Talk Composites - The Forum for Advanced Composites

Translucent epoxy tooling gelcoat

http://www.talkcomposites.com/Topic22381.aspx

By veresviktor - 12/5/2016 9:02:50 AM

Hello,
I want to make a Vacuum Resin Transfer Mould (VRTM) with lightweight upper mould. The upper mould must be semi translucent laminate because is it necessary to see and check the flow of resin (IN2 Epoxy Infusion Resin).
I want to make a mould (VRTM) with epoxy based mould making system. The lower mould making process is OK because the bright green Epoxy Tooling Gelcoat for use as a surface coat. 
My question is wich type of Epoxy Tooling Gelcoat is clear for use as a translucent surface coat?

Many thanks

Viktor
By Warren (Staff) - 12/6/2016 9:12:35 AM

To be able to see the resin flow in detail, it would need to be a clear resin casting of a reasonable thickness to make it strong enough to be durable.  You would not really want to build up multiple layers of a laminating resin because it would not be very strong and the clarity would be relatively poor as most laminating resins are not designed for high clarity in thick sections.

What you would ideally need is a dedicated epoxy casting resin, that way you get the ability to do one pour, the strength and the clarity all in one resin. This is not something we stock at the moment, although there are a few epoxy casting resins on the market that give the clarity you need.