Hydro Junkie

What about those aerosol bottles with the spray can top? Would that work or is the coating too thick?

Hesco Racing

Come on Scott now that you have pulled boats without PVA is it not so much easier. I have found working mostly with epoxy that the PVA sometimes act as a bond and since I only use release wax removing parts is a dream. The mould just has to run in but once it is their parts nearly fall out the mould.

Cobus

Dreamin Hemi

You are absolutely right Cobus. Haven't touched my PVA bottle in a few months. Even for the new hatch mold Inever touched the stuff. Just 6 coats of TRRelease Wax, no PVA. I was going to, since the mold was new and unused, but the owner of TR assured me it would not be necessary. He was right and once Ilifted an edge and hit it with a blast of air from my compressor it popped right out. The hulls have been releasing very easy. Since I can't lift any edges on these "finished in the mold" hulls, I just blast a corner with air and the boat literally floats out of the molds. Couldn't be easier. Granted my compressor gives me the capability of using a full 180 psi through the hose of needed, not that I have to go that high, although I did for the first release of the new hatch. Usually Inever go over 100 psi for the "release bursts".

Oh yeah.....haven't touched any of my plastic mold wedges either since I stopped the PVA. The finishes have been perfect, no dust spots whatsoever. As I posted in another thread somewhere the finished part should be "customer ready" direct from the mold. Any more work you have to put into it as far as polishing, or even wetsanded first then polished is only the result of a bad mold preparation and little effort or care for a good finish. As you've seen in earlier pictures, these molds are glass smooth with a mirror finish. The product of hours of detail wetsanding and proper polishing and sealing techniques. This results with the parts pulled from them to be the same. PVA would only create more work for me in the end. No way going back to that stuff for releasing a part from a mold.

Still use it for repairs on models and full scale boats. It's the only way to assure the gel will harden properly on an already finished hull. An application of PVA following a gelcoat layer on the outside of a hull will seal the air out and make it harden nicely with out being gummy or sticky.