Sail Life · video

What this video covers

Mads fabricates custom deck rings and hatches for his 44-foot Antares Yachts 44 catamaran refit using a Shapoko 5 Pro CNC machine and polyester resin.2:12 He creates a plug from MDF, coats it with gray surface primer, and uses it to form a fiberglass mold.6:18 During the process, he encounters recurring "alligatoring"—a wrinkled, uneven surface texture—in the gel coat, which he attributes to applying the material too thinly by brush.9:43 He attempts to repair mold imperfections with Bondo, but finds the filler adheres to the finished part, complicating the release.16:04 Despite these surface defects, the resulting deck rings provide a functional, well-fitting temporary solution for sealing hatch openings during the ongoing refit.19:14 He concludes that spraying the gel coat with an air compressor, rather than brushing it, is necessary to achieve a consistent film thickness and eliminate alligatoring in future parts.20:33

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