Talk Composites - The Forum for Advanced Composites

Making a prepreg mould

http://www.talkcomposites.com/Topic33022.aspx

By Wonderbike - 6/2/2019 9:04:38 PM

Hi, I am in the process of making a mould that I want to use with prepregs to make a brake lever, so far I have taken a mould of the lever using the easy composites epoxy mould starter kit (green gel coat).
I want to make a pattern from this mould and then a final mould from that, that can be used with prepregs in an oven.
My question is what should I use to make the pattern?
My understanding is that it will need to cure at a low temperature but then be post cured to a much higher temperature in order to make a final mould from it using tooling prepreg?
Sorry if my terms are incorrect, this is all new to me.
Thanks, Luke.
By Wonderbike - 6/10/2019 7:43:24 PM

 
Hanaldo - 6/10/2019 9:42:24 AM
It can work. For such a small piece, it will probably be fine. Really the component pre-pregs have a much lower resin content, so they experience 'issues' like print-through more than the tooling pre-pregs will, and they will wear much quicker than the tooling pre-pregs. Neither of which are a huge concern for you.

That said, if you are already using the EG160 and EL160 to make the pattern, just use that to make the mould. Once post cured, this is perfect for use with the XC110 system. Really you've gone about this the long-hand way, and you could have skipped the mould you've made from EG60 and just used the EG160 straight away. I had sort of assumed you were set on using the tooling pre-pregs and that is why you needed to make a higher temperature stable pattern.

Yes Ive definitely gone the wrong way about it, I used the original part to make the first mould so I couldnt put it in the oven and didnt realise el160 could be cured at such a low temp.
Thanks for all your help, I'll get going and post some pics of the results.