Fiberglass

[Badsanta]

What can I place on a work bench to keep my fiberglass project from sticking to bench. I tried wax paper, but that didn't work well. Plastic sheets ?

[Chotu]

Standard plastic sheet rolls from the hardware store.

Even a garbage bag if it’s a small project

[Badsanta]

Thanks, thats easy!

[Cheechako]

Hmmm, never had wax paper not work myself.
You can buy bees wax in sheets like model makers etc use. Various thicknesses available. It's great for making complex 3D shapes.
What "didnt work" about wax paper?

[Badsanta]

The waxed paper stuck to it and I had to sand it off.

[motion30]

A surface like formica or melamine board with several coats of wax or even better sprayed with Pva

[model 10]

Keep the table clean and waxed. Never use any wax with silicone! Another option is heavy plastic. You can use spraybomb glue to hold it down.

[Reefmagnet]

By some melamine coated MDF that is used for lining the backs of cupboards and some mould wax. Wax up the board as you would a mould (three rubbed on coats of wax). The job will release easily.

[TheLuckyone]

I’ve been reusing the plastic bags cereal comes in (inside the cardboard box). Epoxy will stick to it a bit when it’s wet, but once cured the bag peels away without a problem.

[boatpoker]

I'm with Reefmagnet and Motion30. Heavily waxed Formica will give a perfectly smooth finish, part is easily removed and the Formica will last forever. Formica is also a perfect surface for gleaming gelcoat.

[Chotu]

We don’t even know what his project is. Why bother with all the expense of all sorts of tooling to make a single hatch cover or something?

No one is right here until we know the scope of the project. Garbage bag, cereal bag or high gloss mold with pva release or gel coat polyester construction could all be correct.

[Badsanta]

I'm just trying to beef up a hatch lid. It was cracked badly. After sanding I put down waxed paper on the work bench put the cover upside down and added glass cloth and epoxy. When I flipped it over to work on the top I had to sand off the wax paper too finish off the top.
Just thought there must be a better work surface and needed some options.
Thanks to all for the quick suggestions.

[rslifkin]

Maybe add more wax to the waxed paper? I've used waxed paper before and only had a few small spots stick / tear when I pulled the part off.

Shurtape housewrap tape on a surface also works pretty well. You lay the tape onto the surface, shiny (non-sticky) side up with slight overlap and then work on that.

[Spot]

I have and would use medium-weight polyethylene plastic sheeting, think resealable 'Ziplock' bag or similar, recycled or fresh off a roll from a big-box store like Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, etc.

Avoid thin stuff like Saran wrap or the super thin painting tarps. Also stay clear of the home-remedy mold releases like car wax, wax paper, and vegetable shortening. Been there, done that, wrecked stuff...they will work part of the time and fail the other part leaving the part or mold in ruins.

If you want the industry solutions, they are bagging film, mold release wax, and PVA (the release not the glue). I bought PVA and wax after wrecking a couple wooden molds with epoxy and the 'home remedy' methods.

My understanding is the same kit works for polyester but I do not have personal experience to back this up.

Picture of lee board, rudder blade, and rudder cheek for the dinghy enclosed. 6oz plain weave over plywood with epoxy, vacuum bagged.

[Bycrick]

The last big layup job that I was involved in turned out to be simple. We had an easy source for "concrete form plywood." This was cheap 3/4” plywood with a black plastic coating on one side. Waxed it with some old car wax, a quick spray with PVA, and laid up some almost 2’ x 8’ pieces. After curing, a thin putty knife under one corner just popped them off.