Hey guys, I need some help on the best way to make this mold, the less complicated the better! Its a cover off the side of my atv engine, my issue is that on the inside, it has a flange that has a gasket that is mounted to it so it needs to be able to seal decent. sorry if this pics aren’t the best. any help on the best way to make this mold would be great. I plan on making a few mods to it to eliminate the chain cover portion. i was thinking about taking a mold of the outside and then building the flange separately and just bonding it in… i just don’t know what i would build the flange out off. thanks!
I would do it this way…
Clean the part using acetone.
Find a flat piece of cardboard, spray adhesive onto it, and lay the foil down and straighten it out, this will be your base… this is what your part will sit on…
For all the holes you have, you will need to cut out pieces of cardboard, spray adhesive and foil them and then glue them down so its covering them from the inside…
For all the gaps that you have between the foil and the part need to be filled in using either body filler, wax, or clay… do this also for the gap between the base and the part… If you don’t do this, tooling gel will seep between the part and the mold, it will sill release but will be very hard and may also damage the part you have and or ruin your plug…
The smaller holes, you can fill these with wax, clay, or body filler.
Spray the entire part evenly using PVA release agent…
Then you will lay down your first even layer of tooling gel going over the whole thing
24 hours to dry, then lay down another layer of tooling gel…
24 hours to dry again… then resin the entire part, lay down the tissue fiberglass…
24 hours to dry… then start laying up with fiberglass… ~12 hours between each layer…
Once dry, release your mold and peal away all of the foil that is left stuck to it…
Now you’ve got your mold, its time to make your plug…
After you’ve made the plug, you’ll have to make the cuts and holes for the mounting brackets…
Most gel coats (especially polyester) will tack up well before 24 hours. You should lay your glass as soon as the gel gets tack free, but not totally cured. It’ll help with the adhesion of the reinforcing layers of glass
I am familiar with the whole process of how to do a plug amd mold. I just dont know theh best way to go about building it with the flange on the inside that needs to seal to a gasket… like if it the part and flange will have to be 2 pieces and bonded together afterwards
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Some things are better as an injection molded part, your cover being one of them. That being said, If you are bound and determined to build it with composites then I have a couple of suggestions for one way of doing it…
From the photos, it appears that the back side is flat, this is a plus. If you build a mold with a flange and then build a counter mold of sorts you can create a part with an internal flange.
To build the mold, mount you part to a board (melamine or formica). Build your mold in the usual fashion. When you have the mold laminated, remove the board.
Next you’ll need to laminate a plate to use as a counter mold. Cut out the center of the plate to match the contour of the interior perimeter of the part. This will allow you to mold the cover and flange as one piece.
As for building the part, it won’t be easy. But that’s another post.