315duramax

To answer the origional question, for what you are doing, making a mold for the part there really isn't too much of an advantage. Because most often the reason for making a mold is for 1 of 2 reasons. 1) to make the part multiple times. And 2) to vac bag the part making it as strong and as light as possible. And it seems just like you are doing a custom wind screen and a center throttle.. Neither of which really will effect weight that much that you need to worry about 15 lbs rather than 20lbs added. Id say just mold it on the boat with raw materials, wood, plexy etc, shape it, and glass it in and body work it.

Wally

iTrader: (1)

only benefit in my mind would be if your planning on making more pieces or if you were trying to save weight. You can lay up a part in a mold lighter then you could "one-offing" it......potentially anyway

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

yep . . . . building a part in a mold allows far greater laminate continuity and balance. You can certainly build moldless but it takes a seasoned hand and lots of experience, its much more then just ending up with the shape you want using a bunch of filler. Theres an art to the process and no one has perfected it better then Skater, all their decks are moldless lofts to give you an idea of what can be done. In the end its really a question of what process is gonna give you the best results, some parts are simply easier to knock out a quickie plug and mold and some parts are just easier to make the part oldschool . . . . . .


personally I dont like using fillers in any of the shaping process and use just a few coats of gel to finalize the new partafter the glass work is done. This makes the process of lofting from scratch fairly time consuming and can sometimes equal or exceed the time it takes to build a plug quick and dirty and pop a mold. It can be a margin call that takes into account part shape, location, expected useful life, etc . . . . .




im sure this does not help one bit

tommymonza

I used to have the privileged to participate working with Paul Mann and building these BADD MFOs. We did not even know how to spell the word MOLD.

http://www.paulmanncustomboats.com/


One of the Absolute most honest and nicest guys you could ever meet..

I would love to go boat shop hopping up there some day with you DAVE.

You would be in Heaven. People there are Great. Love to talk Real Boats