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whitecel
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Hey guys, Had another problem on the same mold. I'm having difficulties flagging this piece. I know it looks simple but I'm still new. I've tried to cut strips of cardboard for a flange and hot glue it around the edges but with all the curves it wasn't working very well. Then I tried laying it flat on cardboard and building all sides with clay, but that wasn't working either. It was using excessive amounts of clay. especially the side on the pic. Any other suggestions would be great.
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Alibro
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Had a similar problem with a part I was working with. Didn't really get a good solution as the two moulds I took from it both had issues so very interested in the answer.
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f1rob
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Will have a try,easy to do but bloody hard to explain !
we use melamine faced chipboard as base boards and lots of the flanges, gives great release and and can be used for everything from GRP to pre preg
Cut a base board bigger than your item you then need to fix your item to the base. I would fix two blocks onto the board to the correct height I use p38/easysand / put masking tape on the back of your item in the area of the blocks
Sqeeze it down onto wet filler and hold till it sets and you will be surprised how firmly its held,I would have the item so its long straight edge is sitting on your base board
Work round the item doing all the remaining straight edges with blocks bracing each part to the base board
Fill in the corners with shaped wooden blocks.filler.sheet wax
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Alibro
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Ha, never thought of using chipboard Nice one, I used clay for my last attempt at making a flange but found it really hard to keep it to the edge of my part as it had a long curved edge. I ended up with the flange too far up the edge of the part and had to mess about with the mould to get it near the correct dimensions, it will probably only work once before falling apart. If I try it again I will use flexible plastic on the curved bits (probably supported by clay or plasticine) and your suggestion of chipboard for the base. Good luck with it Whitecel but you might find it easier (and a hell of a lot cheaper) to wrap the part. This guy does it for a living and shows how he does it here. http://ocarbon.com/blog/
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Hanaldo
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Alibro (03/07/2014)
Ha, never thought of using chipboard Nice one, I used clay for my last attempt at making a flange but found it really hard to keep it to the edge of my part as it had a long curved edge. I ended up with the flange too far up the edge of the part and had to mess about with the mould to get it near the correct dimensions, it will probably only work once before falling apart. If I try it again I will use flexible plastic on the curved bits (probably supported by clay or plasticine) and your suggestion of chipboard for the base. Good luck with it Whitecel but you might find it easier (and a hell of a lot cheaper) to wrap the part. This guy does it for a living and shows how he does it here. http://ocarbon.com/blog/ Wrapping is just unnecessary weight and often doesn't work well on plastic trims like this. This is such an easy part to mould and produce, it just takes a bit of practice to know where you need to put things. I would use coreflute for the flanges, and do it in straight sections. So every time the pattern changes direction, make that a cut line in your flange and do each piece individually. Then where you end up with 90 degree sections on the flange, you can fillet it in with clay or plasticine or whatever you prefer. Cover the cut lines with flashbreaker or polythylene tape. Simple and easy to do. I'm in the process of making one today, so when it's finished I'll post up some photos so you can see what I mean.
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whitecel
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Please do Hanaldo. You always been a great help since I started infusing. Thanks
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Alibro
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Wrapping is just unnecessary weight and often doesn't work well on plastic trims like this. This is such an easy part to mould and produce, it just takes a bit of practice to know where you need to put things.
Fair point but unless you intend making multiple items, making a mould is a lot of work and money. For some people who just want the carbon look then wrapping is easier and cheaper.
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whitecel
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Ok so I tried a somewhat similar method to hanaldo except I used cardboard. It worked well until I was trying to attach the cardboard sections to the base board using fillet wax. Cardboard just flexes to much that I could press the two together using the wax. Guess I gotta get thicker material
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Hanaldo
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Alibro (03/07/2014)
Wrapping is just unnecessary weight and often doesn't work well on plastic trims like this. This is such an easy part to mould and produce, it just takes a bit of practice to know where you need to put things.
Fair point but unless you intend making multiple items, making a mould is a lot of work and money. For some people who just want the carbon look then wrapping is easier and cheaper.
There's always ways to make the mould cheaper if it's just a one off. For custom parts that I make for customers that are unlikely to fit anyone elses car, I use a standard polyester gelcoat rather than a tooling gel. Cheap as chips, and is even strong enough to last 10 or so pulls. If I wanted to go even cheaper, I'd just fill some polyester laminating resin with microballoons or similar until it's thick enough, then use that as the gelcoat. Won't polish up as nicely, but can always clear the final part. A mould like that on a part this size wouldn't cost you more than 5 bucks in materials. Time sure, but you get out what you put into it. whitecel (03/07/2014)
Ok so I tried a somewhat similar method to hanaldo except I used cardboard. It worked well until I was trying to attach the cardboard sections to the base board using fillet wax. Cardboard just flexes to much that I could press the two together using the wax. Guess I gotta get thicker material It's always better if you make it solid, rather than rely on soft substances like wax to hold it on. I hot glue mine, and build supports underneath areas that need it. Here's a few photo's of a part I'm currently in the process of flanging. Not the part I was going to show you as this one isn't as closely related to your part, but you can see the technique I'm using. I use tape to get the general shape, and decide where I want to cut:  Stick that on my coreflute, and draw up my flange around it:  Cut on the line:  Attach the first section:  Get the shape to fill the gap:  Leave a bit of a gap so that you can fillet nicely:  Then fillet your gaps and radius any 90 degree corners that are created:  Repeat the process as many times as needed:  Just remember to watch your draft angles and adjust your flanges accordingly:  Do that every time the pattern changes shape. I find it easiest to do the easy, flat sections first. Then think about how to fill the gaps in between them.
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Alibro
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There's always ways to make the mould cheaper if it's just a one off. For custom parts that I make for customers that are unlikely to fit anyone elses car, I use a standard polyester gelcoat rather than a tooling gel. Cheap as chips, and is even strong enough to last 10 or so pulls. If I wanted to go even cheaper, I'd just fill some polyester laminating resin with microballoons or similar until it's thick enough, then use that as the gelcoat. Won't polish up as nicely, but can always clear the final part. A mould like that on a part this size wouldn't cost you more than 5 bucks in materials. Time sure, but you get out what you put into it.
Ok You win, [bows down in submission] 
Loving your photos and explanation.
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