Creating fibreglass moulded deck pads

[sharmajm]

I am in the middle of a major refit on my old Halcyon 23. ( due to a hit an run incident on the Orwell 2 yrs ago ;o( ).

As I am repainting the deck I am considering replacing the contoured bits of wood under my hatch hinges with permanent moulded in fibre glass pads.

Has anybody attempted anything like this and what sort of mould would I need to make?

My only thought so far is to create an open top frame to keep the edges straight and then layer in the fibre and epoxy until the right height is achieved, then finish off with filler

All thoughts very welcome

 

[oldsaltoz]

faster and cheaper to contact you local plastics distributor and look for a product like Star Board, a bit like the stuff they make bread boards out of but a lot stronger, UV stable to.

Good luck.

 

[Avocet]

Can you get the bits of wood off in one piece? If so, you might be able to fill and fair them (car body filler will be fine) and simply take a mould off them. You'll need to put a slight draft angle on them, depending on the shape, to get the parts back out of the mould.

If you want to do that, just clean them up, fill any imperfections with filler, flat it down, put the draft angle on it, then wax them with mould release wax. Do they have a flat face on the bottom? If so, stick the flat face to a waxed mirror or sheet of glass with plasticine. Paint gelcoat over them and the surroundinf few inches of mirror, then lay up the fibreglass over them. Let it go off, release from mirror and (hopefully!) the wodden patterns and you should have a mould. You cna then wax the mould, gel it and lay your own up. Depending on size and thickness, you could put various core materials in. You could also search for casting resins and fillers (like short chopped glass strands) and simply cast some.

 

[davidej]

Why not hunt around for an ice-cream tub, sandwich box or similar of the right size? You will then have a nice smooth surface to lay up the GRP moulding in.