Making of the SNX Hull

[MCrider]

Yea surf is a whole new ball game. The first time I went out it was 8fters that grew to 12s by the end of the day, it was a blast. Lake Michigan can get pretty crazy in the fall.

 

[Dalton]

While I haven't used a semi-perm on a plug, I have used frekote on much less perfect surfaces than you have going there and it worked fine releasing epoxy. You still can't go wrong with PVA though. I like the name SNX hull how'd you come up with it?

 

[Nate_D]

It would probably work, but I have no experience with it an I don't want to stick a mold on my only hood plug. A plug that has at least 100 hours into it. Just makes me nervous.

I figured it needed a new name since its so far from a square and my original title was way too long. I went with SNX since it started as a square nose and has been highly modified.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nate_D]

Gel coat

8oz cloth followed by 13oz mat

Burning the midnight oil...

Went with a lighter lay up than the ride plate mold. ~136oz


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dalton]

Nice! What kind of weave is that 8oz cloth?

 

[MikeyB]

Why wouldn't you lay down the mat first and then the cloth?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dalton]

For me personally cloth is easier to lay without those tiny 1/8 to 1/4 inch bubbles forming under the mat. In a normal laminate those tiny bubbles aren't a huge deal but when its the backing layer to your gelcoat the gelcoat will chip away where the air bubbles are.

 

[MikeyB]

Oh alright that makes sense, its usually proven to be the other way around for me. Keep up the good work!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dalton]

Yeah I know most people do mat first for the same reason I do cloth first. Maybe Nate has an entirely different reason for doing cloth first though.

 

[Nate_D]

Exactly what Dalton said. I've tried both ways. The ride plate I put a layer of cabosil thickened resin between the gel coat and the mat. That worked pretty well, but still had some bubbles. The Tubbies I used straight mat and tore it instead of cutting it. That was awful. This time I used the 8oz because it's highly conformable and I laid it down dry. This gave me plenty of time to make sure that every piece of cloth was laid down just right. The tackiness of the gel coat held it in place while I put the resin on. Then I covered the sides with precut mat and used 3" wide 8oz tape over all of the seams. Once that set up and partially cured, I sanded down the rough spots and used a layer of thickened resin over it before alternating woven roving and mat.

I definitely prefer the cloth over mat for the first layer on molds. Every thing I've read says to lay mat first, but I always have bubbles and I am fighting the clock on the resin kicking off to get all of the bubbles out. I actually hate working with mat. Practically have to dump a gallon of resin on it to wet out. I think the way to go for molds would be a chopper gun with layers of cloth in between.

The cloth is the 8oz 7725 (I think) from us composites. It's a modified twill weave. Modified how, I don't know. Just looks like twill to me, but it drapes great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dalton]

That 8oz twill sounds like the way to go for the backing layer besides maybe a chopper gun although it doesn't seem practical unless you're doing lots of chop all day long. It'd just make such a mess...

 

[iangdesign]

You may have to move this build outside before you are down with the solo cup trash heap you have going on. Haha!

Ski looks great so far!

 

[Nate_D]

Thanks Ian. It's far from what it was. You guys have been my motivation to see it through.

Fresh off the plug

PVA removed

By far the best mold of I've pulled. Perfect PVA application makes such a huge difference in the surface finish. It only needed minor sanding with 2000 grit in a couple of places. Here it is all polished up.

Applied frekote FMC and 770nc. It was honestly too easy. I am nervous about it releasing. It just seems like it shouldn't be that easy.

Went with an IMC clear poly urethane from GAC. Pain in the ass to spray over a semi perm. Had to mist it, then heat cure it for an hour using halogen lights and a rigged up heat gun. Then an intermediate coat, and another cure cycle. Finally a thick coat and a final cure. This would have been about 10 times faster if I had an IR heat lamp. Anyway, here's the pic of the final coat and my rigged up curing booth.

Ran out of time to layup the part, but I have all of the fabric cut and ready to go for tomorrow.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MCrider]

That looks killer man! Nice work.

 

[Dalton]

That's a beautiful mold! I feel ya about the frekote feeling too easy. The first time I used it was on a deck mold and I was nervous as hell.

 

[Nate_D]

7.8oz 4x4 twill for visual

3 layers of 19.7oz 2x2

Peel ply

Infusion mesh

Resin line, MTI hose, and Vac gauge

Bag pleated and Vac pulled. Had some trouble with clamping the lines tight enough, but finally was able to hold right below 30hg.

Infusing. It completed seconds before the resin gelled.

I'll find out tomorrow if I screwed anything up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MikeyB]

Sweet! Why dont you use a resin with a longer pot life?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nate_D]

I used a slow hardener which should have had a long enough pot life. I think the outside temp @ 94 was the primary factor in the lowered pot life. I'm going to use an extra slow hardener for the decks and leave the resin inside the house right until mixing. In hindsight I should have checked the resin temp before mixing and used a wider container.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MikeyB]

You using stuff from us composites?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dalton]

I like to use one clamp to hold the line secured to the table and then another big C clamp positioned ready to clamp the line tight to the table and seal it off on the resin side and two vice grips on the vac side.

If your resin was actually at 94 degrees at the time of mixing that's gotta be a huge contributing factor. When I warmed the 2070 extra slow hardener to around 80 it took off like a rocket.

How'd you like the MTI hose?