1976 Corvette Project Part 33 - Fiberglass Mold - Bumper/Taillight Panel

[@Parleyposadajr2248]

not bad at all for a first timer the sky is truly the limit

[@xXBocephusXx]

@@Parleyposadajr2248 Thanks!

[@stephenjolly6906]

Looking good 👍

[@buffdelcampo]

Good to see you using epoxy and cloth. The part looks plenty good enough. I make molds with epoxy as well because I don't like the extreme smell of polyester and its quick cure time. You seem to get through that well even with a fairly large mold. Do you know of any epoxy tooling gel coat? Maybe there isn't such a thing. Nice mold! Maybe I should try polyester again.

[@xXBocephusXx]

Thanks. I've used cloth before (mainly 1708 biaxial) but this is my first time using epoxy. I'm liking it so far. I actually like the quick setup time and mix ratio forgiveness of polyester. Plus chopped strand matting is nice to work with when you have complex shapes like this bumper. A respirator is a good idea and helps with the smell. Don't think I've ever heard of any type of gelcoat for epoxy, I know gel is typically polyester based. There could be such a thing though.

[@buffdelcampo]

@@xXBocephusXx I use 7725 twill cloth. It will conform to just about any shape unlike most cloth. My go to epoxy is West System 105. There is fast and slow hardener available. I was in Yuma, Arizona for a while with ambient air temperatures over 100° F at midnight. I really struggled with cure times on large parts. I ruined a Corvette dash because it was well into the cure before the layup was finished. Then I worked in Maryland in a climate controlled room that was 70° F all year. That was perfect. I used fast hardener, which was a little slow, but always hard the next day. I miss all that fiberglass work. I'm retired now and in my own shop. The work right now is mostly steel and aluminum, but some glass work will be in the future. Watching you gets me motivated to do more glass work.

[@buffdelcampo]

One more thing, your use of vail is very good.

[@xXBocephusXx]

@@buffdelcampo Yes, I did use some of the 7725 twill and it laid out pretty nice for me. I've gotten all my glass and epoxy, and polyester resins from US Composites out here in Florida. I've had good luck with their products so far.

[@xXBocephusXx]

I remembered I'd seen a video from Easy Composites here on KZbin about mold making and they mentioned an epoxy gelcoat (or at least epoxy compatible). They have some products on their website. www.easycomposites.co.uk/epoxy-tooling-gel-coat www.easycomposites.co.uk/epoxy-bonding-polyester-gelcoat-clear