Seat makers

[Planecrazy]

What do you take the mould with? Plaster of Paris?

I won't profess to be an expert in that area, but my gut tells me that on an existing seat that you don't want to ruin you would use some sort of latex material to make the initial mold, and build it up so that it is stiff enough to hold its shape after being peeled off the seat pan. Once it's off the seat pan I imagine it would be mailed in its flexible form to you, and your seat builder could then reinforce the outside/bottom of the mold before laying/pouring the fiberglass into it and forming the new seat pan.

If you used plaster you would run into problems with cracking, although I suppose you could reattach the broken pieces together before laying/pouring the fiberglass into it.

Certainly there are a variety of ways to accomplish this task, but in terms of getting a reliable mold shipped over to you I'm guessing the latex is perhaps the best choice. I'm sure there are other options that I'm not even aware of... I'm pretty sure that when museums take molds of fossils in order to duplicate them they often use latex for the initial mold, because it picks up all the details without cracking apart upon removal. Plaster works fine for more basic types of molding.

First try to find somebody who has the seat you need and see if they're willing to help you out with the mold. Truth is, it might be worth your while to have this person take the seat to professional over HERE and have all the work done. Then the seat maker has the original to use as a guide in reproducing the seat. Any additional shipping costs you have to get a complete seat sent over MIGHT be balanced by a lower cost to have it done in the states versus over there -- at least worth checking out.

Good Luck!

[tone]

What do you take the mould with? Plaster of Paris?

Possible but not really practical for shipping, latex is not much good either from a laminators point of view (ok for casting tho) the best sort of mould for this job would be one made from glassfibre (4 layers of 600w with core mat between)

The best thing to take the mould off would be a glassfibre replacement seat such as the italian gulairi 2-4 seats Ie a smooth surface to start with \\/

[Planecrazy]

Possible but not really practical for shipping, latex is not much good either from a laminators point of view (ok for casting tho) the best sort of mould for this job would be one made from glassfibre (4 layers of 600w with core mat between)

The best thing to take the mould off would be a glassfibre replacement seat such as the italian gulairi 2-4 seats Ie a smooth surface to start with \\/

My concern with using fiberglass for the mold is that the person donating the use of their original seat might frown on the mess and possible damage the fiberglass could cause versus the latex which hypothetically will peel right off. Once the latex is mailed to the seat builder the back of the mold could be stiffened using fiberglass, plaster, or epoxy on the back side before pouring/laying a fiberglass "positive" into the mold which would produce a usable fiberglass seat pan ... at least that's my understanding of how it would work.

Regards,

[tone]

My concern with using fiberglass for the mold is that the person donating the use of their original seat might frown on the mess and possible damage the fiberglass could cause versus the latex which hypothetically will peel right off. Once the latex is mailed to the seat builder the back of the mold could be stiffened using fiberglass, plaster, or epoxy on the back side before pouring/laying a fiberglass "positive" into the mold which would produce a usable fiberglass seat pan ... at least that's my understanding of how it would work.

Regards,

Hello again a few points to address there ........
1- A good laminator would not make any mess on the original seat base !
2- No damage would occur apart from maybe the loss of some paint if its a rough original, no damage at all on a glassfibre replica if its not painted
3- It would be virtually impossible to stiffen a latex mold & keep it straight & true so that it fits the frame as per original
4-Latex molds are primarily used for rough casting not laminating as is required for a seat base
5- epoxy is a form of resin... polyester is more common for ease of use
6-the correct name is glassfibre reinforced plastic (grp or glassfibre) not fibreglass

sorry i have strong opinions on this gained from many years working in the industry & watching people with little skill or knowlage messing up simple jobs time & time again

I'll get off my soap box now :-D

[Planecrazy]

Hello again a few points to address there ........
1- A good laminator would not make any mess on the original seat base !
2- No damage would occur apart from maybe the loss of some paint if its a rough original, no damage at all on a glassfibre replica if its not painted
3- It would be virtually impossible to stiffen a latex mold & keep it straight & true so that it fits the frame as per original
4-Latex molds are primarily used for rough casting not laminating as is required for a seat base
5- epoxy is a form of resin... polyester is more common for ease of use
6-the correct name is glassfibre reinforced plastic (grp or glassfibre) not fibreglass

sorry i have strong opinions on this gained from many years working in the industry & watching people with little skill or knowlage messing up simple jobs time & time again

I'll get off my soap box now :-D

As I mentioned before I am certainly no expert, so appreciate the education. That said, it sounds like there WOULD be potential damage to the painted surface at the very least, so if I were the one "donating my seat" to the cause I'd be less inclined to do so if my original seat pan was going to be compromised in ANY way (even the minor loss of some paint).

Now, for the important correction ... you Brits tawk funy!! my spell check clearly flags glassfibre as incorrectly spelled, since we all know it is called "fiberglass!" ;-)

Thanks again for the lesson!

Regards,

[tone]

:-D "Talk funny" cheeky bugger i speak english with a midlands accent its you lot that have taken the english language & turned it into something else entirely lol [-X

All good fun tho :-D

[Ironriot]

Lol he called you a cheeky bugger

[TheCafeKid]

i get caught sometimes in the middle...

[tone]

Behave you pair :-D

[maclariz]

Thanks guys for the ideas. I found a guy in Germany via the GS IG over there who is converting his GS400 into a cafe racer and didn't need the standard seat any more. So I now have an original seat in perfect condition without breaking the bank!

Who says miracles don't happen????

Never expected to find one.

[saddlewarmer]

i'm afraid to ask, but curiousity says to; whats a "cheeky bugger"?

[n1elkyfan]

My guess would be some sort of insect with really big cheeks.