mould section joins


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Ian974
Ian974
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Hi everyone.
I've been reasonably successful with building the mould for my front bodywork (which has gone very well for a first attempt, picture is as it came off the bodywork).
The moulds look horrible there but the paint that came off cleaned up fairly easily and I'm in the process of cleaning up the moulds, flanges and making any repairs before going on to making the carbon version.

However one bit I'm not too happy with is that the joins between the mould sections are a bit rough. Is there any way of improving or filling these up prior to making the new bodywork? It'll need work done afterwards anyway but just seeing if there is a way to improve them at all. I'll see if I can get a more representative photo later today.
Cheers!
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2014-04-12 17.42.56.jpg (501 views, 1.00 MB)
Edited 11 Years Ago by Ian974
Fasta
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Your mould joins should be all sweet and flush if the original pattern flanging was set up and done right.

How come they are not?




Ian974
Ian974
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Sorry, the flanges themselves all match up ok, but the joins on the mould surface are a bit uneven, I think I've been a bit rough with filleting the barrier edges. I think its just going to leave thick lines on the joins
FLD
FLD
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Can you not just re-fillet the mould sections before layup?
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I just like to understand what you have done.




So when you set up your original splitting flange on your body you made a fillet at the edge it meets the body rather than making it a sharp corner?




Ian974
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Yeah, that's it. I tried smoothing the fillets down fairly small, but not enough. My 20-20 hindsight says I should have used a proper tool to smooth out the joins properly, but its all learning I guess!
Just thinking, I guess I could apply release agent to one piece, bolt two sections together and fill the join with gelcoat. Would allow it to be smoothed out and the parts should separate alright
ajb100
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Are you making the piece in grp or cf?
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Yeah, normally your temp flange will be fitted/butted close to your body/pattern/plug and then any remaining gaps filled with wax or plasticine but clean and scrape it off square and sharp with a square corner tool. A light wax and clean then it's ready to mould. The mating flange will also finish sharp. This no help to you now though!

So your mould joins now appear as a "V" kind of hollow? this should be filled with wax or plasticine and cleaned off near flush with flat tool or blade. Then maybe a very light layer fglass across your mould joins just make the soft wax area firm and stable. Now follow though with your laminate set up for infusion.

The finished part will just have a fglass tape where your joins are. If you are intending a gel coat part then spray this down before the fglass but still fglass across the join areas on the gel coat so they are firm.

All this assumes you are not going for a clear cosmetic carbon part though?




Edited 11 Years Ago by Fasta
Ian974
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That more or less explains what I have, though unfortunately I am looking at doing resin infusion carbon! I'm undecided about painting it, though I'll likely end up with it painted but just with some exposed sections, so if its not a great finish on the joins its not the end of the world.
I have additive for the gel coat I used on the moulds for making repairs, which is why I was thinking I could fill it with gel coat, similar to described with the plasticine/ wax above to effectively fill it up on one side while using release agent on the mating part to ensure they will still separate. This, or similar using wax/ plasticine filler but with a skim of gel coat over the top, and ensure it gets plenty release agent before building the part.

I'm assuming there isn't any type of filler that can be used with the mould easily that won't end up getting absorbed and wrecking the part!

At least if I decide to do one in fibreglass as well after, it'll be easier to get a good finish! Smile 
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Plasitcene/wax is really about the only option I can think of, it wont stick to anything so no need to worry about that.

If you tried to use a filler then it will be difficult to get a smooth finish without sanding since you can't sand on your prepped mould! If you could get a filler on there flat then you could tape over it with a gloss tape for a good release as sealing fillers is very risky but this may also cause other issues with your cosmetic finish too. This whole filler approach Just seems difficult and risky.

If you can work around the mould joins with the final finish and exposed carbon sections then the fglass skin across the clear gel coat (or no gel coat) will work fine. You don't need to fglass the whole mould just across the thick wax/plasticine areas.


If these low areas in the flange join are small then filling with fillet wax and clear gel coat over it should be ok. If the wax filled areas are bigger then this could be soft under the cured gel coat which may crack the gel coat and that could then become and air leak through your flange for your infusion job. Air bubbles or a lost part $$??

Got some better pics of the flange join bolted up?





Edited 11 Years Ago by Fasta
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