Sail Life - Making a fiberglass mold for the new rudder, part 1 of 2 - DIY boat project 

Hey guys! My partner Leander and I are currently rebuilding our Trident Warrior 38 ourselves and I cannot adequately express how helpful your channel is to us! It seems that you have done every job that we need to do ;) We also have to rebuild our rudder and in this video you mention that it would be great for the community to have this mold. We would be beyond grateful if we could borrow/rent/buy the mold from you! It would for sure bring you good karma ;) Think about it and hope to hear from you :)

I like your diligence, patience and perfection.

I think rudder failure is my greatest fear. With a 37' fiberglass sailboat that is 37 years old, there is lots of water in my rudder. In the fall when i get it on the hard i drill a few holes and drain it out. i think most fiberglass boats built before 1990 will have water logged rudders. Every spring before i launch i say a prayer to poseidon and cruise the coast with my Sea Tow membership taped to my forehead. If i ever get up the gumption to do some blue water cruising, rebuilding the rudder will be first on my list. And then a life raft, EPIRB, AIS .... Even with all your groaning about the sanding i think you really love working on your boat. I love it too and sometimes its an effort to love sailing more!

I absolutely lost my mind laughing when the dog tripped going down the stairs. The two of them have perfect comedy timing! 🤣

Today on this episode of How its Made. Joking aside this is why I love this channel. How its done, solving problems, taking risks and going for it. Great work Ava should be proud.

Way to pull an all-nighter on the rudder mold. Can't wait to see the rest of this mold-making process and the big rudder build eventually. The Rudder Saga needs to have its own playlist on the channel, from the very beginnings of the story with the removal of the old one (with frozen hole non-dig debacle) all the way to the finish. This is intense cinema. You really are a quite gifted storyteller Mads.

The fall was hilarious!!! I am glad he is ok though!!!!

Comming up next week. Making a fiberglass mold for the new hull.

I can't wait 7 days 😵 !!!!!!!! As usual it is a please to follow your channel and your job on that rudder was amazing

Mads, you are a 2x4. That’s what we call a stud in the states! I’m exhausted just watching that all nighter. 👍👍✌️

I’ve been out cruising and haven’t seen my dog Charlie in quite a long time. Seeing yours makes me smile, he seems a good little chap.

If you are wondering how long it takes to watch every episode from start to finish, it was about 2 weeks straight of binge watching every chance I could too midnight every day.I recently purchased 36 foot Cheoy Lee Luders named PANDORA that I will be restoring with my wife. You are truly and inspiration. Mads you are simply amazing! You and Ava rock! This channel has been like a great book I just kept flipping the pages and I couldn't put it down. I sure hope to see you on the high seas one day! I am sad to be done binge watching the channel but now am excited to wait and see next week for the next installment of MADS GREAT REFIT ADVENTURE! Keep Inspiring us all. I hope you know the impact your are leaving. A fellow sailor -JORDAN

No one works harder on their dreams. Good for you Mads!

:O I was wondering if he fell or if just came down the stairs oddly. Cheers Mads, it's looking great, hope you have a great week, Bryan.

A common mistake made by most 1st timers using a spray gun is spraying in an arc motion. This results in more material built up in the middle and less material on either end. You want to hold the gun parallel to the work surface at all times. For your 1st time, I'd say you did pretty well!

Try rolling the wax out with the palm of your hand on a flat non stick surface to make it into a long noodle 3-4mm thick. Much easier to place in the gap than how you were doing it. By the way.. Great channel! Been watching for years!

O man I am sitting on the edge of my chair for the next episode......got to love it ....Cap

I absolutely appreciate the care and craftsmanship you put into each project. Not to mention the many hours you must spend creating this content. Furthermore, the fact that you admit to using documentation underscores the importance of learning and having a growth mindset. Great stuff! Keep it up.

Nice to see the pooch lots.

Another great video! Thanks for sharing. Your commitment to such high standards is an inspiration and your willingness to tackle jobs others dismiss means you'll have a boat that you know inside and out. Don't let anyone else tell you what should be important to you!

wow she's starting to look real nice Mads !

Mads i know you're a master craftsman , but please be sure to use your respirator and plenty of ventilation those fumes can sneak up on you . I use to work in a surf shop where you could cut the fumes with a knife and it was easy to drift into La La Land .... great vid !

Nice Job. Never seen the chopped strand step before. Looks good.

Impressive diligence and attention to detail...once again! You must have slept reasonably well to have uploaded this video. Thanks for all your hard work.

One of your best vids yet. The shop is a great change of scenery, and of course, I love dogs!

at this point, it needs to be said that there should be academy awards for amateur videos, and the first one should go to this guy. outstanding. also.... SO GLAD i didnt mold my new rudder and just laid it up over a wood core!

Thank you for sharing, love from Sweden👍

Pigs ear! My dog used to LOVE getting a pigs ear as a snack! My dog was similar to yours, a Dutch Keeshond.

Mads, probably not a big deal for the pva layer but when spray painting you should be releasing the trigger at the end of a sweep and then rejigger when you do the return sweep. Otherwise you get uneven coverage at the outer edges of your sweep. Also try to keep the spray fan parallel to the piece or you'll get thicker coverage see where the fan is closer. Not a big deal for something like a pva layer but keep in mind if you're ever applying paint (or possibly the gel coat when you build the new rudder!

Great work, great video. Sunday is complete, thank you.

Wow, so cool! Thank you for sharing all the steps!

One of the most exciting videos i ever seen , thanks

That is probably a better mold than the factory used. Looks good!!

Great work! I can’t wait to see the results.

Thank you for another fantastic DIY video Mads :)

Looking good, great job

Mads this may be my favorite episode. Your keen mind for detail has always been most impressive, but this seemingly small project from last weeks perspective turns out to be a very complex procedure which you handled like a pro. Thank you very much for sharing your project... as such is among the most informative vlogs on the sailing web. With that said, put me in the smallest piece first camp. The reason is that I study at the feet of Andy Miller and that’s how he taught me to do it. If memory serves, such provides the means to establish a better, sturdier chemical bond with the other side. Thanks again Mads... this is great stuff.

this one was awesome! Excited to see the new rudder.

One of the more exciting videos in a long time!

Well done I’m sure all the hard work will work.

Looks awesome!

Really good video. You explained the process really well and I am looking forward to the next video.

Nice quality mold! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

This is why I liked binge watching so much. No cliffhangers. I've been caught up on your vids for awhile how, so I'll have to wait with the rest.

Great video and work. Keep the good work up!

Great work mate!!

I love that you filmed even so it got so late

nice job.. clean and durable.... i am excited to see the result nxt week...

Great video!

Mads, as always that was a very interesting and informative vlog. I'm sure we're all waiting with bated breath for the finished mold and next week's vlog. Keep up the hard work and pushing forward on your extensive refit of Athena.

What a hell of a work! This looks super cool! *THUMBSUP*

Hiya dear sir, wait a week???? I didn't think you would be and I was right for once, I've read your comment about turning it over and... but if others have not yet read it I'll leave the cliff hanger in place... What a wonderful video, action filled, dynamic and that wasn't even you. I've enjoyed this as much as I always do so thank you and keep up the fantastic work...

Nice . I bet it turns out great.

great i look forward to next week thanks

Fantastic work Mads. Looking forward to next week's video. I have never done this extent of fiberglass work so this is like a DIY course for me. Take care and have a good week.

Interesting stuff! Pretty good of you to think of the community.

Once you have your first couple of layers on buddy,slap a heap on and definately some stringers from foam ,wood steel.I generaly make moulds 4 times thicker than part so it can take the heat of multiple pulls,and in this case if you are going to make them commercially,I guess there is potential for a lot of them for the warrior.I also coat outside of mould to ensure no loss of vacuum when infusing parts.Your resin should be ok for this however as you have used tooling resin to form the mould.Great job buddy,long hours are the norm for this work.Cheers Ross

Well done Mads, excellent video...and the long hours are appreciated :)

Great video and this technique applies to all sorts of fiberglass parts ..Thanks for sharing!

Awesomeness.......great episode!

Used to do fiberglass boat repair, oh how I know those late nights, it is amazing how comfortably a creeper becomes !

This is very interesting can't wait till next week …

Great video, informative and entertaining, well done.

Fun as usual!

Thanks for the link to the mould stuff,,, I'm going to create some moulds for a redesign on my sailboat, converting it from a open wheelhouse to a closed wheelhouse. So thank you for shortening my search time by quite a bit. Best of luck with the rudder project.

Enjoyed that! Thanks

Great project! Thanks.

Great video Mads! Just signed up to be a Patron on Patreon, I want to support videos like this that show a detailed approach to boat DIY done the right way. Keep it up!

Awaiting part 2. Video very detailed and a big thumbs up on this one. Hopefully the opening of the existing rudder will allow use of existing metal. Looking forward to the next chapter. Get some rest. 😉

Great video, thanks

Awesome work, Mads. :D

Love having the dogs in the shop, though you are at risk of being up-staged by them!

Go Mads go.

Strongley recommend doing the reinforcements. Foam or wood battens in a grid####pattern. Especially If this is to be shipped to other rudder builds.. 👍

The lovely dremmel tool with sandpaper attachment will do you well, grasshopper ;)

Good job!

Excellent

Interesting, didn't have a clue how you were going to make the mold, mother of all cliffhangers. Best wishes.

Poor jökull almost came tumbling down the stairs :D

god work Mads !

This is very helpful, because i really want to build a WW2 PT boat model, and i was thinking of using foam board for the buck, and then make a mold from that. If mads can do it, anyone can! Keep up the great work sir.☺️

Yup your doing it right in mold making detail detail detail because what ever you do it will show up in the mould in the final product

Fingers crossed that the mold comes out good. You've become quite adept with fiberglass in general and this was mostly an extension of those skills. I'm optimistic! Cliffhanger is right! Us as well as you! But you only have to wait a day. We have to wait a week.

So funny to see you doing what I did for a living for many years. Having made hundreds of molds and even more patterns for molds of all sorts I can't believe the over the top German instructions. But generally what you have done looks fine some minor things not worth mentioning. But The weirdest think was the coupling coat . That I do not like at all. ( I have seen that suggested elsewhere and I did it once with aluminum grains) I have always laid glass up behind the almost tack free surface coat if using epoxy like this . That coupling coat will be so easy to get air bubbles in it . But it will not matter for this mold. It will be interesting to see the final mold. Oh those alignment pins are crazy much better to have round disk with lots of angle on it .the pins will be a pain. I'm way behind so off I got to each part 2 Cheers Warren

I did the same for my boat seven years ago - so I feel your pain, haha - however your mold is a space technology in comparison wit mine.. .Looking forward on unveiling the result...

I suggest you try a Dremel for nooks and crannies and where is your mask when sanding ? !.

Awww... I don't want to wait a whole week to see the results... Dang it. Great video sir! On another note and news from the engineer on the Joker?

That is beauty boat!!!👍👌✌😇😊

Use a dremel to get into tight areas for sanding. They have sanding bits

Hi Mads, most enjoyable series of videos. Just wondering if you take rudder to a specialist non destruction testing laboratory and they can radiograph the rudder and you will get to see an image of the internal metal frame. Me thinks the encapsulated section may be carbon steel not stainless like the shaft. So looking forward to the continued evolution of this project.

good job,

R&G stuff works really well!! I made tons of molds with the same material from R&G. => but you should reinforce the mold with foam stripes that are glassed over AND also add a 45degree layer against torsion. Try to make those reinforcements in a way that you include „legs“ so that you can flip the mold later and it has a stable stand while molding parts. Great video and well done!!

Nice work Mads. The instructions are different from how I learned to make molds, but we used polyester resin rather than epoxy. I do suggest that you separate the mold from the rudder before you do the other side. That will make doing the final separation a LOT less suspenseful. I don't know what your instructions for separating the part say, but once you get the wedges in, pouring some water into the gap between the mold and the part helps a lot.

After watching the Ausey guy life on the mould videos it’s interesting to see it done slightly differently but I expect the results to be all good

I enjoy your channel very much. I feel bad for not raising this before, but why not use something like corcel layers and fibreglass to form the rudder. I had to build a new rudder a few years ago and that method worked out very well and likely much less work than making a mold. Maybe I missed the rational for building it your way.

Mold-build Mads-style seems legit. The spray stuff might ruin Your surface quality (doesn't have to mandatorily though ...), but we'll see that next week. In that dimensions, waxing/polishing should be enough to de-mold. About those sharp edgy concaves: We put in filled resin blobs in those nooks and crannies the heavy rovings didn't want to snuggle in without building bubbles and air entrapments. Works with cotton or glass, and a slight addition of silica to avoid running out/dry spots. I wouldn't use the red microballons (407), too brittle. Might need slow hardener for volume. Definitely a good idea is making a mold which is about to get transported from Warrior owner to Warrior owner to Warrior owner and so on VERY stable and "bullet proof" in terms of transportation and storage.

Great to see your work progressing nicely. Of course my previous suggestion to use plaster would not be useful as you intended to have the mold available for future sailors to use. Good and gracious thought! You could have stopped part way and gotten some sleep though, and it would not have harmed the finished part in any way. Adding some structural members alway helps if you make them flat so that it’s easy to set the mold on your work table without wobbling while you are laying up the part. Sleep tight!

Mads turns laminating mad. 😜

23:03 We sure did. Awesome times!

Very nice 👍