I guess you could say this is a learning experience for me. I'm new to the world of DIY composites and this is our group's first time manufacturing nose cones, so our designs are pretty fluid right now. I'll definitely be updating the molds, thank you.I have a part sitting on my desk which is from an SLS machine which I can at least wrap my head around being stiff enough to use for a tool. I believe it's aluminum+nylon. For my personal projects, I probably still wouldn't go this route but my requirements are likely different from yours.
Another couple comments on your mold:
- I would not print male keys into mold halves. They're going to be a pain to finish and finish around, and look like they have the potential to break. It's also going to be really hard to both put mold halves together and take them apart because the mold will only move along the axis of your keys. I also wouldn't use a square profile, it will be hard to finish. For tools which are directly cut, I've used both the marble method @G_T shows pictures of in my thread and had holes through each half which pins push through. Both have been successful.
- Your keys are getting kinda close to your part edge. Epoxy tends to squeeze into these areas and stick to your keys if you don't have a plan to deal with it.
- If you 3d print your mold, do you have a plan to keep your nosecone shoulder feature sharp while you're finishing and polishing? I omitted this altogether and built the nose and lower tube as a single part.
We're still talking through the specifics of the shoulder, but I'll propose your method. I need to do a little bit more research on different techniques to solve this problem.
I really appreciate all the input, and thanks for being patient with some of the flaws we're working through. There's a reason trial and error is the gateway to opportunity!