Are they two different things? I am reading this passage and says male mold is the easiest but only if you are doing 5 or less parts. Then they say female is a cavity mold.

so a female or cavity is when you like pour the composite into it?

then you have a compression mold with includes placing a male over a female mold and pressing them right?

Can you compression mold fiberglass/carbon fiber?

Most molds, one part of the mold is male, the other half is the female side.

Whatever, sticks out, protrude, is called male. and whatever has a cavities, is called "female"
The same goes with Dies
Konrad

pyro there are different ways of looking at male/female molds. Here is a link that shows how to make a mold for a 32 streetrod body. The body he is pulling the mold off of would be considered the male or better know as the plug. Once the mold is completed it is a female mold. This link will help you tremendously if you will read it from beginning to end. It is for hand layup of parts, which I personally think is what you need to start with. My opinion anyway. BTW you can get a male mold by carving foam into the shape you want and prepping it to be useable just like the 32 streed rod body. Hope this helps.

Mike

http://www.hotrodder.com/32Blowpar/page10.html

thanks a lot

So I have another question. A plug is an orginial meaning it is what I want to produce as a finish product in the mold?

pyro, the plug is the thing you use to make the mold. Let's use this example.

I know you want to make kart bodies and probably other things as well. NOW I AM NOT SUGGESTING THIS, and if fact I discourage it, but many people will buy a part and use that as a plug to make a mold from then produce parts from that mold. It is unethical and in my opinion dishonest...but it happens. So the plug is the part used to make the mold so that parts can be made in the mold!

Mike

It doesn't have to be hollow like the finished part. And you only need to finish it where the finished surfaces of the part will be. Keep reading, you still have quite a bit to learn. :) Make sure you know what you're doing before you start, or you could end up wasting a lot of money.

It doesn't have to be hollow like the finished part. And you only need to finish it where the finished surfaces of the part will be. Keep reading, you still have quite a bit to learn. :) Make sure you know what you're doing before you start, or you could end up wasting a lot of money.


yea I need to keep reading.

pyro, the plug is the thing you use to make the mold. Let's use this example.

I know you want to make kart bodies and probably other things as well. NOW I AM NOT SUGGESTING THIS, and if fact I discourage it, but many people will buy a part and use that as a plug to make a mold from then produce parts from that mold. It is unethical and in my opinion dishonest...but it happens. So the plug is the part used to make the mold so that parts can be made in the mold!

Mike

yea i'm not going to do that. That isn't only illegal it just isn't right cuase I don't wnat people stealing things I did.

but yea I would need to make a part out of scratch kinda hard since I rarely ever worked with fiberglass

pyro, the plug is the thing you use to make the mold. Let's use this example.

I know you want to make kart bodies and probably other things as well. NOW I AM NOT SUGGESTING THIS, and if fact I discourage it, but many people will buy a part and use that as a plug to make a mold from then produce parts from that mold. It is unethical and in my opinion dishonest...but it happens. So the plug is the part used to make the mold so that parts can be made in the mold!

Mike

and yes I wnat to do some kart bodies. I was just thinking though would it be more efficient to make the bodies out of fiberglass or plastic?