8. Molding & Casting¶
Seashells - Group Task¶
- Material: Oatmeal Soap.
- Mix Ratio: No Mixing.
- Cured Material State: Soft then hard after cooling.
- Safety Information: Wear Gloves, Use Tissues when needed, Keep Distance and Wear Apron.
- Process Steps: Cut to small pieces > Heat in microwave for 2.5 minutes > use in casting > wait until it cools
Classmates - Group Task¶
- Materials used for other group tasks were Resin & Hardener and White Gypsum which can be seen in the picture below.
- For Information About White Gypsum, Refer to Ali Al-Saegh’s Page.
- For Information About Resin, Refer to Noof Abdulla’s Page.
Fusion Design - Individual Task¶
3D Designing and Steps¶
- Software Used: Fusion 360
- Tools Used: Create Sketch > Create: Square > Create: Text > Extrude > Pull
Download Milling Design¶
Download as .STL - Download as.F3D
Milling¶
Machine¶
- Machine used: monoFab Machine
- The material used for milling is wax since it is available and recyclable.
Mechanics¶
Operates in 2.5D (no undercuts) where it cuts from above and creates shapes with bends that can not be made with CNC Machine or Laser Cutter. * What makes the design suitable for this specific machine is that it allows bends in the design which can not be in CNC Machine or Laser Cutter.
Constraints¶
The requirements for the design size are as follows:
Smallest gap: 1.6mm (That’s the smallest milling bit)
Design height max: 8mm
* Design width and length max: 60mm
Program¶
- Estimated Milling Time: 4 hours.
- When Fixing the material to the machine bed it is recommended to add a 2 faced tape to keep it on the bed without moving to ruin the system.
- Steps: Enter the program file as .STL > add Block Size (Wax) > Mill > Select Settings > Start.
Results¶
Molding¶
- Safety Information: Wear Gloves, Use Tissues when needed, Keep Distance and Wear Apron.
Materials/Equipment¶
- Silicon A (used with Silicon B with ratio 1:1 to create mold)
- Silicon B (used with Silicon A with ratio 1:1 to create mold)
- Milled Wax (Previous Step)
- Plastic Cups (to add silicon into)
- Plastic Spoons (to transport silicon)
- Tissues (to clean excess materials)
- Small Weighing Scale (to weight materials)
Ratio & Mixture¶
- On Milled Wax with 1 A to 1 B Ratio (silicon material since it was the available one).
- 62.7g A and 62.7g B Material.
- results take time in 9 hours approximately.
- Steps: Add Silicon A to glass > Add Silicon B to another glass > have same weight at both > Add Them in one glass > Mix them well for about 2 minutes.
Results¶
Casting¶
- Safety Information: Wear Gloves, Use Tissues when needed, Keep Distance and Wear Apron.
- Resin and Hardener were used as they provide a colorless result which can be colored and are more rigid than the materials used at the group task
Materials/Equipment¶
- Molded Piece
- Resin
- Hardener
- 2 Plastic Cups
- 2 Spoons
- Small Weighing Scale
- Tissues
- Water/Oil Color
Ratio & Mixture¶
- 10g resin to 6g hardener ratio
- Steps: Add 10g of Resin in Cup > add 6g of Hardener in Cup > Mix Resin and Hardener using spoon > add one small drop of Coloring > Cast onto the Molding > Wait until it solidifies.
Results¶
- full cure time approximately 36 hours.
Issues¶
When Casting Letters, it was notices that the results will lose some parts as shown in the circles in the images below due to having an edge that connects the letters to the ground floor of the system, in case some one desires to add letters or numbers it is recommended to pull or use other tools on every corner until there are no under cuts.