Triangular Structure for Hardtop Mold

[coryatjohn]

I built this mold support structure out of seven scrap and heavily bent 2x4's and maybe 10' of dowels.

The triangles are 14" tip to tip, except for the vertices, which are individually sized. It's about 5'x4' on the top and 2'x4' on the base. No metal fasteners used. Only glue and dowels.

[GeneMpls]

That Sir is fun to look at. Gotta wonder what the hardtop is for? And what you are forming. You seem to have way too much fun... I see you have a MK3S+, I have one as well and a Prusa Mini for traveling. How can I add my Shopbot Details?

[scottp55]

NICE John! :)
Haven't seen that many half laps since I built my adjustable closets....and maybe a boat or two. :)

[coryatjohn]

The hardtop is for my Ferrari 360 Spider. The plan is to make six units from the mold, see how they go in the market and if there's enough demand, start a production line. I've invested two years of my spare time into making it this far. I had surgery on my right hand and needed a good project I could work on that I could do literally with one hand tied behind my back (well, not literally). Took about two weeks.

I used the MK3S+ to make quite a few things for the project. An amazing piece of kit.

When the outer mold is formed over the hardtop, the mold structure will be placed on top of the mold, upside down, and epoxied into place. The rotating joints, which are now free, will be glued too, making the structure absolutely rigid. If I need to flex the mold to separate it from plug (the hardtop), every connector in the mold support structure can be taken apart even when all the joints are glued. I used extremely tight tolerance joints and dowels to keep movement to near zero in those members. I hope I don't need to take it apart and the mold just pops off, but molds can be maddening.

Here's what it looked like about a year ago. I've spent the last year fine tuning the design and fabricating the trim, locks, latches, mounts, etc. Just about done now.

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I wouldn't have been able to even consider this project without my extensive collection of tools and of course, the main horse, my Shopbot.

[GeneMpls]

I worked for a company that repaired Corvettes and laid up Corvette parts and complete front ends. So I understand how much work goes into making molds and Fiberglas parts. I then had my own company restoring C2 corvettes and drove Corvette convertibles from coast to coast on road trips for 48 years. Then the weather changed so much you could not depend upon a good percentage of sunshine... and I got old.