Fred, matthieu,

Thanks for the welcome, and info! I've started the first vacuum process today and will demould this evening (I hope!) Attached a few more photos ...
Thanks again,
David

Hello

You will not have any problems making your mold from this plug. Just wax it with the right mold release wax.(5 coats should be fine) Put on a good coat of PVA and gelcoat when dry and make your mold.

I use laquer based primer all the time.

Fred 

I thought I may try a smaller side project prior to starting my main one... I've made moulds of the steel headlight covers on my Nissan drift car, and will try my hand at infusion with them first. The first photo is of the steel part itself weighing in at 653 grams. The second is of the plug and mould separated... and the third photo is showing my first problem! It seems there are dozens of tiny pinholes in the tooling gelcoat. I worry these may cause my mould to lose vacuum over the time it takes for the actual carbon part to cure I don't have a pressure chamber to help speed up the degassing process, but I do let the gelcoat stand for ten minutes after mixing. I assume it keeps several bubbles trapped because it is not very viscous? Any help on this issue would be appreciated, and I intend to purchase or build a degassing chamber prior to moving on to larger projects.
Thanks in advance for any information!
David

Hi, nice to have you here! good luck with the project and post some pictures now and then

Matthieu Libeert
Founder MAT2 Composites X Sports
website: www.mat2composites.com

Hey David

 Hello all from Nashville, TN USA

  I've been browsing the forum and product site for several months now... also have been watching the EC videos on YOUTUBE since they were posted litterally the first day (amazing videos guys, informative and very well put together).  I have played around with fiberglass for several years making odds and ends, but nothing to the caliber of the projects I've seen on this site.  I'm approaching a project where I've already shaped the plug from expandable foam, skinned it with polyester auto-body filler, and coated it with an auto-body primer...  my only concern is that my final primer layer may be detrimental to the mould due to it being thinned with laquer thinner.  This will be my first plug\mould design, and I can't wait to post some photos of the project!

  Thanks again to all the Easy Composites' \ Talk Composites' staff for their efforts in making this field accessible to the average joe!

David Williams

http://www.youtube.com/user/mr2ferrari

http://williamshpf.wix.com/a-work-in