Lessons in Fiberglass

[Vumad]

I took my mold down to the fiberglass place. I forgot the name... so I can't give them a free plug. Maybe Tom can post the came... I think it's Fiberglass Coatings Inc in St. Pete. Anyway, some very knowledgeable guys there. If you need glass supplies in the Bay area, good place to go. The guy there Pat knows more about fiberglass than I know about anything.

Anyway, he said my mold looked good. Of course, I should have done more layers at one time... but the glass layup was good. Tom was there too and they pointed out some air bubbles. I picked up a new aluminum squeege thing that should help some. It's better than my paint roller... that's for sure... The squeege I bought is sitting in some acetone because I just used it. I'll have to post a picture of it later.

I've been using the 2" cheapo brushes.

Tonight I layed 6 more layers of cloth. I sanded the mold because the cheap poly resin has a wax in it that surfaces when you use it, so sanding is requred to remove the wax and get a better bond. I cut 6 rectangular piece of cloth. I mix my poly resin 8 ounces at a time. I ended up using 2 8 ounces and a 6 ounce of resin for a total of 22 ounce of resin with no waste. 20 ounces would have been better for the ride plate but I also used some on my next project. It was about 60 degress out.

The 1st picture is my ride plate mold with a total of 8 layers on it now. I may or may not add more layers to it... How many layers will the final ride plate (not the mold) be to be stong enough to be useable? I'm using 1.5 OZ cloth with poly resin...

The second picture is going to be my next project. It is a Jet Dynamics ride plate. I intend to use this next project to continue practicing using glass, but this project will be one in which I make a quality plug, one that is smooth for a hopefully better quality mold. I will lay it out and make sure everything is smooth. I will use PVA on the second mold and maybe even Gel coat. At this point, I only put some resin on it to fill the holes, and a pile of cloth in the mounting holes to smooth them out. The mounting holes are recessed, and I don't want them to be recessed in my new plate, so I'm building them up with glass so I can sand it smooth to match the curve of the rest of the plate.

 

[BigDog452]

nothing beats epoxy resin that stuff industuctable i made me a carbon fiber ride plate with it two year ago

 

[Vumad]

nothing beats epoxy resin that stuff industuctable i made me a carbon fiber ride plate with it two year ago

Defines "beats". When it comes to price, poly mat doesn't beat carb epoxy, it absolutly destroys it.

 

[tom21]

your funny dude- i just use tape to cover the holes...

you got the name right, and I don't mean to threadjack but I want to start a collection in case some of you guys want to chip in 5 or 10 beans for all the help Pat has given us. If you are not so inclined I can do it alone as I know he has saved me and is making me money with his patience and knowledge. I don't know a lot but I know more after I talk with him. :Banane57:

 

[Vumad]

You'll see when I'm done. And I'll throw $5 for Pat if your serious.

 

[astral]

Defines "beats". When it comes to price, poly mat doesn't beat carb epoxy, it absolutly destroys it.

Price of materials for mold making use = poly
For the end product dont skimp and use poly use epoxy..You get what you pay for..Poly is cheap for a reason
Nothing on my ski or customers ski is poly or vinyl only epoxy.

 

[astral]

Looks good.Next time around spray or roll on some tooling gelcoat (thick)This will give you a nice surface to pull molds off of.Make sure the part is perfectly smooth before applying gel and dont forget to wax.Spraying or applying gel is real easy once you get it...

 

[tom21]

Price of materials for mold making use = poly
For the end product dont skimp and use poly use epoxy..You get what you pay for..Poly is cheap for a reason
Nothing on my ski or customers ski is poly or vinyl only epoxy.

whats the topdeck of a superjet made of again? how about the bottom deck?

for that matter what is any factory ski made of? not epoxy. :shhh:

this is not sarcasm - merely a statement. I agree some parts should be made of a better quality.

What he is doing is merely an exercise. practice making a mold and parts, and just for the hell of it he should run it and abuse it and then do it from other resins and different glass so he can report back on how well they hold up.

problem is he is not the guy to abuse it, Wavedemon would be a good candidate to punish a rideplate. :stups:

 

[Vumad]

whats the topdeck of a superjet made of again? how about the bottom deck?

for that matter what is any factory ski made of? not epoxy. :shhh:

this is not sarcasm - merely a statement. I agree some parts should be made of a better quality.

What he is doing is merely an exercise. practice making a mold and parts, and just for the hell of it he should run it and abuse it and then do it from other resins and different glass so he can report back on how well they hold up.

problem is he is not the guy to abuse it, Wavedemon would be a good candidate to punish a rideplate. :stups:

How is wavedeamon going to abuse a plate? Is he going to use it as a jack stand for his truck? or a shop stand for his ski? because we know he doesn't ride. It's too cold for him. Burrr. Odd... You'd think the caveman beard would keep him warm.

but good point Tom... don't think the hull is made from very strong stuff.

 

[WaveDemon]

How is wavedeamon going to abuse a plate? Is he going to use it as a jack stand for his truck? or a shop stand for his ski? because we know he doesn't ride. It's too cold for him. Burrr. Odd... You'd think the caveman beard would keep him warm.

but good point Tom... don't think the hull is made from very strong stuff.

wow. :hitwithrock:

by the time I was done with this one it was just 4 little chunks of metal circling the mounting bolts.

 

[Vumad]

wow. :hitwithrock:

by the time I was done with this one it was just 4 little chunks of metal circling the mounting bolts.

That's not broken. It's custom "E" cut.

 

[FL-cracker]

whats the topdeck of a superjet made of again? how about the bottom deck?

for that matter what is any factory ski made of? not epoxy. :shhh:

this is not sarcasm - merely a statement. I agree some parts should be made of a better quality.

What he is doing is merely an exercise. practice making a mold and parts, and just for the hell of it he should run it and abuse it and then do it from other resins and different glass so he can report back on how well they hold up.

problem is he is not the guy to abuse it, Wavedemon would be a good candidate to punish a rideplate. :stups:

Yea, and OEM is crap! :rocketwhore: How else would they build a ski for 6k?:cool2:

 

[astral]

whats the topdeck of a superjet made of again? how about the bottom deck?

for that matter what is any factory ski made of? not epoxy. :shhh:

this is not sarcasm - merely a statement. I agree some parts should be made of a better quality.

What he is doing is merely an exercise. practice making a mold and parts, and just for the hell of it he should run it and abuse it and then do it from other resins and different glass so he can report back on how well they hold up.

problem is he is not the guy to abuse it, Wavedemon would be a good candidate to punish a rideplate. :stups:

No One is being critical.just offering advice.
Yes company's use poly,epoxy and vinyl in there layup's .I do it all day everyday at work.I build wake boats and custom speed boats with viper and mastercraft.
The speed boats are Layed up with vinyl and glass and are production boats made with minimal cost.ALL the custom peices that are quality oriented and used for structural support are epoxy with carbon - kevlar - glass.
Yes vinyl and poly when laid up correctly can be made into usefull parts.
Im building my own ski's based off of the superjet and sxr that are carbon - innegra-glass based and I am using epoxy for the resin and all my molds and tooling is made with poly.Its by far not the cheapest route but my personal ski will be light weight and rock solid unlike the factory superjet !!!!!!