Building 1 time use mold. input?

[Dave Hirshberg]

Ebeach,
thanks on the heads up. I did notice a slight pebble finish on the Melamine. I figure that I'm most likely going to paint the final part so it should come out in the sanding and priming. I'm going to pop the mold skin in a half hour. I've been taking pictures as I've progressed so I'll post on monday when I'm back in the shop.

[Dave Hirshberg]

Well,
This has been a difficult process to say the least. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
1st try- layed up the fiberglass skin on the molding table, bent it around the wood frame and reinforced with core board on the radius's. It looked great but I could feel the radius was concave by about 1/8 inch inside the mold. Scrapped it. [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]
2nd try- Formica was suggested so I bought a $40 dollar sheet, glued a 1 by 2 frame to stiffen it, bent it around the wood frame, sunk a few screws in the radius and then accidentally let go. Sure enough It tried to snap back to origional shape and cracked the formica. [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]
At this point tools were flying.
I'm now on the third try with formica and another $40 board. Hope to be more cautious this time.
I'll post pics after it works [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Dave Hirshberg]

Sorry it took so long but heres some pics of the process to date. I popped the well out today and it came out pretty good. My fwd radius came out well and the glossy formica gave a flawless finish. I took a suggestion from someone to use a good grade of silicone for the top radius instead of clay.. Bad Idea. that whole corner came out soft and gooey. Will have to build that corner myself. I planned on having finish work and painting anyway. Still have to cut to the final fit size and add the back and bottom , but the hars stuff is pretty much behind me.
http://www.theboatzone.com/gallery/v...umName=album13

I'm short on time, Gotta pick up the little one from school so I'll check back and post more as I go progress. Thanks for all the input. It all helped.

[strick]

Looks really good Dave. I like how you made the recessed area for the lid. I did not think to do that for my transom cap and it would have saved me tons of time that I've taken to make the hatch areas look good. What is the brown material that you used in the first few pics that wrapped around the top and bottom. Also it looks like the formica wrapped easily around the corners. Some of the formica I've seen is kinda brittle and wants to break if you make too sharp a bend. Did you have any trouble doing that? Again nice work.

Strick

[Dave Hirshberg]

Strick,
The brown material is heavy paper. I used it to get an idea of what the finished part would look like. I used formica and although it bent around the corner it had to be held down pretty tight. It took two people. YOu also have to sink your screws thru a peice of wood to distribute the stress across the whole peice of formica or it will shatter. I shattered my first try. $42.00 later I was a little more careful. Still have a lot of work to do to it.

[Dave Hirshberg]

For those still following I finally finished it. here are some pics. It was installed this weekend. Owner was really happy [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Dave Hirshberg]

All the pics here.
http://www.theboatzone.com/gallery/album13/DSC00245

[strick]

Wow great job.. your hired! [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] Did you coat the inside with anything? and how was it plummed

Strick

[Dave Hirshberg]

Hi strict, and thanks
I gelcoated the inside with a brush and plumbed it with a stand pipe and a sureflow baitmaster mag drive pump and went straight out the transom with a stainless 1 1/2 thru hull drain. Using the Lenght times width times height divided by 231 formula it came up with 38 1/2 gallons. I was also able to get away with Gel Coat on the outside as well. When I matched the color to the boat I saved a pint and used it for touch up on the outside.

[ScottM]

Dave,
Very nice work. Since the well is rectangular, are you worried about the bait bunching up in the corners, or is the inside rounded off?