Prepare the paddle blade mold by cleaning off excessive layers of mold release with a damp sponge or soft brush.
PVA is water soluble and will come off with light brushing.
Do not scratch the mold!
You do not need to remove all of the old mold release as long as the mold cavities are smooth and clean.
Begin in the cavities and brush on a thin uniform coating of PVA mold release.
Coat the entire top surface of the mold.
PVA will pool in the cavities. This is bad.
Wipe excess PVA out of the cavities.
Scrape excess PVA off the brush and back into the PVA container.
This is better.
After coating the top surface of the mold, return to the cavities and note that some pooling has occured and some air bubbles have formed.
Carefully and gently tip out the cavity to remove excess PVA and air bubbles.
Leave a thin clean coat of PVA.
Return excess PVA to the container as frequently as necessary.
This is what the mold looks like BEFORE tipping out the cavity.
This is what it looks like after going back over the cavity and tipping out.
Return the PVA brush to the container and tightly close the lid.
You can use sissors or a roller cutter on a cutting mat. You will need the blade template and the rectangular template.
OPTIONAL: If you want to add a decorative layer, most plain cotton fabric will work.
OPTIONAL: Cut out two left side pieces and two right side pieces of fabric.
OPTIONAL: The template is already oversize. Cut along the edge.
OPTIONAL: For one complete kayak paddle, you will need a total of four pieces of fabric. Two left sides and two right sides.
For a complete paddle yo will need four pieces of chopped strand matt glass fabric.
As with the fabric, cut along the edge of the template. IF YOU USE THE ROLLER CUTTER YOU MUST CUT ON THE SELF HEALING CUTTING MAT.
Make best use of glass! Don't create waste and scrap!
For a complete paddle you will need eight pieces of 4oz. glass cloth.
You can stack up several layers and cut all at once.
From the remaining scraps, cut out eight rectangles from the glass cloth.
Stack them and cut with roller cutter.
All lamination materials are ready.
Back to the molds to apply a SECOND COAT OF PVA!
Be sure the first coat is dry before putting on the second coat.
As before, begin with the cavities.
Coat the entire surface of the mold.
Stroke back over the cavities to remove air and excess PVA. Return the extra mold release to the container.
Remove any excess PVA to the deep cavities. YOU NEED TO REPEAT THIS PROCESS AGAIN SO THE MOLDS HAVE THREE COATS OF PVA !
To prepare for molding you will need a piece of breater fabric that is 19" x 35"
Breather fabric is soft absorbant material that allows air to flow in the mold and also absorbs excess resin.
Cut breather fabric with sissors. Be neat and do not create waste and scraps!
You will need to prepare the mold with a thin gel coat layer of resin. One oz is enough to coat all cavities in a single mold.
You want the gel coat to be partially set up but not cured when you start the rest of the layup. Therefore use 10-11 drops of MEKP per oz of resin. This will give you about 10 minutes to get the gel coat applied to the mold.
Coat the mold cavities as well as 1/2" of the flat mold board around the paddle cavity. This border around the cavity will form the flat flange that you need to glue the mold halves together.
When applying the gel coat, leave a thin uniform layer of resin. No dry spots, no air bubbles. Work quickly since this batch of resin has extra catalyst.
Clean the brush using the three tanks of acetone and scrap newspapers!
Flush the brush in tank A.
Wipe off the brush on newspapers.
Flush the brush in tank B.
Wipe off the brush on newspapers.
Flush the brush in tank C.
Wipe off the brush on newspapers.
Close all acetone tanks.