resins

How about wax paper sprayed with Pam (or similar cooking spray)?

Wax polish, vaseline?

Thanks, I was just looking in my shop and thought about polish. got some grease, think I have some vaseline too, might try it, just not sure if it may compromise the resin finish, but cant hurt to try.

Johnson's Paste Wax is one of the better mold release agents you can use on short order.

I have also used Vasoline dissolved in toluene for this purpose, too, while working in a prototype machine shop years ago. Brush it on, and off you go.

Allen

I have and gennerally use good old car wax, most will do, put it on and buff it off if you need a smoth finish, just leave it on if you think the part will have a hard time parting though the finish will look like the swirls of the wax you put on. vasoline will work to though again the finished part will look like it. there are many good spray on releas agents you can find also that will work for about 10 times untill you have to reaply.

Silicone spray is used by a lot of plastic mfgs. Most supermarkets and auto stores have it. Edmund

those are all good, here are a couple more, aluminum foil and plastic wrap. it all depends on how rough the wood surface is, if it already has a finish, and how hot the resin goes off. there are diferent kinds of resin and different kinds plastic wrap. in my opinion test any solution on a small area test first.

Any paste wax should do the job. Boot or furniture. The harder the better - good grade car polish is the best. If it is abrasive but is also high wax ok. abrade and polish the surface well first Allow to dry well and then polish to a high sheen.

If coating wood make sure it is sealed - give it a couple of coats of urethane varnish and abrade and polish this well first

Thanks all, great suggestions, will try them, gotta see what I have in my shed, think I have some wax around.

Shoe polish - KIWI has 95% carnuba wax

KIWI ??? I very much doubt it - shoe polish usually sticks to parrafin wax.

An old boat builder once told me to use a carnuba wax and wax it seven times. That might be because he was working with large, expensive molds and wanted to be certain he didn't miss a spot.

Carnuba is probably the hardest wax and is used with beeswax and paraffin wax to get cost effective results. Paraffin waxes come in various grades of hardness and vary with suppliers.

Running a commercial lay-up operation there could be advantages in using a hard wax such as carnuba and polishing the hellout of it as it will last the longest and allow for the mould to be reused many times. For the omne offer - maybe the most easily available is the best solution. I have found that the higher the polish the better the result and this has to combined with non-stick properties. Any surface irregularities, even wood grain can provide keys for a mechanical grip. I believe that a high polish to the mould is the most important and maintaining it for repeated use is also essential. Once you have this then even a light mineral oil can give non stick properties but a thin layer of wax is probably the best. Things like saddle soap or dubbin will work because of the non stick properties but you cannot really polish them too well as they are too soft and can be removed easily

Thank you all, I tried some saddle soap I had laying around, then after applying I was concerned it might not work too well, so I actually applied a generous coat of white lithium grease I had, it worked great(though a little messy)

Probably too late to help for the weekend, but if you get to trying for another finished part this week, I'd recommend any nearby source of Carnauba wax, particularly if you are using any epoxy resins. (in which case, stay away from the silicone-only sprays)

A thick, ugly application of just about any wax will give you a release, but with its hard and shiny buffed finish, you'll have great release as well as finish on your final gelcoated partif you buff up a carnauba-based wax.

I typically required my mold maintenance crew to first ensure all damage, whether scratches, swirls, dings, or anything else, were completely wet-sanded and brought up to a shine with buffing compound, followed by an application of degreaser and then stripper to remove all contaminants.

Then three applications of a Carnauba-based mold release wax from either 3M-Marine or McQuire's, depending on which one was currently in-favor. First use of any mold required five full coverage wax coats, followed by a personal final coat by my tooling-shop manager who inspected every inch of the mold as he went.

But for a quickie part, just make sure there are no edges or rough areas, that your pull geometry is good (no concave angles to prevent pulling the part) and go for any good wax in a thick application.

IF you just need an ugly plug-part, even a coat of vaseline or thick grease will do in a pinch, though an initial coat of any car wax or shoe polish should go on first, but remember that whatever you use will be cooked-into your part finish.

Have fun!

Stay away from grease & the like. I am sure that you will find the use of carnuba is very rare Possibly some is used in mould release & upmarket car polishes. Ordinary paraffin waxes if you get the hard grades will do much the same job - it is the need to get a thin layer bit as high a polish as possible which is possible. the main thing is to have no surface imperfections which can give a mechanical key. The wax polishes fill any minor imperfections - often not visible to the naked eye.

In my boat shop I use melted paraffin on the edges of the section molds, followed by a strip of masking tape to prevent the wax from transferring to the raw wood of the hull, which will later be sanded and given a coat of fiberglass/epoxy to a clear finish.

Saran wrap (specifically) works well, especially on convex surfaces to press down the fiber-cloth, leaving what looks like a highly polished finish.