Postby Hasbeen » 01 Jun 2012 01:51
For those who like fiddling there is a less expensive way of recreating a plastic part than a 3D printer.
If you can put the thing back together as it was, you can then mold one, or a few, in a glass filled epoxy or polyester casting resin.
Dow Corning were the original manufacturers of RTV Silicone mould making resins. Such a mould can make a few complicated part, or a few dozen simple parts.
You simply pour the silicone around the part to be duplicated, in a box to support the mold. Once hardened you pour the material into the mould, allow to cure, then turn the mould inside out to extract the part.
The more complicated the part the less times the mould can be used. & with some parts, the mould may have to be destroyed to extract the part.
I got into trouble in the 60s, when promoting the technique. I had moulded some coins, among other stuff, to demonstrate how accurately the minor details were reproduced. Cast in acrylic, & painted the correct colour, they were so good that I was warned by law enforcement that I could be charged with counterfeiting, & I was Best advised to use some other object for my samples.
Glass reinforced polyester, fiberglass, is pretty tough stuff, although it needs a fair percentage of glass to gain it's impact resistance, & the higher the glass percentage, the harder it is to get accurate mouldings of small details.
Hasbeen
