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
Ed,
I assumed that the parting board also should have a smooth surface suitable for waxing/PVA since it will be removed from the first mold half. Is that not correct? The plywood surface was very course and I didn't think it would wax up too well. I would have to fill in the grain to get it smooth enough to wax well without all of the ridges. Although, the ridges could act as a way to lock in the second half of the mold. Hmmmm.
-Jorden