My first boat, need help

[beltran22]

I've completed my first mold for a 22' flats. Naturally my first step is to wax the mold, 2nd step is to spray gelcoat then lay in the fiberglass. My question is how long should I wait after the last coat of gelcoat before I lay in the fiberglass and how many coats of gelcoat is recommended?

[Eagle Boats]

Make sure you have enough coats of wax before you put the gel coat on. We usually wax the mold at least 6 times before we spray the gel. In addition, we also spray the mold with PVA after we wax, for the first part. This helps break the mold in. In regards to the gel coat, we spray the mold in three passes with a buildup of approximately 6 mils per pass for a total buildup of 18 mils. You can obtain a mil gauge from your gel coat supplier. When you spray the gel coat, alternate between side to side, and up and down. If this is your first time spraying gelcoat, first practice and then practice again on a small piece of waxed formica. You don't want to spray the gel coat too thin, as the styrene will eat through it and cause all sorts of problems, and you don't want to spray it too thick as the gel coat will have a greater tendency to crack.

[Ssor]

Sounds like my grandmother's advise on how much salt to add, "You want to use enough, but not too much".

[Dutch Peter]

Beltran22,

Drop an email to PAR, you can find him in the memberslist. From what I've seen of his posts, his reply will be all you need.

[boat182]

I am closing my boat company, would you be interested in purchasing the molds or company? Check out our web site and let me know.

Jay
compassboats.com
956-237-8075