ORIGINAL: Ed Smith

Jordan,

You are making a career out of it. All the parting board has to be is a flat surface around the centre of the plug. It is used only for the first mold half and then discarded. Support for the plug is not needed. The board must be a tight fit on the plug with no gaps. If there are any unfilled gaps around the seam the gelcoat will leak through and the result will be one miserable joint line.
So fit the parting board to the plug. Then tape the half hole above the board in the manner I show. There will now be an "Edge" all around the plug for the gelcoat to stop at.

The method I advocate takes about fifteen seconds.


Ed S