Parts from Resins and Molds?

jazzed

I have a few situations where building my own parts may be required.
Any input from people having experience in this area would be appreciated.

The goal of my "builder" project is to make a small cap for a 5 position switch joystick.
A secondary goal may be for casting an LCD enclosure face-plate.

Questions:

1) Would hobby resin crafted parts be reasonable for a joystick switch cap?
2) What type of resin would be recommended for making such a cap?
3) What type of resin would be recommended for making 3"x4" or less rectangular parts?
4) Is resin durable enough for a commercial project?

Thanks.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Take a look at this stuff:

http://www.robotroom.com/Prototype-Plastic.html

It's very easy to work with, can be molded by hand while warm, and hardens into an incredibly strong polymer. Moreover, it can be reused over and over, without loss of its characteristics.

-Phil

RobotWorkshop

I have seen several cast resin parts and when properly done they seem to hold up really well. It all depends upon your intended use. Although I haven't made any parts like this myself yet but I do want to try it sometime. I've found a few links that may be useful:

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/projects/jw_resin.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_casting

http://photos.imageevent.com/scalephantomphixer/modelling/workbench/CASTING%20RESIN%20PARTS.pdf

http://www.scalemodelguide.com/guide/construction/using-resin-parts/

http://www.b9robotresource.com/plastic_casting1.htm

http://www.ffurg.com/casting_and_molding/making_resinfigures.htm

W9GFO

Tap Plastics has some videos that you might find useful. Search YouTube for "Tap Plastics Mold".

Rich H

jazzed

Thanks for your input and the links so far guys.

This page has some nice tutorials also: http://www.alumilite.com/howtos.cfm

Melting at 150F seems a little low. That was the temperature in my car at last year's UPEW at 3PM
When I was a kid one of my toys melted on the dash-board ... I was devastated.

jazzed

RobotWorkshop wrote: »

I have seen several cast resin parts and when properly done they seem to hold up really well. It all depends upon your intended use. Although I haven't made any parts like this myself yet but I do want to try it sometime. I've found a few links that may be useful:

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/projects/jw_resin.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_casting

http://photos.imageevent.com/scalephantomphixer/modelling/workbench/CASTING%20RESIN%20PARTS.pdf

http://www.scalemodelguide.com/guide/construction/using-resin-parts/

http://www.b9robotresource.com/plastic_casting1.htm

http://www.ffurg.com/casting_and_molding/making_resinfigures.htm

There certainly is a lot of the diversity in all these links.

The "Tap Plastics" molding demo was also really nice.

Duane Degn

I've used a bunch of different mold making stuff and resins from Tap Plastics. I think mold making and casting is harder than it looks in the videos. It takes a bit of practice to get the hang of the casting process (in my opinion).

The ShapeLock stuff Phil linked to is great. Making a mold and casting is much more difficult than heating up some ShapeLock.

You can use hot (not boiling) water to heat the ShapeLock or you can use a heat gun. I like using a heat gun because I don't have to deal with the water and drying my hands and the part as I make it.

Someone has posted ways of adding color to ShapeLock. I think they added some sort of powdered paint. I haven't tried coloring the ShapeLock myself.

Another alternative is to use polymer clay. You just shape the part you want out of the clay and bake it in the oven to harden it. The polymer clay comes in lots of colors. I've used polymer clay several times. I like it as a way of making parts.

There are times when making a mold and casting is the best option for making a part but it's a lot more work than using ShapeLock or polymer clay.

The last two issues of Nut & Volts have articles about a guy building a remote control submarine. The article talks about mold making and casting.

Duane

Edit: I just read the information at the site Phil linked to. I think I tried using an oven but I liked using a heat gun with an aluminum pie tin better.

ElectricAye

These guys make a ton of different epoxies, casting materials, etc. I've only tinkered with the soft oomoo silicone rubber which worked very well, but they have lots of tutorials and other info for all sorts of other applications. If I had a million dollars and a spare lifetime to toss around, I think I'd go crazy making Halloween stuff with their products.

Computer Geek 101

Hobby Lobby has a kit from alumilite for casting and molding. I have used it with pretty good results.