Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 21:45:01 -0500
Reply-To: John Rodgers <j_rodgers@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <j_rodgers@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: Custom Scoop Update - Should you care!
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Mark, I see you are getting some good input for alternative methods. Here's my $0.02.
I've been making molds for years, and my specialty was molds made from plaster and cementious products. I haven't seen what you are doing, but I'm willing to bet that some adaptation of the mold process from the ceramics world could be adapted to make your endeavor more cost effective. I suggest this because I have made these cross-over kinds of things before. Might not be necessary to buy a 1,2,or $3,000 aluminum mold or model.
Would be interested in seeing some pictures of your project, and pictures of your existing molds if possible, so I can consider application of alternatives.
John Rodgers
88 Gl Driver
Mark Thoma wrote:
> The scoop on the scoops,
> After patching up my screw ups on one of the scoop molds, I took them both (right and left) to a boat repair guy here in the Cleveland area who does a lot of fiberglass gelcoat kinda stuff and he said "well they look pretty darn nice, but... (like peewee herman said, "Everybody's got a big but") you need to polish and buff the molds now, then spray in release agent, then a layer of gelcoat then 4 layers of fiberglass cloth and the fiberglass cloth needs to go on top of the gelcoat while the gelcoat is still tacky."
> Me, feeling an assault on my wallet coming on, said "How much?"
> He said "$100 bucks for the pair of finished scoops." To which I said, "Go for it."
> Then he said, "But you can sell these things to all of your Vanagon buddies and make all your time and effort pay off." And I said "Well why wouldn't I just make all the subsequent scoops myself, after all I have the molds?"
> To which he replied, "You could but the molds have to be polished and buffed between each use, and that takes a lot of work, and then you have to shoot the gelcoat, lay the 4 layers of fiberglass cloth, etc."
> So I said "Well how much for each set of scoops?"
> And he said "$100 per pair no matter how many pairs we make."
> And I said, "But how much could I sell them for?"
> And he said, "Something this nice, $175 for the pair."
> And I said, "Those cheap bast----I mean those economically minded fellows on the Vanagon list will never pay that much."
> And he said, "Okay tell them $150 for the pair and you'll pay the shipping. And if you don't sell one pair what do you care, you still have the scoops you wanted in the first place?"
> And I said, "MAKES SENSE TO ME!"
> So that's the long and short of it. I should have the first pair back in a week. I'll take some pictures of them mounted on the van and you'll know how to reach me should you want a set.
> Mark
>
> Mark Thoma
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