Hey there,

I recently (today) demolded my first mold made using UniMold system (today). It turned out good.

I wanted to point some things people (especially newcomers) would want to know before they start working with it.

Facts:

Room T°: 19°C;

Gelcoat: 1 layer applied with brush; close to 1mm thick; 2% catalyst; time: 1 beer.

Coupling coat: 1 layer of 150 g/sqm; 2% catalyst; time: 1 beer but a bigger one.

Reinforcement: 5 layers of 450g/sqm;  2% catalyst; time: 2.5 hours (and no time for a beer).

Area of the plug: about 1sqm, many curves.

What I learned:

Applying the gelcoat and coupling coat was flawless.

But once I started the reinforcement side, it was another story. It all went good till third coat (on the 5 total). When beginning the third coat, i noticed the faster and faster time of resin gelling on the part.  Yup, it was time for me to hurry (or reduce catalyst amount and/or room temp). Remember I used 2% catalyst and part has a "complex" shape which took time to wetout. I did not reduce catalyst amount, cos "Work in the morning and demold at night" is my moto.

Lucky me, and thats what i wanted to point for new users (or wanna-go-too-fast-guys like me): i really think bristle roller between each coat saved my mold integrity. Some would roll their mold after all the coats, some after 2 layers (i usually do that with non-filled resins), but keep in mind Unimold uses filled resin, which appears to me to be more difficult to "degas" and several layers of 450g/sqm mat dont help.

And yeah, dumb people like me have a god: it all went fine, finally. Final mold temperature was not at all excessive, even with 5 coats of mat and 2% catalyst. Unimold is a great process, I cant wait for my next mold. I hope this topic could help newcomers.

 



 


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