Does anybody know what extra fillers are added to tooling gelcoat to make it harder than standard spray gel.I just got 300kg of spray gel for a knockdown price and was wondering if I can add some fillers to it when needed to make a gel more suitable for mold making.It is a very high quality spray gel coat to start with.Some people I have spoken to make all their molds out of ordinary gelcoat like this and have no problems so am I going a bit overboard by using expensive vinyl ester tooling gelcoat all the time?
ho! i didnt know vinylester tooling gel existed…
The composites side of my workplace only use vinyl ester tooling gel,nothing else .But at £10 a kg it is expensive stuff.
Try a small mix/sample with Marble Powder mixed into the gel coat. Otherwise known as calcium carbonate. Warning… buy the finest mesh you can and rigorously stir/mix it into the gel before adding the MEKP.
I am not certain what the gel manufacturers use to add hardness to the mixture but I do know marble powder will make it harder.
I buy mine from the seller PolymerComposites off ebay, but most composite stores will have it. You may also have to add a few drops of styrene liquid to compensate for adding the dry marble powder.
I found this online … gel coats that have 50% less styrene ( and I imagine 50% less odor) They seem to make some nice gel coats.
If you ever are in need of dying polyester resin or gel coat or epoxy resin… try www.jgreer.com … I have tested their dye in these types of gel coat and resin with sucess. Use less than 3% dye.
His prices are good and they ship the same or next day of order.
I use his epoxies. He is a great guy that goes the extra mile to help you out!