...me myself Im not putting on home made armor to get shot at with .223, 5.56 FMJ, M855 green tips, SS109, or 308.
Agreed. These videos are for entertainment purposes only. However, there is a slight informative nature as well. Many people don’t even know what is in body armor or how the material works. I have a ballistic background in material science and these videos are more of a journey of my own curiosity.
Ceramic is the key here. Ditch that steel. It adds unnecessary weight for minimal protection. Rubber over tile, tile over fiberglass, all painted with bed liner after being vacuum sealed to cure. Buy in bulk and make plates for about $40 a piece.
The ceramic busts up the bullets and the fiberglass catches the shards. Try building angled plates. That's the next frontier in home armor. The methodology comes from tank armor in WW2.
Wrecked cars/trucks, the airbags are a free source of a great material.
Not sure why the love for the landscape fabric, seemed to pretty much suck in these tests.
Maybe a fibreglass/steel/fibreglass combo plate would do well?
That combo works well. I’ll be doing another test with fiberglass and steel soon.
Laminate 2-3mm steel in 1-2 layers of glass textile for spall mitigation. Then use laminated filter fabric for the backing and then have a separate plate backer made out of a few layers of canvas/denim/nylon/polyester.
Absolutely, that’s where I’m headed. Right now the biggest challenge will be to keep it all under 8 pounds. Ultimately the goal would be to have that level of protection within a weight around 7 pounds.
Same thoughts, But could TPE's be used for spall mitigation layers? I'm curious.
@@desro5494 TPE?
@@cjf-rw8vl thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) It's got very high impact resistance, its light and still has flex so its less likely to shatter then a normal plastic would.
@@desro5494 Ah, my idea for hard laminated fiberglass cloth over a steel strike face is to mitigate spall/ricochet while still meaningfully contributing to stopping the bullet.
It would be interesting to know the amount of energy delivered to the plates. It may not be the bullet that does you in but instead the crushing blow to one's internals.
I believe I once read of a flexible armor called "Dragon scales". I wonder what became of that concept.
Good show.
You are correct. Even with commercially produced for bulletproof vest with the best engineering in the world to get the policeman if you get shot the vest will stop the penetration, but the flex of the vest will distribute that energy, and if it can't get spread out big enough it'll snap a rib or something.
Bullets don't generally have very high energy, for example a 9mm FMJ has around the same energy as a mediocre punch. The instant the energy is spread the felt blow diminishes exponentially.
Yeah there's so much involved in a collision that mirror energy doesn't catch it all you have to consider linear momentum. You could get hit with a fairly high energy round that didn't have a lot of mass and it may deflect or shatter and not do much damage behind the armor. They used to have an 80 caliber cap and ball Derringer with a 2 inch barrel. You could pull it out of your pocket and shoot it up through an oak table top the ball would go through the oak table top and hit another card player and kill him. If you got hit on a bulletproof vest with that 80 caliber ball it could crack a couple of ribs and kill you easily especially if you were leaning against the wall so you couldn't move when the ball hit you.
Ingenuity at its finest! ~
I'm curious now how vacuum cast epoxy would work with rock wool and/or fiberglass insulation 🤔
as well as "FiberFrax" ceramic fiber refractory materials.
Put a thick coating of Rhino liner on as a final covering
Have you tried soaking 100% layered cotton t-shirts in a borax solution, then firing them in a kiln until the cotton carbonizes? That is literally how the first boron carbide body armor was developed in the lab.
I have not tried that but I will look into it and see what I can come up with.
Anybody who has had to wear plates for an extended period of time will tell you that the best part about it is when you het to take them off 😂 It sucks.
100 % agree 👍
Alternate layers of landscaping fabric and fiberglass.Add sand to the resin between layers
Steel sandwiched between Landscape Filter fabric might do the trick.
mild steel face with fiberglass/hdpe backing with a little aramid fiber in the very back to catch spalling is a good home made recipe
Sounds like something I’ll be testing very soon.
And with a thickness of worm fiber in the middle a metal plate and on top another layer of worm fiber .???? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🇨🇦
Good stuff bro. Subbed 🤙
How many inches of sand does it take to stop a bullet by itself if it is contained in a mild steel box or mixed with something simple like flex seal?
Probably depends on which bullet and how fast it’s going.
You know something that's amazingly bullet-resistant for what it is is a square transfer shovel. It's very thin very light and it is apparently metal that has been heat-treated.
I've had it stopped 22 long rifle 22 magnum 38 Special 380 auto and 45. But it tends to fail at 9 mm FMJ's. Actually I've had it stop and fail on 9 mm so it's got to be on the edge. If you could cut it without changing the heat treatment and maybe something to use as a middle layer.
The whole reason I found out about this is I wanted to make a flat shovel with holes in it to pick up Kohl's from the fire. I thought an easy way to do this would have been to punch a couple holes in it with a few bullets. But I was wrong.
Fantastic idea
What did you use to bunch the landscaping material? How about a thin sheet of tempered steel and try it on the inside or on the outside with landscaping cloth backing? Nice review.
I used Bondo resin from Home Depot. I like the idea to used some tempered steel. I’ll look into testing this.
@@3RBallistics someone mentioned banding - steel banding is spring steel, typically 1095 and a proper strong spring heat treat - could be a cheap/free material to experiment with reinforcing armor with.
Aluminum is stronger than steel pound for pound. This is why armored trucks and some tanks are made from 5083 aluminum. I have some 1/4 inch aluminum scraps that I shoot at and it stops pistol rounds and is super light.
try a cut radial tire with the fiber glass
YOU SHOULD TRY THE NEW KINDS OF ROOFING UNDERLAYMENT IS STRONG AND YOU COULD LAYER IT WITH OTHER MATERIALS
I have looked into that material and it seems very strong. I will check some applications and material compositions then give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion.
Try small hexagonal tiles vs small square ones.
When a Swede starts to watch a channel like this you just know where we´re going(with the handbasket) ;)
Good vid.
How about plexiglass and landscape fabric?
That’s a good idea. Might have to look into making a sample plate and trying it out.
Gflex 20 toughened resin would improve bonding and has high tensile strength. West systems has other additives to increase strength even more
what about impact damage to body?
Thin stainless steel tin layered with fiberglass alternating layers.
What's it like working with this stuff? Is it a pain like fiberglass? Do I have to worry about coating my lungs in splinters if I use it?
It is very easy to work with. Does not fray and it’s a heavy fabric so no floating partials to splinter your lungs.
@@3RBallistics thanks for answering. Have you had any success with the stuff? Any recommendations for anyone who wants to give the material a go?
What’s your goal? Make something better or cheaper? Rated body armor isn’t that expensive for the value it provides. If it’s for science I would imagine you would return to first principles and identify the desirable material properties of your composite, tensile strength, elasticity, weight. Aramid fibers are ideal for this purpose because they absorb kinetic energy as they elastically deform. Carbon fiber and glasses will snap but have high tensile strength. If it were me, I would use a ceramic face backed with a dozen layers of alternating aramid and carbon fiber. I bet a deep dive on this would get a bunch of views.
I completely agree. As for my goals, I will lay that out slightly in the next video. It’s not so much about better or cheaper than current NIJ rated body armor, it about those that may not have the luxury of purchasing body armor or might be confused what will and will not work so they don’t try DIY body armor (but not science, more like entertainment). I do have aramid and carbon fiber and plan on testing that combination soon.
I've been thinking that a shovel or spade body or a pair of them wrapped in fibreglas might be better than 3a. if your landscape filter adapts well to that, maybe it will be something to try. I'm just using what is handy.
Agreed. A shovel will be thin, yet higher tensile tha MS. Possibly sandwiched between fibreglass, the front might catch the Spall and start the projectile slowing and beginning to deform, the steel following may expand and slow it right down and allow the rear FG to stop it? 🤔
That's a great idea. Anneale the shovel, hammer it to shape and reharden. Two layers of whatever and some roll on bed liner.
@@1980Baldeagle Mightn't need to mess with that mate. Most good quality shovels are curved slightly in the face. Cut off the fold and handle insertion at the top and it might be a great intermediate "insurance" layer sandwiched in the centre.
@@gw5436 That's how I was thinking of using these 'ingredients'. The difference in the size and shape/curvature of the shovels (etc), could serve to fit different sizes and ages. Coal scuttles might serve well for the broad of frame.
I LIKE this idea. !
I have been learning about composites and could give you a good direction for your design. I have a recipe I believe would work incredibly well with easy to get materials.
I’m always open to learning and trying new materials. Let me know what you have in mind and I’ll do my best to make it work.
No reason not to share with everyone. Put it out there so it can be tested and if needed improved upon.
Yeah if you don’t share it it can’t be improved correctly! For real
Sounds like a guy trying to make a buck
Fake. Put up or shut up. 😐
intresting . Kentucky ballstics shot up some stretch armstrongs and they were quite resistant , so whatever that stuff is inside them would make a good test if you can find out what it is .
You might think about hemp or even jute burlap. Henery Ford was planning on using hemp fiber and a resin of some sort and even made a car out of it. That was before fiberglass was actually invented. I have used brown paper and resin in a project, but never shot it. Wasn't making armor. Good luck.
Nice work. Very helpful. Thank you.
Horse stall mat glued to a 3/16" hot roll plate encased in fiberglass . Thank me later .
Sounds heavy but I’m willing to try it out.
@3RBallistics definitely worth trying out . I found out about horse mats when I moved to Kentucky and that's what I got my shooting box lined with to aid in round control . They aren't terribly heavy for a 12×16" but you'll want to make sure a good adhesive is used to bond it to the plate. Definitely staying tuned , if I can get some free time I'll put a plate together for ya and send it out 👌
Try that 12" blue or green PVC sewer pipe.
It can take most pistol rounds for a while even .454
I’ve shot schedule 80 PVC before without great results but maybe it was the wrong material.
@@3RBallistics I'd like to try that 8” Plastic Natural Gas Pipeline pge uses . They use big hydraulic jaws to pinch it closed while working and it pops right back , like super hard rubber. Might not be good for target practice tho.
your steel plate is more like 10ga approx 1/8" thick --not 16ga
You are correct. What I meant to say in the video was that the steel is slightly larger than 14 gauge but less that an 1/8 of an inch
Every time I see someone shoot a steel target, I cringe. My dad, who has been shooting since he was 9 years old, told of a friend he had when he was 16. The kid took a hunting rifle and shot a steel target from about 50 feet away. It ricocheted back and killed him. True story.
Hi, silly thought but when testing new materials why not make thinner plates and stack them... ...because that takes more equipment and why not see if it will perform as well as fiberglass first. Whoops. I did say it was a silly thought.
To be fair, I think it's been found that many thinner layers with a small amount of spacing can outperform the same amount of material as one solid block, at least for tank armor.
You could use a combination of fiberglass and steel plate to stop .44 magnum. But, you need to also test with high power rifles. There’s a lot of ammo out there that have steel and tungsten carbide steel cores that will punch right through those plates. You’ve got the right idea, but you also have to include rifles in your tests. I’ve seen some 7.62x39, and 7.62x54R ammo that have steel cores in them. So, everyone out there, don’t assume that if you make these plates for your own protection that you’d have bulletproof plates, because there’s ammo out there that WILL defeat those plates. Please don’t think that I’m a know-it-all. I’m speaking from experience and I’m looking out for your own personal safety.
Agreed. This test was strictly to compare against level IIIA body armor which only provides protection against pistol rounds up to 44 mag (240 gr). However, I do have other videos that test against many rifle rounds.
@@3RBallistics cool. I’m going to have to check them out. Also I left a reply to someone else’s comment. You should go check it out and see what you think of my reply.
I've got a bunch of that 3 rated "bullet board" that I got from a job at a certain military base I was working at ( it was cutoff pieces ) and that shit stops 44mag from a Ruger 44 carbine with no problem at all.
Good vidio