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Fiberglass molding is a process in which fiberglass reinforced resin plastics are formed into useful shapes. Bundle of fiberglass Fiberglass (also called fibreglass and glass fibre) is material made from extremely fine fibers of glass. ...
Making a Mould
The plug or buck is required first to make a mould. This will be like an original part that is to be copied, but usually slightly bigger to account for the shrinkage of the mould.
First the plug must be waxed with mould release wax. Depending on the desired surface, PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol) may be sprayed on as an additional mould release agent. However, this will reduce the smoothness of the mould's finish. Chemical structure of polyvinyl alcohol Polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH, PVA, or PVAL) is a water-soluble synthetic polymer. ...
Once the plug has its release agent applied, gelcoat is painted with a roller, brush or sprayed onto the plug. Spraying requires a special paint gun, made specific for gelcoat. Gelcoat is a pigmented resin without reinforcement. Tooling gelcoat is used for its harder, more durable finish. A gelcoat is a material used to provide a high quality finish on the visible surface of a fibre reinforced composite material. ...
Moulds are usually made from the same fibreglass the part is made from. A mould should be 5 times thicker than the part being made. For instance, if a part is made from two layers of 1.5 ounce mat, then the mould should be 10 layers of 1.5 ounce mat. Layers of fibreglass will be applied, and tooling resin is added for bonding the fibreglass layers together. Special rollers are rolled over the wet laminate to drive out air bubbles.
Once the final layers of fibreglass are applied to the mould and allowed to set up, wedges are driven between the plug and the mould to separate the two. Once released you have a negative image of the original part.
Advanced techniques like Resin Transfer Moulding use two mould halves. The second mould half is made by building the product thickness up in the bottom mould with calibrated wax sheets, and then laminating the top mould half over that.
Making a Component The making of a component is the reverse of making a mould. Release agent is applied to the mould. The mould will be sprayed with gelcoat in the desired color of the component, then layers of fibreglass are built up to the desired thickness. Once complete and cured, wedges are used to separate the component from the mould.
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