Day 11 – Getting Moldy!
ACT - Advanced Composites Training
Stay Ahead of The Leading Edge!
Mold making is one of the more technically complex, knowledge and skills-intensive tasks in fabricating composite structures. There are a multitude of different methods to draw upon, from (old school) hand-laid fibreglass reinforced single-piece constructions to complex geometry multi-flanged ‘split molds’.
Pictured here is a sequence of photos showing a multi-step process of creating an inexpensive fibreglass production tool for a desk organizer.
Step 1: Using a 3D computer-aided design program, a master pattern design is created with all dimensions converted into a ‘G’ code to run a CNC milling machine.
Step 2: A CNC male master pattern is milled out of a composite tooling compound
?Step 3: After treating the master pattern surface with a mold release a flexible silicone casting is made from the CNC master, creating a female master pattern.
Step 4: a fast-curing urethane casting compound is poured into the female silicone pattern. Once cured the urethane cast is withdrawn from the silicone pattern
Step 5: A glass fiber and epoxy resin reinforced ‘production tool’ is laid up over the urethane cast. This becomes the working tool for producing carbon fiber copies of the desk organizer which is
Step 6: in the process.
This was a really quick overview of the lessons learned on ACT’s courses known as ‘I4C’ and ‘RPT – Rapid and Prototype Tooling’. If you are interested in becoming a composite tool maker, these two courses provide the foundational knowledge and skills need to begin your work in tooling fabrication. More information can be found on the ACT website at:
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