Leaning Post Project

[zendora]

Thought I'd share my progress. I'm working on transforming a small seat box into a leaning post that will house a livewell, washdown hose and some drawers for storage. I've done some minor fiberglass repairs, fairing and topcoat work with gel coat and awlgrip, but this is my first attempt at using fiberglass in a mold, so any comments are much appreciated.

Heres how it started:


cut:



ground to bare glass:


mold pieces - cabinet grade plywood, painted with high build sandable spray primer, then coated with 4 layers of release agent:



framed:




layers of gel coat - I am going to sand, fair and paint the box once done, but I thought I would get a more uniform finish with a layer of gel coat (bc the existing box is gel coat) rather than trying to sand down bare epoxy/glass and the surrounding gel coat:


First layers of glass - I'll probably end up doing 5 or 6 with thick layers of epoxy and filler in between. Started with 9 oz cloth, then built up with a couple layers of chop strand (what a mess):



Got a lot done Sunday, and removed the mold Monday night:




I'm happy with the progress so far. Back to the garage this Sunday to get some more done!