Cheaper Mould alternatives?

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Cheaper Mould alternatives?

Cheaper Mould alternatives?

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Junior	Junior posted 8 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 73, Visits: 473	I want to make a 2-part mould roughly covering 3.5sqmtrs but the overall cost is quite large. Would it be possible to use a cheaper alternative to the Uni-mould Tooling resin (which appears to be the most expensive part) such as a cheap Polyester resin to bond all the layers of chopped strand mat? Or is there another cheaper alternative to the uni-mould system that would give adequate results? I don't intend on pulling hundreds of releases, at most I would say 5 in total?
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Junior	Junior posted 8 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 73, Visits: 473	GP resin is fine mate, it is the cheaper alternative What about the gelcoat/coupling coat?
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Hanaldo	Hanaldo posted 8 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 28K	Junior (21/04/2017) GP resin is fine mate, it is the cheaper alternative What about the gelcoat/coupling coat? GP resin will bond ok to vinyl ester gelcoat, so you can use that. The reason the coupling coat is there is that mineral filled resins tend to trap voids behind the gelcoat, so you can't use the Unimould tooling resin directly behind the gelcoat. The coupling coat is also a vinyl ester laminating resin so it will shrink less and print less. You can also use a regular vinyl ester laminating resin rather than a coupling coat. Coupling coats are considered a 'premium' laminating resin, so they are better but a bit more expensive. A regular vinyl ester would be better than a regular polyester if you can stretch the budget.
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Cheaper Mould alternatives?

Junior - 8 Years Ago

I use regular polyester almost all the time. You just need to watch it for shrinkage. Build it up a...

FLD - 8 Years Ago

Thanks for the reply, would you still require the barrier layer (coupling coat?) between the gelcoat...

Junior - 8 Years Ago

No need for a specific coupling coat either; but it's good practice to do the same light-weight...

Hanaldo - 8 Years Ago

Excellent stuff, that has reduced the overall cost massively! I think I would prefer to use a proper...

Junior - 8 Years Ago

A rapid tooling system like Unimould will produce a much better mould than regular GP laminating...

Hanaldo - 8 Years Ago

Are you going to use the mold to produce carbon parts? The i would highly recommend to make a test...

oekmont - 8 Years Ago

[quote]Are you going to use the mold to produce carbon parts? [/quote] Unsure, may do a fibreglass...

Junior - 8 Years Ago

[quote][b]oekmont (21/04/2017)[/b][hr]Are you going to use the mold to produce carbon parts? The i...

Hanaldo - 8 Years Ago

If the description is true (I guess it is): A: the unimold tooling resin is vinylester based, wich...

oekmont - 8 Years Ago

[quote] B: the coupling coat seems to be a chemical bond between the surface vinylester resin and...

Junior - 8 Years Ago

Thanks Hanaldo, yes this will just be a hobby project so time is not critical and I will not need...

Junior - 8 Years Ago

Yes, i think you will need the coupling coat if you use the unimould gelcoat.. Unimould and Epoxy...

Dravis - 8 Years Ago

So what would you guys recommendas a cheaper 'hobby' alternative?

Junior - 8 Years Ago

GP resin is fine mate, it is the cheaper alternative. Hell, even some big companies still build...

Hanaldo - 8 Years Ago

[quote]GP resin is fine mate, it is the cheaper alternative[/quote] What about the gelcoat/coupling...

Junior - 8 Years Ago

[quote][b]Junior (21/04/2017)[/b][hr][quote]GP resin is fine mate, it is the cheaper...

Hanaldo - 8 Years Ago

I would say it depends: If you are making a large part (the absolute shrinks depends on the mold...

oekmont - 8 Years Ago

The moulds will be used to make two halves of a kayak that will be joined together with composite...

Junior - 8 Years Ago

As you can correct the inaccuracies during the final bonding process this might work well with...

oekmont - 8 Years Ago

Would the following be suitable/compatible? I'm struggling to find anything cheaper.. Tooling...

Junior - 8 Years Ago

I buy stuff there but I wouldn't use the reblend resin. It is just the dregs stirred together....

FLD - 8 Years Ago

So would the top two work together or is there a better alternative? Did someone say you can use a...

Junior - 8 Years Ago

The top two work great, I use them myself. The general gelcoat you've just added works fine too (I...

FLD - 8 Years Ago

[quote][b]FLD (21/04/2017)[/b][hr] Regarding the whole warping issue, I've used the materials you...

Hanaldo - 8 Years Ago

That's good to know it has worked for you, to be honest I'd only be looking to make 2-3 pulls, 5 at...

Junior - 8 Years Ago

I totally agree that thermal shrinkage could cause even more problems than chemical shrinkage. But...

oekmont - 8 Years Ago

[quote][b]oekmont (22/04/2017)[/b][hr]I totally agree that thermal shrinkage could cause even more...

Hanaldo - 8 Years Ago

I thought the chemistry was more complex than that? The chain propagation is also radical based as...

FLD - 8 Years Ago

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