Talk Composites - The Forum for Advanced Composites

Wood materials for mould?

http://www.talkcomposites.com/Topic16601.aspx

By chrbje76 - 4/22/2015 2:08:50 PM

Hi
 
Fairly new to to this, I have a little project to make a rig that needs carry some weight and i thought I would see how nice and light i could make it with carbon.

I picture mainly making carbon U-beams, custom fitted in lengts and ends to the craft it wil be mounted on. idealy i would just make a mokup in 2x4 timbers and then use these as a base to make moulds over that i can then lay the carbon on for vacum infusion.

Is it possible to use wood materials for mould making, or will it absorb resins and coatings and be impossible to split apart again or get a nice surface for the mould?.

Any other suggestions for suitable materials?
By Hanaldo - 4/23/2015 12:20:26 AM

Works the same as what Dravis explained, all that changes is whether you are working in male or female form. 

Wood works fine, you just need to seal it before you paint/finish it. Easy to do with a coating of epoxy resin, though that can be an effort to sand smooth again. If you have Duratec surface primer available to you, that was made for the purpose and is very easy to sand flat and polish to a gloss. 

Otherwise, do as Dravis explained, shape your wood and give it a costing of resin to seal it. Sand smooth, then apply whatever topcoating you prefer!