Ask any group of composites fabricators, and it is quickly apparent that everyone has encountered a problem with sticking a part in a new mold. It is just a fact of life in the open molding business, that on occasion a new mold will stick the initial part, regardless of the Read the rest of this entry »
Recently I had my first really bad experience with making a mold for a plug that I built. This was a big disappointment for me. I had spent about eight weeks building a model of a Porsche 917K body in 1/10 scale that I intended to mold then reproduce. My model was built to fit a Tamiya TT-01 R/C car chassis. I had looked for months on the Internet for a 1/10 scale R/C body of this car with no luck so I decided to make my own. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve received some more questions about Fiberglass Mold Making Gelcoat and how to end up with a high gloss shiny finish.
Sonic 1 High Gloss
When constructing a mold for duplication of parts, there are several considerations that must be addressed. The main reasons for using tooling gelcoat versus finishing gelcoat have to do with the hardness of the finish and the shine of the finish.
The finished surface of your mold should be abrasion resistant. Polyester gelcoat is used for making tooling masters and molds where good gloss retention of the surface is of paramount importance. A high gloss finish of the molds surface allows for easier release of your parts and thus extends the life of the mold. Read the rest of this entry »
First I want to wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR ! ! ! !
I hope your new year celebration was safe and enjoyable.
I have covered the following information in a post quite some time back before the last time this blog was hacked.
I have been getting some more question I think this will address regarding Epoxy Resin for Mold making. Read the rest of this entry »
When I first started working with fiberglass, I found it a fascinating yet frustrating material. While I enjoyed the fact that it was water proof and could be formed into any shape, I was often frustrated by my attempts to finish it in a way that would make my final product look presentable. Over the years I have come to the realization that Read the rest of this entry »
I have written blog entries in the past in which I have shared my experiences with new techniques and new products that are available for construction with composites. This is another one of those.
Whenever I am building the surface of a part that is being made of chopped mat, I end up with a fairly course surface that will need a final finishing.
I have employed various means to smooth out a fiberglass surface. Some of these finishing methods include the following: Read the rest of this entry »
Its funny how we do things that we think are not only the right way but the only way only to find out later that there are better ways. Years ago, when I first discovered the use of dry foam, ( No I had no experience with surf boards), as a medium for plug construction, I thought that I had found the perfect plug building material. Read the rest of this entry »
One way to make light, strong and clean parts is through a technique called vacuum bagging. In general, parts made with vacuum bagging techniques show better strength and stiffness than simple molding lay-ups and they are smoother to the touch. The strength and stiffness of vacuum bagged parts obviously comes from Read the rest of this entry »
A little more here regarding removing your fiberglass part from your mold.
If you waxed your mold well and applied a good coat or two of PVA, your part should easily pop out of the mold.
The operative word in the ^^ Sentence Above ^^ is “SHOULD”! For a better understanding of why it may not “Easily” pop out of the mold, read my previous post: Read the rest of this entry »
In general, epoxy resin laminates are considered to be superior when compared to polyester resins. That being stated, epoxy does not produce as hard a surface as polyester tooling gel coat so it is not quite as suitable for mold making. If you are planning on turning out even a small volume of parts, you really want the mold to carry the harder surface provided by Read the rest of this entry »
5 Fiberglass "How To" Manuals
