Can any one give me some info on sealing a new mold? And breaking it in?
Ive normally just used TR High Temp wax (12 coats first wax up) and just re wax every now and the.
Just after the correct way or the best ways.
No Expert here- But I sprayed on 3 layers of tooling gel - let it cure then wax and wax and wax… finally sprayed on some PVA. Works well for me. Re-use is; clean off PVA, coat of wax and PVA again.
Cheers - Jim
Did you wax on top of the gel coat you sprayed?
Personally I like using semi permanent release agents more than waxes. they work much better and you dont need to reapply after every pull. I have found Axel XTR sealer and 818 release agent to work very good over other semi permanent brands I have used. But if your fixed on waxes I would call TR and talk to technical support to get the best method of application.
Semi perm mold release as per manufacture instructions, then 4 to 6x coats of high temp wax, then PVA (only for the test lay up) and then a hot batch hand lay up (gel coat and lay up, test part) to heat cure all the semi perm and wax into the mold surface.
Next part just a layer of wax one more time and lay it up normal.
After that, no more wax or prep for 6 months to a year or more…
Semi-Perms work well. I also like to wax a new/fresh mold with 10-12 coats of TR104 High Temp Wax for the first part lay up.
I also use Poly-Ease spray aerosol but I don’t think it is a semi-perm… more like once after each pull you would use it. Nothing, absolutely nothing will stick to poly-ease. When you go to spray gel coat over poly-ease, you must mist coat the mold with a very light gel coat, otherwise it will not stick to the mold surface. But it works great.
Yep - The tooling gel was sprayed on the mold. I used tooling gel for the hard finish and durability on my mold.
Then I let the gel cure. Then wax, wax, wax, then PVA then the layup. No gel in the layup! Just resin and carbon fiber. I’ll finish the product with a UV resistant finish.
(That you ask - is there something wrong with that approach? – Or maybe I was unclear in describing?) I’d like to know 
BTW I tried using some of the sheet wax-- discussed in another thread-- with adhesive backing a week back Probably should have added some more wax to it, then the PVA. The slight exotherm caused the 1/32 inch thick sheet to stick to the product. I shipped it to my install site and will deal with it there. May use a heat gun to soften – or just let the equatorial sun melt it off.
Cheers - Jim
How did you have a mold with no gel coat on it? The gel coat should have been sprayed on the prepped plug, and the mold layed up behind it. The mold pops off with a smooth and shiny gelcoat surface.
CP, the OP was asking about how to break in or prep a new mold.
If you have a new mold and just spray in tooling gel coat…it will ruin the the new mold by boning to the new mold surface…without any mold release added to the mold.
OK - Guess I misunderstood - SO I’ll clarify:
The last mold I built – I completed its surface with the tooling gel.
I did that for all the advantages it offers, smooth finish, durability, etc. It also seals the mold. I did that so it would bond to the surface of the mold. I want to use the mold many times - so a good hard finish is what I was looking for. Also, as the mold was machined from mdf - I wanted to ensure the layup wouldn’t stick to the underlying material. Thats why I used the tooling gel. Seal and finish.
Then for the layup - before using any gel/resin/'glass etc on it-- I do just as you advised.
Is that a better explanation?
Cheers - Jim