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I shaped a nice plug, made a sturdy mold and then layed in the resin and matt for a part. It looked great when it came out of the mold.
but upon closer inspection I found soft spots in the gel coat which turned out to be air pockets. fucker.
Can somebody give me some advice on the proper way to lay this stuff in?
I don't have a gun for the gel coat so I did two coats with a brush and got good coverage. I think the mistake I made was letting the Gel coat kick before I started with the matt. Should I let the gel coat cure or start right in? One thought I had was to shred some matt (which I do for the corners anyway) and do a layer of shredded matt in the bump to get good adhesion. then let that just start to kick before going with the next layer. Thoughts?
I'm doing four layers of matt with two layers of cloth mixed in.
oh sorry missed the part where you said it cam out ok... You should have been able to see those air bubbles when you were laying the mat. How did you apply your resin?
Thats the thing. That layer looked all good. but after a few more layers its hard to tell whats going on with the first layer. I stippled it with a mix stick too, at the end looking for bubbles.
Honestly, i'm not looking to trouble shoot this part but more for advice on technique as if I hadn't started yet. I've read so much conflicting info, I'm all turned around.
I'm pretty new to glass too and have only done a few screwing around test pieces... but if you didnt see any air bubbles, there shouldnt have been any... that brings me back to your release, the resin, or gel coat. Two coats gel? what was the cure time? and what did you put on your plug to release?
Get a roller, either a plain narrow or spiky one.
I've made rollers in the past (1/4"x1" fender washers with smaller washers as spacers, looks like a mini, mini harrow for use after ploughing)
Stippling with a mixing stick just moved where mat is lifting to a different area
when i do composites, try to always make a BLACK or dark colored mold. it will help spot the bubbles better.
are you waiting till the gel coat is hard ? or are you waiting till its tacky / NOT to soft. wait till its tacky, then start laying down your fabric. work small layers at a time. 2-3 layers is good, if u want more do it after it dries. for me when i added 4-5 layers it became more difficult to spot things and push into certain corners and round areas
I was just thinking that, after looking at the pictures again.
The mat should be bonded to the gel coat no matter what
Any air bubbles would normally be in the edges/corners when mat pulls away from mold (or doesn't get in there in the first place)
Pj's right, you need a small metal barrel roller to roll out any air bubbles. Also you may be going too thick with all those layers of matt. A veil and 2 matt should be thick and strong enough. When you roll out too many layers of matt there is a possibility you undo what you have rolled out underneath if not careful. I hope that makes sense. I'll double check tomorrow @ work with my buddy he's been in the business for well over 20 years see what he thinks.
Ok so I just showed my buddy Damion your pics and description, he said "what kind of wax did you use on your mould before you applied your gelcoat?". Also the amount of hardener used in your mix too much can create air bubbles as it drys too fast/ can't roll them out.
All good tips here and I did incorporate most of them into my second attempt. The details; I'm using a plain Mother's carnuba wax, about 5 coats. I also used a spray on partal film from evercoat. No issues with release. I'm using west system resin and cloth/mat. I may have used too much hardener in the gel coat the first time. That would explain the massive pockets. I did let it get tacky the second time and I did just two layers so that I could be sure that nothing pulled away before it set up. I went back with 3 more layers today. I'll post a pic when I separate them tomorrow.
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