USA Unimold Options

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USA Unimold Options

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drxlcarfreak	d drxlcarfreak posted 6 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
d Group: Forum Members Posts: 7, Visits: 170	Hi guys, first post here. I have been recently looking to make some carbon fiber parts from molds. I have searched around quite a bit and watched a ton of videos and really liked the unimould kit from EasyComposites. The problem is I am in the U.S. and can't justify spending nearly $200USD on shipping alone. I really like the system as it seems to be the most in depth kit I have seen. Is there an option for those of us stateside? Through all of my reading, there seems to be so much conflicting info out there about what material works with what and what doesn't, it would be nice to have a set stack of materials that for sure works so I can spend time working on my skills rather than trying to deal with incompatibilities on top of being somewhat new to composites. Thanks!
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Warren (Staff)	Warren (Staff) posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Administrators Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 8.5K	Unfortunately we do not have a USA distributor at present. In essence the Uni-Mould system uses a Vinylester tooling gelcoat and coupling coat with a filled low shrink polyester resin for the backing plies. You could look for a local resin manufacturer and see if they have a similar tooling system or at least the gelcoats and resin combinations. The fibreglass matting is standard emulsion bound mat which you should find easily enough at any fibreglass supplier. Warren Penalver Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant
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drxlcarfreak	d drxlcarfreak posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
d Group: Forum Members Posts: 7, Visits: 170	Fair enough. I really appreciate all of the videos you guys have made, very informative. For the mold would these be similar: Tooling gelcoat: https://compositeenvisions.com/orange-tooling-polyester-gelcoat-with-hardener-mekp-ddm-9/ Tooling Resin: https://compositeenvisions.com/tooling-polyester-resin-isophthalic-1-gallon-with-hardener-mekp-ddm-9/ I am guessing that since both are polyester based, there doesn't need to be a separate coupling coat. For the carbon fiber vacuum infusion would these work: Clear gelcoat: https://compositeenvisions.com/904046-duratec-clear-higloss-topcoat-1-gal-1347.html Vacuum Epoxy Resin: https://compositeenvisions.com/r-3501-vacuum-infusion-epoxy-1-gallon/
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Hanaldo	Hanaldo posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 28K	You really want to find a vinylester tooling gelcoat. For one, they are higher quality than polyester and will give you a better surface. But most importantly, you are working with epoxy resins, and there is a big risk that using epoxy in a mould with a polyester surface will stick unless you use PVA release agent. The tooling resin you posted isnt the same as the Unimould tooling resin, as it is unfilled. You could still use it, but you would want to limit the number of layers you apply in one hit. So instead of doing all 5 backing layers of 450g, you would want to do 2 layers and let that cure for a couple of hours, then do another 2 layers and let that cure again. Then because it is unfilled, you will get less thickness per layer so you may want to do 5-6 layers of 450g rather than 4-5 as you would with Unimould. The other two products are perfect, Duratec topcoat is one of my favourite products in the game, and the epoxy infusion resin looks fine. Edited 6 Years Ago by Hanaldo
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drxlcarfreak	d drxlcarfreak posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
d Group: Forum Members Posts: 7, Visits: 170	+x Hanaldo - 1/19/2019 1:51:52 AM You really want to find a vinylester tooling gelcoat. For one, they are higher quality than polyester and will give you a better surface. But most importantly, you are working with epoxy resins, and there is a big risk that using epoxy in a mould with a polyester surface will stick unless you use PVA release agent. The tooling resin you posted isnt the same as the Unimould tooling resin, as it is unfilled. You could still use it, but you would want to limit the number of layers you apply in one hit. So instead of doing all 5 backing layers of 450g, you would want to do 2 layers and let that cure for a couple of hours, then do another 2 layers and let that cure again. Then because it is unfilled, you will get less thickness per layer so you may want to do 5-6 layers of 450g rather than 4-5 as you would with Unimould. The other two products are perfect, Duratec topcoat is one of my favourite products in the game, and the epoxy infusion resin looks fine. Fair enough. I will look more for a vinylester tooling gelcoat. It doesn't appear that this site has it. Do you have a stateside recommendation? I thought that I have read that before about polyester and epoxies, but couldn't find it again when I was looking for it. Though I do plan to use this wax (https://compositeenvisions.com/rexco-partall-paste-2-wax-496.html) and PVA (https://compositeenvisions.com/rexco-partall-pva-10-spray-on-moldrelease-1-gallon-486.html), I would rather not put myself at risk of ruining a mold/part if the PVA coat was too thin! Hmm, I had assumed that isophthalic and filled were the same thing and limited shrinkage. What exactly is a filled resin filled with? Is that the same as saturated/unsaturated? Do you have a filled polyester resin you can recommend in the states? I would really prefer to do all the layers at once instead of stages For the Duratec, I noticed that they have three clear options. One Vinylester which seems like it is more for mold surfaces and not part surfaces., and two polyesters. I saw mention on here if the SunShield 904-061, but not the 904-046 Top Coat I linked. I just want to make sure that I grab the correct one. If I am guessing the SunShield would be the correct choice for something that will be outside a lot to give the Epoxy UV protection? Is the 046 a better finish for parts that won't be seeing a lot of sunlight? Thanks again!
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Hanaldo	Hanaldo posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 28K	Nah iso resin is just a higher quality resin than ortho resin, but the main difference is just better water resistance. It does have slightly lower shrink, but at the end of the day it is still a polyester resin - it's just one that you could use to line a water tank for potable water. It's also not the difference between saturated and unsaturated, that just refers to the chemical structure of the polymer. Filled tooling resins have a thermoplastic filler that expands at the same rate that the resin shrinks, effectively canceling out the shrinkage and giving you close to zero shrink. As for the Duratec, the 904-046 is the normal one. For what you're using it for, you could really use any of them, but the vinyl ester costs more. The vinyl ester is just for water resistance for use on boats, so not much benefit for the extra money.
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