mold fillet material

[Dark57]

For a one shot mold, will latex caulk work for a mold fillet?

I've seen posters mention modeling clay for fillets: Is it a clay that hardens? Is there a particular type of modeling clay to use?

Thanks, Dark.

[Toot]

It is not a hardening clay. I use Kwik-Clay. It's nice because it doesn't stick to your hands quite as badly as generic modeling clay. However, whatever they sell at your typical arts&crafts stores is fine. Just plain clay- a tan or gray block of it wrapped in wax paper. I think I pay like $10 for a pound, though I'm sure it could be cheaper if you shop around.

It comes off the mold and part very easily with an orange-based cleaner, such as "Goo-Gone". This doesn't seem to effect the finish or the wax. After using goo gone, another single coat of wax seems more than adequate for pulling another part.

I have a severely screwed-up mold with a couple of cracks and 2 large holes that had to be drilled in when a part refused to come loose. I just fill in those holes with clay, stick some clay in the cracks, and lay up another piece. It works fine and adds very little time to the mold prep.



As for latex caulk, what kind of resin are you using? You might want to test to make sure that the resin doesn't eat the caulk. I suppose it could work, but I suspect it would be more complicated than using clay.

[Dark57]

Thank you.

[wet feet]

Take a look at Freeman's website or maybe Chavant.In England we would probably use plasticene or pre-made wax fillets.

[fiberglass jack]

use fillet wax , its design for patern making and is excellent for rounding corners, it comes in lenghts of 2 feet and is rounded on one side and a right angle to fit into the corner, all u do is press it in place with a balled tool that they will sulply u with its fast and fool proof perfect round corner every time

[SamSam]

Originally Posted by Dark57

For a one shot mold, will latex caulk work for a mold fillet?

I've seen posters mention modeling clay for fillets: Is it a clay that hardens? Is there a particular type of modeling clay to use?

Thanks, Dark.

I don't know about latex caulk, I can't see why it wouldn't work. I've used clay from the toy store, a 1# package of 4 different colored sticks just the same size as sticks of margarine for about 97 cents. Roll a chunk between two pieces of your countertop board until you get a 'rope' of an appropriate size maybe 6-12" long and stick that into the corners. Then take an appropriate sized socket from your socket set, put on an extension as a handle, and drag that with some pressure at an angle along the corners to form the clay. Clean off the two excess edges with a putty knife, wax and laminate. No, the clay doesn't harden, just take care spreading the wax. In your other post you mention not using gel coat, and as some one mentioned you will end up with billions and billions of pinholes. Instead of gelcoat, you might try putting a layer of resin in first, just like gelcoat, and let that set up or mostly so, and then go ahead with the rest of your laminations. Sam

[fiberglass jack]

only problem with caulking is that it will have silacone and silacone will give u fisheyes if you paint

[SamSam]

Originally Posted by fiberglass jack

only problem with caulking is that it will have silacone and silacone will give u fisheyes if you paint

Now I can see why it won't work! Sam

[fiberglass jack]

another trick ive done in the past is to fill the corners with fairing compound at a 45 and then lay up, when u release the part block the edge with some 40 grit til you get the roundness you want, just as fast as rolling clay and trying to round it off ,even after all that work u will still have to sand

[Toot]

Originally Posted by SamSam

I don't know about latex caulk, I can't see why it wouldn't work. I've used clay from the toy store, a 1# package of 4 different colored sticks just the same size as sticks of margarine for about 97 cents. Roll a chunk between two pieces of your countertop board until you get a 'rope' of an appropriate size maybe 6-12" long and stick that into the corners. Then take an appropriate sized socket from your socket set, put on an extension as a handle, and drag that with some pressure at an angle along the corners to form the clay. Clean off the two excess edges with a putty knife, wax and laminate. No, the clay doesn't harden, just take care spreading the wax.

The clay doesn't need wax. Wax the mold and then put the clay in.

Instead of a socket, I would recommend wooden tongue depressors. They won't be as harsh against the already-waxed mold.