I’m looking for someone to build a mould and a few examples of a new design I have. I have the plug just need a mould and a few examples and then see how it goes. The kayaks will be in fiberglass as weight for this particular project is not and object (honest it’s not).
Anyone who knows of someone working on a small to medium scale with fiberglass please drop me a note at llklemt@aol.com
Thanks
Larry
Mould builder wanted
Sorry, Yes I should say that someone in the Eastern United States would be preferred. Thanks
Why not DIY ??? Just wondering.
Are you satisfied with your designs enough to commit to molding ?
Not sure if you wanted the mold builder to fair in the plugs too but generally if you have done them fair enough for molding, the making of the molds is not too far out of the question.
Try Joe Moore
At Placid boatworks. I don’t know if his schedule would allow, but his crew has been doing lots of mold work the last couple years.
Are you sitting down
– Last Updated: Dec-22-10 3:06 PM EST –
I once was going to produce a kayak myself and got hooked up with a glass maker (woman) from FL who was doing the 1st round of Nigel Foster boats. Superb molds.
Ready?
$16,000. for a mold with all the hatch and cockpit details.
Part two... You get a call "your molds are ready" so now you have to pick them up and get them out of there to wherever or get them to produce for you.
A canoe might be substantially less money.
I’m not a mold maker
But Milbrook, somewhere in New England, made the souhegan for Ed Hayden. There must have been a mold in there somewhere.
Rob from Vermont Canoe, “openboater” on this board, is probably another potential source. I’m surprised he has not joined in this thread.
Good luck. ~~Chip
Kaz of Millbrook doesn’t follow pnet,
and it’s hard to say whether he would be interested in making a mold. He focuses on whitewater, mostly slalom and river running, and makes a couple of slalom kayaks and several c-1s. I suspect that he would be interested only if he saw the design as within his personal scope of interest.
Pricing
Pricing will be a function of size and complexity. Longer hulls take more materials and labor. Wider ones do too, to a lessor extent.
Two piece molds cost more than one piece, the dam needs be constructed and indexing attended to.
A kayak deck mold can cost more than twice what the hull mold will cost due to the extra tooling and complexity as hatch, cockpit, grab bar and bungi cord mounts are molded and/or recessed. Adding flanges for wet bagging or infusion also increase complexity.
Construction is another factor. Chopper gun molds can be sprayed up in a few passes after gel is applied and are faster and cheaper than hand laid ones with, say, 11 to 17 layers of mat and cloth. There are companies that make carbon tooling.
A one piece chopper-gun mold for a small canoe might start near $ 3.5K without flanges, but it’s pretty easy to imagine a two piece kayak mold, both parts flanged with current state of the art fittings costing $16K without any hulls.
Boatbuilding is not a game for the faint of heart or for those trying to save cash on a couple hulls.
molds
Also if the person making the plug doesn’t understand fiberglass construction, you might have a mold that needs a bunch of flanges, it can get grossly expensive. Most of the time it would be cheaper to have the person making the mold make the plug too.
Bill H.
Haven’t joined the thread…
but I did send him an email. No word back yet.
Asked for photos and some details. Cost can vary quiet a bit depending on the detail (hatches, recessed areas, etc)
openboater
Mould maker
Hi
Yes I understand it will be fairly expensive and I would need a few hulls built. I don’t have the boat building skills or the space and equipment to do this my self, probably not the time either so i would rather get an expert to build the mold and the prototypes. Didn’t see an email, I’ll check again. Thanks all for you input.
Best wishes for a greta Christmas and a successful 2011.
Larry.
Professional Boatbuilder
I’d suggest calling WoodenBoat magazine and request a copy of their “Professional Boatbuilder” magazine. Odds are much better of finding a professional thru a professional trade journal than on an open public forum.
Might also try http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/
It’s got some professional boat designers on it that can steer you to a professional glass company.
Bill H.