Winters are long in NY Options

[Unobtanium-inc]

@ Unobtanium-inc

I have been casting plastic on a professional level for over 50 years and I will suggest how on how you could do this.

I use a combination of 3 different casting techniques one is just in the air with no vacuum or no pressure like you are doing now or another is to use a vacuum chamber to remove the bubbles introduced while mixing the plastic but you may still trap some bubbles. You also have to have extra room in the mold to deal with the rise in the volume of plastic as you are de-airing. You could mix first and de-air the mix and pour and you will get less bubbles but with your set up, as it is very cold and need for heat, I would do this.

I think you would be well served with a pressure cast setup which is just a paint pressure pot. I use 5 gallon paint pot you can just get it on Amazon.com new for not too much, you only really need about 20 lbs of pressure. If you can run an airline from the shop out there that will work perfect and keeping it close to the fireplace and will warm up the paint pot and it will make your stuff cast faster all you have to do is keep the pressure on it until it sets up and the bubbles disappear because they get so tiny once they have 20 to 30lbs of pressure on them they disappear. I would be a little concern on the flammability of your plastic that you're using and the open flame but you're a big boy you need to figure that stuff out

Pictures showing my set up

Best Bob B







Old stuff Note the Pelican was cast in this process in a 2-part urethane material. The finish was as good as the mold

That's some seriously impressive work! My problem is time. I take the winters to make all the little cars and keychains to give away throughout the year at events. But with a limited amount of time I have to gang run about 20-30 a night, far more than I can fit into a vac pot. Not to mention since I give them away I have to do them on the cheap. If I was selling them or making larger ones I think I would upgrade but the costs are already up there with the price of resin and mold making stuff.
But thanks for showing me what perfection looks like, like I said very impressive work!

[technicalninja]

Of all of the cool shops/owners that are displayed on this forum your shop and Mepstein's are the ones I'd like to visit...

I can imagine spending an hour just checking out what is hanging from the roof
in your shop!

Yep, it's not as clean as AA or others...

The patina and old school look adds so much "Oh, I'm in the RIGHT place" that you blow them away!

Your shop sets the "cool stuff everywhere" bar HIGH!

The fact that you make little display sculptures to give away only adds to your "Bad Ass" factor!

I'd keep a car sculpture from you in the shop forever!

As well as being a neat piece it would have a great backstory as well!

[r_towle]

904 on a waterfall….looks very cool
Paint it up, a great book shelf item

[Unobtanium-inc]

Ok, the new molds are done, a few new cars this year. These are some of the best I've done. Enjoy!

[Unobtanium-inc]

More.

[Unobtanium-inc]

More more.

[Front yard mechanic]

You must have heat in the shop, or just lazy days?

This is what I do at night in my basement by the woodstove.

Maaa meatloaf !!!

[Unobtanium-inc]

Resin season is now over, I cranked out a record amount of little cars. Be on the lookout at your local swap meets and Porsche events, the cars are always FREE!

[VaccaRabite]

I sincerely hope that you have some of those single cabs with the 356 on top when the Roundtop swap rolls around this year.

Zach

[Unobtanium-inc]

More 914's than you can shake a stick at!

[StarBear]

Neat squared!!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Shivers]

Very cool. Are you wood carving these first then make a mold? A vacuum tank or DIY vacuum booth with pump would get rid of those bubbles. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I've looked into that, the problem is I gang run about 20 a night, so it would slow production to a crawl if I had to put them in a vacuum chamber, unless you have an idea, I haven't been able to come up with one big enough that's cost effective.

I take the mold's off of die cast cars.

Before I learned about the vacuum booth I used to pour 1/2" of resin and quick hit it with a map gas torch. Just wave it over the surface to heat it a bit and the bubbles come to the top and pop. Your cars are really neat

[Unobtanium-inc]

Very cool. Are you wood carving these first then make a mold? A vacuum tank or DIY vacuum booth with pump would get rid of those bubbles. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I've looked into that, the problem is I gang run about 20 a night, so it would slow production to a crawl if I had to put them in a vacuum chamber, unless you have an idea, I haven't been able to come up with one big enough that's cost effective.

I take the mold's off of die cast cars.

Before I learned about the vacuum booth I used to pour 1/2" of resin and quick hit it with a map gas torch. Just wave it over the surface to heat it a bit and the bubbles come to the top and pop. Your cars are really neat

The bubbles I'm getting are on the surface and only appear after the car has cured, it's frustrating. I finally figured out I was getting the resin too hot, once I got the temps down the bubbles mostly went away.

[wonkipop]

opposite problem down here in north antarctica at moment.
a fair amount of the state is on fire.
yesterday was horrendous.
43 degC here in the capital and a baking north wind.
fanned the fires.

my uncles m c CL500 is safe on our workshop here getting attention.
but he had to abandon his farm thursday night.

there is this fantastic technology now where you can monitor what is happening in real time. this was not around 5 years ago the last time the state caught fire.

so from a safe distance both of us can monitor the situation.
shows winds speeds. wind direction. infra red hot spots fed in by satellites.
air craft locations.
we have been watching the helicopters water bombing a key section of the fire front all afternoon. if they fail his farm is gone. its not looking good but fortunately he is not there. but the cattle are. all the breeding stock and hardwork for the last 20 years. along with his vineyard.

but bigger picture worse. the fire will get into the mountain forests and go big.


you got ice. we got fire. its so hot down here, a block of ice left on the kitchen bench lasts abotu 30 seconds. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

but this tech is amazing. we can watch the waterbomber helis in real time and we can see where the fire is spotting. helps you keep out of harms way and also just see how strategic the fire fighters are. brilliant work by them against the odds.

australia!

[sechszylinder]

That is pretty neat. In my long cold NY winter I have been playing with freecad, sadly not for 914 parts besides my upgrades to the 3d printed puck horn button.

Here is a fan assembly I designed last week for my old sun workstation. It is so old the original plastic parts fell apart.

mmmh, very nice , a Sun Ultra40, right ?

br

Benno

[emerygt350]

Did my mid winter start up... Ny winter is more about salt than snow these years...

[Unobtanium-inc]

It was Transporter day!

[Unobtanium-inc]

Scored this today at an antique store. I think I can make a really cool resin mold out of it with a little work. Stay tuned.