It worked!!

I pulled the deck mold off the plug and the vinyl peeled off easily, leaving a smooth finish!

The next step is build the splash board mold, which will form a base, and connect this part to it. That's this weekend's job.

Forming the Rowing Deck Mold

This sketch is a concept drawing of the mold for the rowing deck. Of course it is a negative so that when the carbon fiber is formed onto it, it will form a positive with the finished side against the mold.

To form the mold, you need to start with a positive shape, or what's called a plug. I debated building a plug, but then decided that I could use the boat as the basis for it. I used styrofoam board to form the decks and sloped transition surfaces, all held temporarily in place with masking and duct tape. The location of these are critical parts of the boat design.


The mold surface is going to be made of fiberglass, which I have to cast onto the plug. I got stuck for awhile trying to figure out how to ensure that the fiberglass mold would let go of the plug. I discovered thru experiment that fiberglass releases easily from clear vinyl, so I lined the plug with window-vinyl. Because it's see-thru, it is handy material for this work!

Then I laid 6oz glass over top and applied epoxy resin.

Today I checked the result...


...so far, so good!

RIP Kaschper Serial No. 79110

Today I stripped the hardware from my first scull - a Kaschper double that I rebuilt in 1998, and burnt what remained of her shell. I learned many things from this boat and she served me well. Like the Jack Johnson song says, "One goes out, one comes in." RIP.















On a brighter note, I also laid the base layer of glass for the mold for my carbon fiber rowing deck. Photos and details to come.....

I'm glad spring is finally here. S