Fiberglass cowl - revisited
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 10:34 am
Forgive my ignorance but I'm still trying to understand this stuff. Many
have said that I should go with the female mold method so that I can build
more than one cowl if need be and also to get a better finish with gel coat.
I'm still trying to figure out how to do that. Unless I have it wrong it
seems like I must complete the project as I had originally planned by
sculpting the shape I want out of foam, using spackling to fill gaps and
finalize the shape, then covering with something like Ultralight (bondo) or
maybe just primer, then a release agent then fiberglass. Then if I want to
proceed to the female mold I must remove the cured fiberglass from the foam
structure and use it as the female mold which will require preparation of
the inside of the fiberglass part, adding gel coat, then lay a new layer of
fiberglass inside the original fiberglass part. The original fiberglass
part would need to be reinforced or supported to hold it's shape for this to
work. And I would have to somehow account for the slightly smaller part
that would come out of the female mold so it will fit. To be honest, it
sounds like a lot of extra work. I want this to be behind me as soon as
possible. It's already too hard to get motivated to even enter my shop
knowing that this kind of work awaits me. I have no interest in making more
than one of these dang things. Sure wish I could have found an
off-the-shelf nose cowl that could be adapted.
Mike
044SR
-----------------------------------------------------------------
List archives located at: https://mail.dcsol.com/login
username "rebel" password "builder"
Unsubscribe: rebel-builders-unsubscribe@dcsol.com
List administrator: mike.davis@dcsol.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
have said that I should go with the female mold method so that I can build
more than one cowl if need be and also to get a better finish with gel coat.
I'm still trying to figure out how to do that. Unless I have it wrong it
seems like I must complete the project as I had originally planned by
sculpting the shape I want out of foam, using spackling to fill gaps and
finalize the shape, then covering with something like Ultralight (bondo) or
maybe just primer, then a release agent then fiberglass. Then if I want to
proceed to the female mold I must remove the cured fiberglass from the foam
structure and use it as the female mold which will require preparation of
the inside of the fiberglass part, adding gel coat, then lay a new layer of
fiberglass inside the original fiberglass part. The original fiberglass
part would need to be reinforced or supported to hold it's shape for this to
work. And I would have to somehow account for the slightly smaller part
that would come out of the female mold so it will fit. To be honest, it
sounds like a lot of extra work. I want this to be behind me as soon as
possible. It's already too hard to get motivated to even enter my shop
knowing that this kind of work awaits me. I have no interest in making more
than one of these dang things. Sure wish I could have found an
off-the-shelf nose cowl that could be adapted.
Mike
044SR
-----------------------------------------------------------------
List archives located at: https://mail.dcsol.com/login
username "rebel" password "builder"
Unsubscribe: rebel-builders-unsubscribe@dcsol.com
List administrator: mike.davis@dcsol.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------