He could easily fill it and spray with a dura tec primer and polish it out. Or even spray with a gel coat. I’ve made much worse abortion status molds work and this hardly looks like an abortion…yet.
I think just like rotor… Push through this one an learn all you can.
HOORAY!! the cavalry is here…:)
i just got back from home depot. i had to get a new pair of scissors. the last set…well…lets just say…they got epoxied…
ok let me answer a few of your guys questions. yes roto the mold is just epoxy and glass. and you are right about what went wrong… i am learning…and the fiberglass didnt want to conform. and yes…i tried to be bad ass and do the first layer in one piece. that was my first mistake. by the end, i was cutting the fabric and it layed down real good. that when i sacrificed my scissors to the composite gods…(i hope thats all they want) i do have three boys tho…hmmmmm.
i would really like to salvage the mold…the plug fell apart when i pulled the mold from it. its fixable but i would rather not.
i have tried every drug store in town for a syringe. no one will sell me one…ARGH!
so what are my options? cut the bubbles out wth a razor knife and fill them in with body filler? i have a body supply shop near by.
i would really like to make more than one part from this mold so if possible the fix should be more than temporary…
if you guys just give me a little direction im all over it…
im not sure what you mean by planeing the top out dallas. the whole top “flange” is smooth…it just looks jacked up…
You have a dremel tool or better a pencil file. Using the smallest bur file you have dig in and rough those cavities up. Now take some brown grocery bag paper and roll into a tight cone. Tape it tight. Pour some body filler in a cup and slightly thin it out with poly ester resin. Orrrrr mix some epoxy resin with fine sawdust or something thats gonna thicken it all up. Sorta like adding flour to gravy. Maybe flour will work
You could take some of the random strands and rub them in your hands so they get kinda cotton balled and jam it dry inti the cavities. Then squirt resin in.
The paper cones need to be super pointy at one end and then open in the other. White printer paper works ok. Use a whole sheet of printer paper if you try it.
You then cut a small hole at the end and then roll the cone down like toothpaste to get it to squirt out.
Man California is FING wierd where else do u get needles for diabetes or composites work than a drug store.
dallas, are these the duratec steps you recommend i take? http://www.duratec1.com/Application_Guides/ag13.pdf
Before you try an infusion please take pictures of the top and bottom of your mold. It’s good to have firm thick molds rather than thin frisbee molds that screw up time and money. Depending on how thick you layed up might wanna lay some csm on the back side and give some backing support might be a good idea to gusset the two bowls together with a piece of 1/2 ply wood and gusset the flanges. Just trying to jump ahead of you a bit.
Also a stronger mold will also reduce the tendency for those repairs from popping out.
Are you laying you mould with woven?
im totally with ya…the infusion must be pretty tough on molds. i have 4 layers on now but i can add more…and gussets too.
heres some pix. i tried to get some shots with the sun shining thru…just tell me how to proceed. im like a big sponge here…you guys are the journeymen and im the apprentice.
Yeah deffinately but you realize you have polyester instructions and are building a epoxy mold. Right? Most people use the vinylester orange… Looks like you got the grey?
woven??? i think so. like a fabric.
i just looked at the glossary…its a weave.
i didnt realize that… yes epoxy. its more like a green tint. are the two not compatible?
They are I for a second thought they only had the ve for composite epoxy surface products but it shows both pe and ve available. Screw 180 grit… I’d scuff 180 then knock it down with 320 before I ever think about spraying on it. 180 Is too coarse. Deffinately chemical wipe then water scrub with scotch brite… Let dry and covered and do it again in the morning before you shoot it. Amine and poly ester don’t like each other and they recommend in a different area of the website to make sure you pay attentiOn to the amine released from epoxy.
Very very critical that you fill those scratches inside that mold. And don’t orange peel it. Sorta like a balancing act.
I’d reccomend taking a day to coat the mold… But we will get to that later.
thanks for the tips…i orderd a quart of duratec surfacing primer and a quart of high gloss additive. i will be working on getting the mold in better shape today…
to add reinforcement to my mold, can i get the fiberglass that pep boys sells? of does it have to be a special type? chopped or woven?
Why dont you use tooling gelcoat and csm fibreglass grab a paddle roller and you wont neet to do all these extra steps
LOL…honestly, because this is my first mold ever. and i really dont know what and the hell im doing… all i know is i want to learn. the hard way i guess. and the fiber glass was given to me. so i thought it was the right stuff to use. i will research tooling gel, and cms fiberglass.
You broke your plug…
yup. but it is fixable…
The woven material at the autoparts store you can use with epoxy. The chopped strand mat you can’t. The Chopped mat has binders that wont dissolve in epoxy like they do in PE/VE. If you wanted a material like chopped strand mat for epoxy look for continuous strand mat. This works for both epoxy and the infusion process. Not that you need it for infusion, just an fyi.
oh, ok. got it…