Anyone know of someone that casts plastics?

[casper50]

Looking to have 1 or 2 fairly rare taillight lenses cast for me.  Doesn't make much sense to layout the money for everything if I can find someone that could do them for me.    

 

[knuckleharley]

14 minutes ago, casper50 said:

Looking to have 1 or 2 fairly rare taillight lenses cast for me.  Doesn't make much sense to layout the money for everything if I can find someone that could do them for me.    

 

I don't know if this would work or not,but if there are any colleges or universities near you,pay a visit to their engineering dept and see if they will get a student to do it for you as a project.

[chuck 47 plym]

I remember watching a show and they had recreated tail light lenses with a 3d printer. 

[desoto1939]

My first question is what are the rare lens that you need?  How rare are they and what makes them so rare.  Is the cost of making a die and then the cost of only making a single pair within a reasonable cost and then if you broke one then you would have to replace them again.  So what is your project that you are workingon so we can all make some suggestions.

Also you have to think about would you then take the car out onthe road with the cost of these custom lens with the possibility of having them get broken.

 

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

[casper50]

55 Pontiac wagon lenses.  The are smaller than the hardtop, sedan and convertible.  Last set that I saw being sold went for $250.  If I can find someone to do it I think I'd buy the mold from them as well.  Could then make more for me and sell some to recoup the cost.

[HotRodTractor]

I've made molds and cast parts before. The ideal thing is to have a sample part and then make a mold using a product like what you have listed. The trick would be finding the right resin to make what you want. Its been a while since I have done it, but it wouldn't take much time and I could have a decent mold in a couple of days of having the raw materials and parts. Cast lenses would be VERY shortly after having a good mold. Depending on the resin, you might need a vacuum chamber, which isn't a big deal for such a small mold, but it does add to expense for a couple of one off parts.

 

Another option that  I have toyed with in my mind - there is a fairly translucent 3D printer filament available that when coated can have good UV stability. Going this route it might be easy to make stock replacements - but if someone desired something a little custom it could be accomplished by changing the base model. I have the equipment to do this as well.