Wood That Won't Warp For Building Entire Kitchen Counter, and Advice On Building Hatc

[albergsailor]

im building an entire kitchen counter, the sides, the top, the whole enchalada, I know very little about wood as you can tell. I suppose im looking for a strong wood that wont warp that i can varnish and make look beautiful (for the sides). The countertop im not worried about, i got that sorted out.

So thats one major project and the next one is a rear outside storage hatch about 2 by 2feet. Where the hatch rest is not flat, the fiberglass comes up a cuple inches all the way around where the hatch would go,(typical whitby thing?) So anyways im building a custom fiberglass hatch as the one on there was wood. I figured i would just cut a piece of 1 inch wood(too thick?) about the size of the hatch, then fiberglass the hell out of it, sand it to shape. So i know i start with csm, then matt, then do i alternate back to csm? i thought i read that somewhere. or do i just keep doing the matt till i build up enough then finish off with the csm. Also should i even use wood as a base or should i just try and make it solid fiberglass? Its a hatch thats gonna have to hold my weight. Thanks sorry for long post

[atoll]

Originally Posted by albergsailor

im building an entire kitchen counter, the sides, the top, the whole enchalada, I know very little about wood as you can tell. I suppose im looking for a strong wood that wont warp that i can varnish and make look beautiful (for the sides). The countertop im not worried about, i got that sorted out.

So thats one major project and the next one is a rear outside storage hatch about 2 by 2feet. Where the hatch rest is not flat, the fiberglass comes up a cuple inches all the way around where the hatch would go,(typical whitby thing?) So anyways im building a custom fiberglass hatch as the one on there was wood. I figured i would just cut a piece of 1 inch wood(too thick?) about the size of the hatch, then fiberglass the hell out of it, sand it to shape. So i know i start with csm, then matt, then do i alternate back to csm? i thought i read that somewhere. or do i just keep doing the matt till i build up enough then finish off with the csm. Also should i even use wood as a base or should i just try and make it solid fiberglass? Its a hatch thats gonna have to hold my weight. Thanks sorry for long post

i normally use maranti(philipines mahogany,or iroko,maranti for interiour battoning and iroko for exteriour exposed to the elements.

if you look at my images under my avatar there are some photos of a fiberglass companionway hatch i moulded last week for one of my boats(hina).

first make a female mould with faced mdf board,apply relese wax then gelcoat into mould,2-3 coats then glass on top once sufficent thickness of laminat is achieved remove outer mould.

glue in battons and use ply wood for the inside face,inject polyeurathane expanding foam voila one comosite inexpensive hatch!

[albergsailor]

awsome, but i have 1 more question. Is gelcoat necessary for making a mold? can 1 just wax or put mold release then go ahead with the glass? just curious. Ive done a bit of fiberglass work but never using molds so this is all new to me. Ive been watching u tube videos for about an hour on the whole deal. oh and by the way that hatch u made looks very professional. Thanks so much

[minaret]

Gel is not required. Often for a hatch lid you can tape off the center of the hatch mold and gelcoat the rest, then pull tape and glass. This leaves the hatch gelcoated around the edges but sort of clear in the middle, a classic deadlight method. Make sure to use a fairly clear resin with no die in the catalyst and hand lam it carefully so it ends up clear and bubble free.

[albergsailor]

All this actually has me wondering if the initial use of gelcoat in fiberglass work was just to make it easier to release the part from the mold?? Ive wondered before how i would release a fiberglass part from a mold and i actually figured tape would work, i figured i mite have to lighlty sand the tape off, but u say its actually a way to do it, great. thanks so much

[minaret]

Originally Posted by albergsailor

All this actually has me wondering if the initial use of gelcoat in fiberglass work was just to make it easier to release the part from the mold?? Ive wondered before how i would release a fiberglass part from a mold and i actually figured tape would work, i figured i mite have to lighlty sand the tape off, but u say its actually a way to do it, great. thanks so much

No, sorry, that's not what I was saying at all. Just that gelcoat is not required. And that often people don't use it in the center of a hatch for a deadlight effect. Use a good quality mold release agent for good release, either with or without gel. If you are not experienced and are using a rough mold to pull a part with a less than perfect finish, use PartAll Paste #2. It will never fail you.
You can get a release on tape as well. I do this often for potting in place and molding directly on a surface. Packing tape works really well, even with epoxy. If you are really careful putting it down with no wrinkles you can get an OK result, but you need a little overlap to prevent bonding to the substrate so some tape lines are inevitable with this method. It is good for potting and molding small parts, anything with size and shape or being built in an actual mold should use a release agent instead.

[albergsailor]

im just trying to figure out how gelcoat plays into all this, is gelcoat just to make the mold smoother? seems like the only reason for gelcoat is to make for an easier release?

[albergsailor]

nevermind, i thought u were talking about using tape as a release agent, i read too fast u said pull tape or just put release agent on tape, then glass, ok im good i need to stop reading so fast thank you so much

[atoll]

as minaret said,gelcoat is not needed,i use it as it saves painting afterwards. if you use a high gloss surface like melamine faced chipboard or faced mdf board,and carefully tape the joins/ edges,any imperfections can be buffed out once the mold is released.
very imprtant to use a release wax,i use pva release liquid which washes off with water after release.

[albergsailor]

To be honest i was really in the dark about the making the mold out of mdf part, untill finally today i looked at more of your pics and bam there it is u had a pic of the mold right there. Im wondering though what is faced mdf board??? I know what mdf board is but its the faced part im confused about. i googled it a little and it seems there are different types of faces. which type do i need?

Also what matieral did you use for the bottom of the mold(the top of the hatch thats curved, surely mdf cant make that kind of bend.

And again THANK ALL OF YOU so much total lifesavers, Those pics of that hatch on hina saved my ass on this one especially since i have a main entranceway, and even another hatch that ill be doing the same way!

[atoll]

for that mold i used 8 mm melamine faced mdf flooring that has a smooth surface on one side and the wood effect,textured "floor" on the other. i used the smooth back side.

if you want a bigger bend you will have to use 4-6mm mdf that has only one side coated.
most places they call it white board,and comes with the faced side spray painted.

alternatively formica or acrylic sheeting will work,remember to use release wax.

[atoll]

here are the pics again

[atoll]

Originally Posted by atoll

for that mold i used 8 mm melamine faced mdf flooring that has a smooth surface on one side and the wood effect,textured "floor" on the other. i used the smooth back side.

if you want a bigger bend you will have to use 4-6mm mdf that has only one side coated.
most places they call it white board,and comes with the faced side spray painted.

alternatively formica or acrylic sheeting will work,remember to use release wax.

just a correction to the above,acrylic won't work as the acetone in the resin will eat it!
but pvc,polyethelene sheeting are fine as well.

[atoll]

just as an example of what is possable when molding in glass here is a slightly more complicated mount i made for a winch.
first step was to take a mould off the front of the mast,to get the correct profile.

then using a milk tin to form a drum from some woven rovings that had been pre laminated as a flat sheet.

wiring every thing together,filling voids with resin/micro ballon mix.

glassing it all ,fairing,and gel coating the finished item.

[atoll]

the finished article