Off the wall mold construction idea
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Off the wall mold construction idea
Love the site, me and a coworker are going to start rolling our own. Anyway, we've been brainstorming mold/press ideas with design flexibility as the top priority (i.e. easy switch from making a carve ski to making a powder ski). I thought of a novel way to create molds faster than the current MDF laminate method. The idea is to make a vertical laminate of polystryrene foam (like the blue sheets they sell at Lowes, etc.) and then cut the mold profile using a hot-wire. Then lay-up fiberglass on the foam to create the mold base. You'd end up with a shell of fiberglass with a core of PS foam. The questions are:
- is this easier than cutting out MDF to laminate into a mold (I think it would be but, we're just starting out so we haven't done the mold yet)
- will this mold stand up to pneumatic press use? Certainly it will stand up to a vacuum press, but pneumatic might be too much.
- is this easier than cutting out MDF to laminate into a mold (I think it would be but, we're just starting out so we haven't done the mold yet)
- will this mold stand up to pneumatic press use? Certainly it will stand up to a vacuum press, but pneumatic might be too much.
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http://universalconstructionfoam.com/pdf/eps_data.pdf
doesn't look like the strength is high enough without glass for pneumatic pressing, and having to glass it and then sand it, etc... makes mdf still a better solution imo.
Sure is a great idea for vacuum bagging though.
doesn't look like the strength is high enough without glass for pneumatic pressing, and having to glass it and then sand it, etc... makes mdf still a better solution imo.
Sure is a great idea for vacuum bagging though.
Hmmm, so you might be able to get away w/o the glass on a vacuum press... that would be quick & easy.
We talked about hollowing out filling with something with more compressive strength (concrete, epoxy, etc.) but that seemed expensive, time consuming and heavy.
Keep us posted Steevner.
We talked about hollowing out filling with something with more compressive strength (concrete, epoxy, etc.) but that seemed expensive, time consuming and heavy.
Keep us posted Steevner.
"Powder snow skiing is not fun. It's life, fully lived, life lived in a blaze of reality." - Dolores LaChapelle
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