Resin Casting

[T120]

..Has anyone on the forum tried it? It looks interesting and a simple enough method of cloning parts.It would require an original part to make the mould

and as the product is an exact duplicate,the sample would have to be in perfect condition.Could be used to duplicate plastic trim pieces,etc.Lots of ideas.I'm sure there are others in the old car hobby that have made this a "cottage industry" turning out parts.

http://www.alumilite.com/index.cfm

[Frank Ollian]

I've been casting rubber parts using flexane and plaster molds, I've made pads, grommets, boots and pedal pads. Not hard to do but a little expensive, but if its a part you can't buy or you like the satisfaction of doing it your self it's a good way to kill some time.

I've wanted to try doing some hard plastic lenses using silicone molds so thanks for posting this link. Silicone should be a better material for mold making, use the mold more times and probably a little more accurate, don't know if you can use it with urethane though.

If anyone has done the silicone and plastic I would like to hear about it too.

Thanks.

[Uncle-Pekka]

I made some dash knobs for a '59 furd a couple of weeks back by casting them in disposable mould (regular childrens play-doh).

I used industrial resin they use for fiber glass boats.

Very cheap method, but I had to try several before I got usable parts.

However, the surface patterns copied very true to original.

I painted the knobs with enamel.

If you enjoy fiddling with small parts and experimenting work methods, I recommend trying resin casting. Does not take big money to start with it, if you use plasticine and boat resin.

To do it right, there are molding sets available at hobby shops. They use special silicone rubber to make high precision moulds.

[T120]

..Theres a lot of information available on the internet from a number of sources.As far as our hobby is concerned-lenses,hood emblems,knobs and the like are able to be cloned and also dyes are available for the resin to duplicate the original item.This is a project I plan to devote some time to this winter.

[dparksie]

:pI have played with resin work. Takes a couple of tries but it works:). I asked a freind of mine that works in a factory that does plastics and he helped me out.

[Robert Horne]

For mold making, there is Alginate that is used by dentist. It is not expensive, can be found on ebay.

[T120]

Have you had experience using Alginate,Robert?I wasn't aware of this product. Ralph

[WatchingWolf]

I believe CarCraft did an article about this recently....

[Don Coatney]

Contact forum member roadkillontheweb. I believe he is reproducing plastic junior car bodies.

[Robert Horne]

Have you had experience using Alginate,Robert?I wasn't aware of this product. Ralph

The only experience I had with this material , was at the dentist office.

It works quick. The dentist told me the name of the material. Found it on

ebay.

[T120]

Hi Robert,I've also had that goop in my mouth,I had a crown done last year.I didn't know it was called alginate.It sets up rather quickly...And,Don C.,I'll pm

Roadkillontheweb and check it out.Thanks,Ralph

Edited December 8, 2009 by Ralph D25cpe

[Brad Lustig]

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

Yup, it's made out of algae. I believe the main reason it's used in dentistry is because it's food safe. I don't know the cost of the stuff, but there may be better casting materials at a cheaper price. I remember I looked into doing some casting a few years ago. There used to be some supplies at Michaels.

[Jim Yergin]

Many years ago I cast a replacement knob for the seat adjuster on my '41 Plymouth wagon. I remember adding coloring agent to the mix to get the color I wanted. It was a very simple shape. I made a template one out of wood to use to shape the clay mold and I placed a threaded insert into the mix before it set to provide a way to screw it onto the adjustment rod.

Jim Yergin

[T120]

...The knob turned out nice,Jim...I also spoke with Lee Exline on the phone tonight.He has considerable experience in casting items.He suggested starting off with some simple items to gain experience before taking on more difficullt (2 part mold) items.He also recommended watching "Polytek" and "Smooth-On" series of videos on You Tube - for anyone interested.

[T120]

Thanks for the contact,Don.I spoke with Lee last night.Very knowledgeable and helpful fellow. Ralph

[Don Coatney]

Thanks for the contact,Don.I spoke with Lee last night.Very knowledgeable and helpful fellow. Ralph

Glad to help!

[Allan Faust]

There are DVD's on the subject as well. I know of 2 of them,

"Making parts, patterns, tools and molds" and "Reproduce almost anything, Baisc Silicone Mold Making" Excellent DVD's both of them....

Allan

[T120]

Hi Allan, Thanks for the reference to the DVD's.There is also some videos on "YouTube" available.Lee Exline recommended,Polytek and also the Smooth-On series as worthwhile viewing.Some experimentation is certainly required to see what works best for a particular application.A good original is required to clone.I suppose the beauty is, once a satisfactory mold is produced,a person could turn an item out in a rather rapid fashion and if the part produced is in demand, it would help to recoup the expense of materials and time.(Of course,supply and demand would have to be considered. )An activity to while away some time this winter when not spending as much time outdoors.

Edited December 10, 2009 by Ralph D25cpe

[Allan Faust]

You are right about that Ralph. The chemicals required for the molding and casting, if you want quality, do not come cheap, and a copy of a copy of a copy is not too good either..... I think the movie Duplicity with Keaton proved that....

I just like watching different how-to videos dealing with metalwork, casting, etc, anything that can help me out. Found a great site to rent some of em, ie Smartflix, but some videos take a while to get to ya.

Allan

[T120]

..Just checked out, "Smartflix",Allan -looks interesting,Ralph

[Allan Faust]

I really thought it was worthwhile..... as I said, the wait is long sometimes, but its not like you can get the videos at just any video store.... and for 10 bucks you get em for a week, and they supply the box and labels, you just supply the return postage.