Plastics
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Posts: 46,084
One of my client's projects (which is made possible entirely thanks to
the STAMP) needs buttons for one of its controls that I can't buy off
the shelf. It's a long story, but I have 1,000 cases machined out, and
the off-the-shelf buttons just don't fit. SO, I need to manufacture some
buttons pronto.
I'm looking for a liquid/gel/paste/whatever that I can pour into a mold
or mold in some fashion that will then harden into a a fairly solid
substance. Any ideas?
Thanks,
-Chilton
the STAMP) needs buttons for one of its controls that I can't buy off
the shelf. It's a long story, but I have 1,000 cases machined out, and
the off-the-shelf buttons just don't fit. SO, I need to manufacture some
buttons pronto.
I'm looking for a liquid/gel/paste/whatever that I can pour into a mold
or mold in some fashion that will then harden into a a fairly solid
substance. Any ideas?
Thanks,
-Chilton
Comments
Sid
Sounds pretty labor intensive. I work with a machinist who has a table-top
CNC milling machine. He can make anything out of delrin, accurate to .001",
by first programming it in 3D AutoCAD. Buttons would be simple -- buy
delrin rods of the required diameter (McMaster Carr), and slice off buttons
like salami with a precision bandsaw. Delrin rods come in white or black.
Dennis
Original Message
From: Chilton Webb [noparse]/noparse]mailto:[url=http://forums.parallaxinc.com/group/basicstamps/post?postID=7iL1foAdjMfQqr7BIfvtVCbqGckH9zPElo8QdKDNKZh3voFMz61QDwdeGQM3G88m8SQU4wfM]chilton@t...[/url
Sent: Saturday, June 09, 2001 7:23 AM
To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Plastics
One of my client's projects (which is made possible entirely thanks to
the STAMP) needs buttons for one of its controls that I can't buy off
the shelf. It's a long story, but I have 1,000 cases machined out, and
the off-the-shelf buttons just don't fit. SO, I need to manufacture some
buttons pronto.
I'm looking for a liquid/gel/paste/whatever that I can pour into a mold
or mold in some fashion that will then harden into a a fairly solid
substance. Any ideas?
Thanks,
-Chilton
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Suggest you look into your local hobby shop, hobby magazines, Emerson &
Cummings, Inc., Master-Bond, Inc., etc. There are many companies that make
and supply this type of material. Be sure you discuss your needs and
application with them and let them advise you on the best type of material
and mold type to satisfy your clients needs as well as being able to
manufacture them. Don't forget the draft (so you will be able to release the
finished product from the mold). What is the environment the buttons will be
exposed to?
Hope this helps, Burt Schultz
>
> I'm looking for a liquid/gel/paste/whatever that I can pour into a mold
> or mold in some fashion that will then harden into a a fairly solid
> substance. Any ideas?
>
I've worked with three different types of plastic before.
Thermoplastics like the ProtoPlast stuff here:
http://www.artstuf.com/THERMOPLASTICS.html
-Pretty cool stuff. You heat it up to about 200F and you can mold it
any way you like. At room temperature, it's solid but reasonably
plyable. The stuff I worked with came in thin strips and was an opaque
white. It's never really a liquid, though, so it'd be difficult to cast.
...polyester casting resin like the stuff here:
-You mix it with a catalyst and it hardens to a clear solid. Stinks
when it's a liquid, though. Need good ventilation.
http://www.artstuf.com/EPOXY_AND_POLYESTER__RESINS.html
...and epoxy resin (same page)
-Pretty much the same sort of thing as the polyester resin but with
slightly different properties. The stuff I've used was a transluscent
yellow when it hardened. Also very smelly.
Of the three, the polyester resin is probably the best for casting
something like a button. I've never tried tinting the stuff but it
shouldn't be a problem. There's info on pigments here:
http://www.shopmaninc.com/pigments.html
Both artstuf.com and shopmaninc.com seem to have resin, pigments and
molding suplies.
If you'd rather get somone else to do it, you could have a look at
the rapid prototyping directory:
http://home.att.net/~castleisland/sbcius.htm
Some of these places will do short production runs as well as one-
off prototypes. A quick look through there gave me these guys:
http://www.arrk.com
Looks like they do just about anything. No idea of the cost, though.
SD
--
/===================================================================\
| Steve DeGroof (http://degroof.home.mindspring.com/) |
\===================================================================/
cut holes with a hole saw they use for wood to hide screws.
1,000 of anything one at a time will be labor intensive.
I had also thought of putting 50 holes in a sheet and filling them
with epoxy, then once dry, just popping them out. You could put in
just about any connector while the epoxy is wet.
Dave
--- In basicstamps@y..., "Dennis P. O'Leary" <doleary@h...> wrote:
> Chilton,
>
> Sounds pretty labor intensive. I work with a machinist who has a
table-top
> CNC milling machine. He can make anything out of delrin, accurate
to .001",
> by first programming it in 3D AutoCAD. Buttons would be simple --
buy
> delrin rods of the required diameter (McMaster Carr), and slice off
buttons
> like salami with a precision bandsaw. Delrin rods come in white or
black.
>
> Dennis
>
>
Original Message
> From: Chilton Webb [noparse][[/noparse]mailto:chilton@t...]
> Sent: Saturday, June 09, 2001 7:23 AM
> To: basicstamps@y...
> Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Plastics
>
>
> One of my client's projects (which is made possible entirely thanks
to
> the STAMP) needs buttons for one of its controls that I can't buy
off
> the shelf. It's a long story, but I have 1,000 cases machined out,
and
> the off-the-shelf buttons just don't fit. SO, I need to manufacture
some
> buttons pronto.
>
> I'm looking for a liquid/gel/paste/whatever that I can pour into a
mold
> or mold in some fashion that will then harden into a a fairly solid
> substance. Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
> -Chilton
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@y...
> from the same email address that you subscribed with. Text in the
Subject
> and Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
at craft and model stores in quite a few colors. It is reasonably
pliable out of the package and if you bake it it gets pretty hard. I
don't know how much it shrinks but you might be able to make a few
different sizes and see which worked out best. It is machinable once it
is hardened. Good luck!
On Sat, 9 Jun 2001 09:23:29 -0500 Chilton Webb <chilton@t...> writes:
> One of my client's projects (which is made possible entirely thanks
> to
> the STAMP) needs buttons for one of its controls that I can't buy
> off
> the shelf. It's a long story, but I have 1,000 cases machined out,
> and
> the off-the-shelf buttons just don't fit. SO, I need to manufacture
> some
> buttons pronto.
>
> I'm looking for a liquid/gel/paste/whatever that I can pour into a
> mold
> or mold in some fashion that will then harden into a a fairly solid
> substance. Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
> -Chilton
>
>
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
> basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> from the same email address that you subscribed with. Text in the
> Subject and Body of the message will be ignored.
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
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>
> One of my client's projects (which is made possible entirely thanks to
> the STAMP) needs buttons for one of its controls that I can't buy off
> the shelf. It's a long story, but I have 1,000 cases machined out, and
> the off-the-shelf buttons just don't fit. SO, I need to manufacture some
> buttons pronto.
>
> I'm looking for a liquid/gel/paste/whatever that I can pour into a mold
> or mold in some fashion that will then harden into a a fairly solid
> substance. Any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
> -Chilton
the STAMP) needs buttons for one of its controls that I can't buy off
the shelf. It's a long story, but I have 1,000 cases machined out,and
the off-the-shelf buttons just don't fit. SO, I need to manufacturesome
buttons pronto.
I'm looking for a liquid/gel/paste/whatever that I can pour into a mold
or mold in some fashion that will then harden into a a fairly solid
substance. Any ideas?
Thanks,
-Chilton
·
Hey Chilton,
My reply may be a little late but.....I do a good bit of casting.·YOu may want to try a combination of a couple methods.· They are fairlysimple, take little time and the end results are very professional.
Someone mentioned sculpey in one of the earlier posts.· This willwork great to make your first "prototype" button.
Play with the sculpey until you have a button that will work for you.·After it's baked it can be sanded, drilled, etc...to make you final prototype.
Then make a mold from your prototype....I use Smooth-on PMC 121/30 DryMolding compound.· It's a very simple 1:1 mix ratio by volume (noweighing necessary).
Once the mold is cured (24 hours) you can remove the prototype fromthe mold and you're ready to create the buttons.
The casting resin I commonly use is Smooth-Cast 300 from Smooth-on.·However, if your buttons need to be a specific color there is another resinand dyes from Smooth-on that will allow you to achieve the results youseek.
This is a very simplified version of what you'll be doing.· Ifyou have questions or need assistance I'll be glad to help.
The URL from Smooth-on is http://www.Smooth-on.com
Good luck.
Rus
--
Bones
"Ghoul-Will Ambassador to the Boneyard"
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"my mind wanders....I'm just along for the ride"
If it's any help, I have a CNC machine shop,
and could possibly machine them for you in pinch.
Russ
Original Message
From: Chilton Webb <chilton@t...>
To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 09, 2001 10:23 AM
Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Plastics
| One of my client's projects (which is made possible entirely thanks to
| the STAMP) needs buttons for one of its controls that I can't buy off
| the shelf. It's a long story, but I have 1,000 cases machined out, and
| the off-the-shelf buttons just don't fit. SO, I need to manufacture some
| buttons pronto.
|
| I'm looking for a liquid/gel/paste/whatever that I can pour into a mold
| or mold in some fashion that will then harden into a a fairly solid
| substance. Any ideas?
|
| Thanks,
| -Chilton
|
|
| To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
| basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
| from the same email address that you subscribed with. Text in the Subject and
Body of the message will be ignored.
|
|
| Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|
|
|
Results? How did you solve overall problem? Burt Schultz