Talk Composites - The Forum for Advanced Composites

New Mold-Need Help

http://www.talkcomposites.com/Topic31667.aspx

By Harry - 1/16/2019 6:55:11 PM

Okay, Hello,
I have this new two-piece mold. Its a model racing yacht mold. The split is supposed to be precisely down the center line of the keel. Two problems with that. One, the split is close but not close enough to center on the two halves.  Two, i could have lived with a small tight flash line from the halves joining, but the gap is too large. The amount of epoxy that would penetrate into that area would take alot of clean-up on the actual hull which is already thin on epoxy surface. It seems to me that I would not be the first to encounter this situation. Someone, somewhere has to successfully resolved this. I think the mold is usable for my purpose but the situation needs some remedy.
What can I use as a fill in the seam between the mold halves to that I can eliminate the epoxy from filling that area? I will be using the Resin Infusion Process and a post heat cure of approx 70 to 75 C. I dont necessarily need to use the mold split capability, as I can, most likely, pull the hull from the mold without using it. The shape is simple as you can see.
The mold is raw/green. It has been temp cured only.
By Harry - 1/17/2019 2:03:25 PM

Oh, both of your answers are very helpful.  I am grateful for your input.  I wasnt sure about using body filler, but I am very good at that type of thing.   I wont be needing to produce hulls at an high rate.  Perhaps 1 or 2 a week.  I could easily use the body filler solution and keep the option to split the mold open if some problem arises.