Once we have a design be it produced in house or customer supplied generally the next step in the process is to produce a plug. A plug is typically a representation of the finished article, and can be an actual part or a mock up of a part. Plugs made from scratch can be made from a vast range of materials using a wide variety of methods. We produce plugs using MDF, timber, high density foam, styrofoam, body filler, fibreglass and other materials.  

For large parts often a framework is built and then layered with foam, fiberglass, and body filler before priming and finishing. Plugs can be crafted by hand or using a CNC router or a combination of both depending on the finished parts specifications and complexity. The following step is to produce the mold, planning at this stage while making the plug is critical.
Certain factors must be taken into consideration such as surface finish, draft angles, undercuts, and method of production. Once the plug is refined to the surface finish desired and mold release has been applied, it is time to begin constructing the fiberglass mold.

The materials typically used for this are: gelcoat, resin’s & glass reinforcements. Molds take time to build and cure and ideally should be allowed ample time to cure before being put into production. The team at IFS are plug and mold making experts and can produce plugs and molds that contain extreme or simple complexity and geometry’s.