Sail Life · video

What this video covers

Mads fabricates custom fiberglass deck hatches for a 44-foot Antares Yachts 44 catamaran to replace temporary plywood covers.0:19 The project serves as a test for mold-making techniques intended for larger future components.0:22 Using Fusion 360, he designs a female mold split into three 19-millimeter MDF layers, which are CNC-machined and aligned using aluminum round bar inserts.6:54 He repairs machining imperfections with Bondo, applies gray primer, and finishes the mold with wax and a sprayed polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) release agent.13:45 The laminating schedule includes a gel coat layer, fiberglass veil, 1.5-ounce chop strand mat, 1708 biaxial fabric, and 3-millimeter core mat.17:31 After curing, the part releases easily from the mold due to a 10-degree draft angle.19:44 The process reveals that PVA runs create surface indentations in the gel coat and that sanding inside corners of a female mold is significantly more difficult than sanding outside corners on a plug.21:11

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