Talk Composites - The Forum for Advanced Composites

Alternative to gel coat?

http://www.talkcomposites.com/Topic38178.aspx

By orhanyor - 10/10/2020 7:17:50 PM

Hello guys, newbie here Smile
Recently i created my first negative mould and used up most of the epoxy gel coat on that. so im working on this very small negative mould as big as my hand. i just finished polishing the actual part's top surface that i should be spreading my gel coat on. The thing is i want to use the remaining epoxy gel coat on my next item and i dont have enough at the moment for the both parts.
So is there an alternative to gelcoat that i can make with epoxy resin? I have some fumed silica, i was thinking may be i can use it to thicken the epoxy and use it instead of gel coat. has anybody tried it?
my approach on my first mould was 2 coats of gel coat on top of the part. leave it to cure but when its still tacky i applied fiberglass with epoxy and then vacuum the whole thing. as a release agent i bought Easy-Lease Chemical Release Agent, PVA release agent, number 8 release wax and MANN ease release 200 spray 

i guess i have enough release agents but im not really sure which one works better. i read PVA is almost guaranteed so i used it in my first mould and i guess i brushed it too thick so it gave me abit of a problem during demoulding. Can i just use MANN spray as a release agent as it is very easy to use, is it reliable? Thanks
By Hanaldo - 10/14/2020 1:47:38 PM

Also, just for future knowledge - don't use acetone to clean moulds, it will damage the surface. Its too late now and it will probably be fine, so I wouldn't worry too much about it; but in future it is a good idea to use a proper mould cleaner or if you can't get that then a wax and grease remover will work too.