Can I lay up Carbon Fibre in a Fibreglass Mold ??

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Can I lay up Carbon Fibre in a Fibreglass Mold ??

Can I lay up Carbon Fibre in a Fibreglass Mold ??

Author	Message
Eddie Walsh	E Eddie Walsh posted 6 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
E Group: Forum Members Posts: 52, Visits: 294	Hi all, I have just signed up on here as I would like to switch from Fibre Glass to Carbon Fibre, and as I have a lot of FG molds can I use these for making my items in CF ?? any help appreciated, Regards DM
	Reply Like 3
oekmont	oekmont posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 550, Visits: 27K	Basically speaking yes, although there might be some problems with the gel coat of your moulds. Polyester mould surfaces have not the best release propertys when using epoxy resin to make the parts. However, if you are using inmould coating or a polyester based clear gelcoat for your parts, there should be no problem. And if you are using pva release agent (wich I do not recommend for most applications) there shouldn't be any issues either. If you however planning on doeing some kind of prepreg process, polyester moulds will likely fail due to the high temperatures.
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drippy	drippy posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 32, Visits: 388	+x oekmont - 7/5/2018 2:18:58 PM Basically speaking yes, although there might be some problems with the gel coat of your moulds. Polyester mould surfaces have not the best release propertys when using epoxy resin to make the parts. However, if you are using inmould coating or a polyester based clear gelcoat for your parts, there should be no problem. And if you are using pva release agent (wich I do not recommend for most applications) there shouldn't be any issues either. If you however planning on doeing some kind of prepreg process, polyester moulds will likely fail due to the high temperatures. would vinylester molds work the same as poly molds or should this work?
	Reply Like 3
Hanaldo	Hanaldo posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 28K	Vinyl ester moulds should be perfect, provided you are using them within their temperature range (ie. not using epoxy pre-pregs over 100C).
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drippy	drippy posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 32, Visits: 388	+x Hanaldo - 7/27/2018 2:09:25 AM Vinyl ester moulds should be perfect, provided you are using them within their temperature range (ie. not using epoxy pre-pregs over 100C). awesome! I was planning on making some smaller parts with infusion but wanted to play around with some prepreg on it too.
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Hanaldo	Hanaldo posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 28K	If you're planning on using X-Preg from Easy Composites, it does work with a vinyl ester mould but you will get some pinholes. It's not awful, but it's not perfect either. For epoxy infusion - vinyl ester is perfect. Edited 6 Years Ago by Hanaldo
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k.alan.bates	k k.alan.bates posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
k Group: Forum Members Posts: 36, Visits: 664	+x oekmont - 7/5/2018 2:18:58 PM And if you are using pva release agent (wich I do not recommend for most applications) Why would you advise against using pva release agent "for most applications?" Which types of applications are you referring to? Which applications would you consider pva release agent appropriate? Edited 6 Years Ago by k.alan.bates
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Steve Broad	Steve Broad posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 408, Visits: 4.1K	+x k.alan.bates - 8/8/2018 6:06:54 PM +x oekmont - 7/5/2018 2:18:58 PM And if you are using pva release agent (wich I do not recommend for most applications) Why would you advise against using pva release agent "for most applications?" Which types of applications are you referring to? Which applications would you consider pva release agent appropriate? If you can spray the PVA then you will get a pretty smooth finish (but not glossy) and it is quick to apply. For a glossy finish (assuming that your mould is glossy) you need to use either a wax or a liquid release agent that you can buff. As mentioned above, moving cloth around on PVA can cause it to lift (as it forms a very thin peelable sheet) so you have to be accurate with your first placement Edited 6 Years Ago by Steve Broad
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Hanaldo	Hanaldo posted 6 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 28K	PVA is great for applications where you aren't sure about material compatibility. I use it for virtually every mould I produce off an original that I cant modify or respray with coatings I know wont react with the tooling gelcoat. Basically if you have a choice between refinishing a mould because it has defects from a PVA surface, and having to repair and resurface a mould or potentially even binning it completely because it reacted with the pattern surface - that's a no brainer. But if you are producing a new pattern from scratch, or you have the option of respraying an original; then you should be using coatings that you are 100% certain wont react with the gelcoat you're using to make the mould, and you should be getting that surface perfect. And then in this case, why would you choose to go over that perfect surface with PVA and have to refinish the mould again?
	Reply Like 3