once again i must ask the v20 gods

[wellcraftv20step]

ridge, what do you mean by add the core ?

[RidgeRunner]

Core = Plywood. If you go to the trouble of building a mold what you make is the female version so when you lay the glass in you are really making the topside of your lid. Like they build hulls from molds. Gelcoat,Glass,stringers or core, More glass. You might want to look into some of the ready made fiberglass or composite panels. I never priced them but I have seen them online. Then you need only worry about sealing the edges and fitment. Depending on what you can find you could use some fiberglass tape and a minimal amount of materials.

[wellcraftv20step]

ok thanks ridge, i will post pics when i get it done.

[wellcraftv20step]

After getting advice from Ridge and phat i decided to go for a completely new build of my 34"x35". gas tank hatch. so today i built the mold for hatch out of MDF it was actually very simple to do, i have a question regarding Duratec. i understand it is applied after i have waxed and sprayed the mold with PVA. is the Duratec meant to adhere to the first coat of Mat or is it also just to keep the Mat from sticking to the mold? and do i even need to use Duratec .. i will try to get molding putty and all the other supplts this weekend. And yes i know this thread is useless with out pics. i will be taking pics of my rebuild. thanks guys,

[smokeonthewater]

no clue on the pva and duratec BUT if you have the clearance, a couple of 2" ribs made from ply strips glassed on the bottom on edge will REALLY stiffen the hatch.

[wellcraftv20step]

Smoke, i am going to add a full size core to my hatch

[smokeonthewater]

yeah I got that.... I'm talking about a couple ribs in addition the the core glassed to the bottom of the hatch..... makes the difference between little flex and no flex

[RidgeRunner]

Originally Posted by wellcraftv20step

After getting advice from Ridge and phat i decided to go for a completely new build of my 34"x35". gas tank hatch. so today i built the mold for hatch out of MDF it was actually very simple to do, i have a question regarding Duratec. i understand it is applied after i have waxed and sprayed the mold with PVA. is the Duratec meant to adhere to the first coat of Mat or is it also just to keep the Mat from sticking to the mold? and do i even need to use Duratec .. i will try to get molding putty and all the other supplts this weekend. And yes i know this thread is useless with out pics. i will be taking pics of my rebuild. thanks guys,

PVA is the stuff that prevents things from sticking. Once your mold is built, wax the surface to make it slick, spray the PVA (mold release agent). The next application is the first thing you will see when you pop your hatch out of the mold. A guy on Classicseacraft.com used Duratec in place of gellcoat. It came out great. It would go PVA, Duratec, mat, reinforcement glass, core and more glass. The gent applied the Duratec and let it get tacky before he started to lay in the mat. He also had help because he was working on a large section (the entire sole)

[macojoe]

I forgot who it was but they made a cover out of that plastic lumber that they use for decks, looked real nice!
On my Sea Ox I had to remove the cover to fix gas tank when I bought it, its a huge cover!! I say about 3 feet buy 6 feet, I call it the coffin as that's what it looks like (110 gal) Sea Ox used PVC pipe cut in half glassed under the cover to help with flex, floor is solid!

[RidgeRunner]

One other note is you will probably end up painting some sort of non-skid surface when you pop the product from the mold.