- Location
- Lake Orion, Michigan
X2. I start wet at 240
thanks for the tip - will make the switch sooner then
X2. I start wet at 240
Sanding is the best part of the process. Imagine spraying and then sanding 5 gallons at once...
Never catalyze Duratec at under 2%; 1% isn't recommended. This could be the reason at 220 dry your paper is clogging (under catalyzed).
80 grit to start is way to coarse for me, 220 is normal. Throw that tiny block away and get a longer one! Sanding (blocking) is so important for a true plug.
Go wet after the higher grit only. And then you get to sand the mold!
Once you get past the real bad sanding (400 wet) jump right to these (1000 & 2000) polishes and a 12' car polisher wheel. The 1000 fast cut makes quick work of any imperfections, and the 2000 it will be mirror shined ready for wax. You can have the polishing done in a night or two. You will be amazed how much faster you get the plug starts looking perfect. If you are just building the molds for yourself dont drive yourself crazy with the details. Hit the major imperfections and let the 1000 fast cut polish do the rest. Remember its a bottomdeck, thats going to get trailered and roughed up pretty quickly. You just need it smooth enough to look nice and actually release cleanly from the mold. As you know, you could spend your life trying to make it flawless....lol
It will amaze you how well this stuff works and your plug starts looking GOOD fast. Its made by Hawkeye too.
http://www.duratec1.com/dp17-18.html
I know I'm jumping ahead a bit here, but have you decided on a layup schedule for the hull yet???
Thanks for posting that. I am surprised to see mat on the exterior of the layup. It's lack of strength is much more critical there. Maybe he used it to prevent print through? You could use a veil for that also.
don't want to use a core this time around for my first one for fear of delamination
I used coremat on these before I had spoken with Gordon about delamination issues. I will NOT use it in the final part, and will replace the thickness of it (about 2mm) with fabric.