Problem releasing E C Fibreglass polyester gel coat from Unimold

Talk Composites - The Forum for Advanced Composites

Back

Problem releasing E C Fibreglass polyester gel coat from Unimold

Author	Message
Bonobo	Bonobo posted 11 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 85, Visits: 1.2K	Hi, I made my mould using the unimold system starting with black tooling gel coat, after polishing the mould I applied 5 coats of easy-lease. I thought I should test a small amount of the gel coat I intend to use on the mould first (e c fibreglass polyester) info here I'm glad i did the test because it won't release at all. I also mixed up a small amount of Easy composites general laminating polyester resin to test on the mould, this released fine! is there any reason why the EC Fibreglass polyester gel coat wouldn't work?
	Reply Like 3
FLD	FLD posted 11 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 468, Visits: 2.7K	I use that gelcoat. I have found that I need to use 10-12 coats of easylease to get a good release (things fall out of moulds at this level). If I use the 6 coats as recomended on the can things stick quite badly. Could it be that at 5 coats you dont quite have a sufficient coverage so that the gel has found a patch it can stick to whereas the laminating resin found a fully covered area of the mould?
	Reply Like 2
Bonobo	Bonobo posted 11 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 85, Visits: 1.2K	OK Cool, So maybe I should give the mould another 6 or more applications of easy lease, The only other factor I can think of is that the catalyst ratio was off? it's hard to weigh accurately when mixing such a small amount!
	Reply Like 2
fgayford	fgayford posted 11 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 433, Visits: 1.2K	Bonobo (31/10/2014) Hi, I made my mould using the unimold system starting with black tooling gel coat, after polishing the mould I applied 5 coats of easy-lease. I thought I should test a small amount of the gel coat I intend to use on the mould first (e c fibreglass polyester) info here I'm glad i did the test because it won't release at all. I also mixed up a small amount of Easy composites general laminating polyester resin to test on the mould, this released fine! is there any reason why the EC Fibreglass polyester gel coat wouldn't work? Hello I always check the surface with masking tape to see how active the surface is. Stick the masking tape down on the surface you have applied your release and then see how much resistance it takes to peel it off. When it will hardly stick at all you are done. Masking tape is a great indicator tool. Hope this helps. Fred
	Reply Like 2
Warren (Staff)	Warren (Staff) posted 11 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Administrators Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 8.5K	Also if the mould is fairly fresh it could still be leeching a little styrene which doesn't help things! Worst case use PVA for the first couple of releases until things settle down. Warren Penalver Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant
	Reply Like 3