Building 1 time use mold. input?

[abl1111]

Strick,

Can I use polyester w/ micrb's instead of $$$epoxy$$$ ??

Thx,

Alan

[strick]

Alan- I'm sure you can but I've never tried it. The odor of Polyester is too much for it's use in the close quarters of my garage.

Strick

[alarie]

We make 1 time molds all the time in our shop, using whatever wood type products you can (such as thin ply or hardboard) to get the shapes you want. Put some ribs on the back (outside) once you are satisfied with the shape. You can then radius the corners at the top with bondo and fill any nail holes as well. We then spray the tool with gelcoat and give it a quick sand, and then use a spray on release agent like PVA (water based) to make sure it the molded part releases. You can then spray gelcoat right onto the PVA and mold away. You will have to do a bit of final sanding on the gel once the part is done, as the PVA will have a small amount of texture that will print on the gel surface.

Works great and you do not have to use any expensive boat bulding type materials (core cel or balsa) to make your mold.

Good luck,
Peter

[abl1111]

Bingo !!! With all the input form you guys, I have it in my mind what needs to be done to make the mold. Thx all around !!!

Last question(s):

When installing a 3/4" plywood "top" ( the part where the pedestal seat will mount), at what point do I install this prefitted pc ?

Does this sound right ? Gelcoat should be semi-cured. Wet out and laminate the entire inside of the box, then place the wood on the top ( weighted down w/ something to make a nice bond )? After cured, sand top area and w/ wetout mat, sandwich the wood?

Thx,

Alan

[EBEACH]

Dave,

The melamine will give you a slight pebbled finish to the gel coat. It won’t be a glass like finish.

Hardboard is also referred to as MDF or Medium Density Fiberboard

[warthog5]

Ok let me throw a little diffrent way.
Here are pix's of a custom instrument pod I built.
MDF is a good product to work with if you need a very flat and stable panel too.

I used 3/8in Diveacell for this. You can heat it with a heat gun and form it very easy. It holds it's shape to add glass to.
I built a form.


In this pix you can see it's clamped on the side to start with and the 2X4 with clamps is to hold it tight to the mold. It was then heated some more to relive the tension.









Then it was cut on a angle to get it the way I wanted it.



A back and front were added and glassed inside and out.

This same methiod could be used on a larger scale for the livewell.

[ January 01, 2004, 11:21 AM: Message edited by: warthog5 ]

[John R]

Damnit if that wasn't me and Scott on Ed's Boat A/K/A "The Sticky Towel"

[warthog5]

Wow! What a welcome. Thank You for the nice complements. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

We are all pushing for the same goal.
"To Make Our Boat's Better"

[ January 02, 2004, 12:20 AM: Message edited by: warthog5 ]

[Capt Chuck]

Hey Warthog

Even thou it's not a SeaCraft, it appears in your pictures that the Classic Mako members use the same tools (that all familiar liquid asset) [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
How about these: [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] http://www.planetboredom.net/downloa...ion=file&id=25

[strick]

Good to have you aboard Warthog! For anyone that does not already know, Warthog is pretty much the boat restoring/building guru over on THT and the brand new site "Classic Mako" here is a link showing some of his fine work. http://www.classicmako.com/projects/xshark.htm

Strick