Each quarter, DCMC looks to one of its key vendors to share insights and knowledge about their specific industry. This quarter’s vendor is Polycryl—a company heavily focused on fiberglass tooling resins and gelcoats.
The Composite Mold Building Industry has undergone many dramatic changes over the last 15 to 20 years. From governmental environmental regulations to design complexities and configurations, the mold building products have had to improve many fold to meet these tighter regulations and requirements. Not to mention, catering to a more design-conscious and ergonomic style found currently.
From these demands, new and more robust chemistries have emerged, such as: • Low HAP/Low VOC/MACT-Compliant products • High Temperature/Higher Heat Distortion Tooling Gel Coats and Tooling Resins • Zero Shrink-Filled and Unfilled (Neat) LPA Tooling Resins for the bulk laminate
These much-improved chemical formulations, plus the extensive testing that has accompanied these efforts, has led to the development of Tooling Systems that consist of products that contain the exact same chemical backbone of raw materials that not only meet, but exceed, the demands of our industry now and the future. The important benefits of utilizing a Tooling System, which contains products that are all formulated with the exact same chemistry, centers around the total compatibility of all the materials, thereby ensuring the very best in both physical and mechanical properties and performance. Inferior physical and mechanical properties lead to premature mold failure, which, in turn, then becomes a very costly conclusion to the life of a very expensive composite tool.