Bullitt Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 I have been thinking o casting some parts from kits to use on future projects, wheels, carburators etc. and am wondering how hard it is to get started, I saw this small kit at Hobby Lobby, and was wondering if it would work as a start up to get going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Wann Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 http://smcbofphx.proboards.com/board/45/resin-castingHi Phil, I only wish I could invite you into my home so you could get first hand experience. The link above will take you to our local model forum where I post photos of projects in progress. I don't want anyone to become overwhelmed and feel like this skill could kick your butt and give up and waste your time and energy There are stalled and forgotten projects too. Some really dumb stuff and mostly serious info to be learned. Take time to start on about page six. These should be some of my first posts. I really want you to succeed at this and it does take some equipment AND SPACE to do it in. You will need a small air compressor. Get yourself a six quart Presto brand pressure cooker and convert it into a pressure pot. It is easy to do. You can make a vacuum chamber easy enough too. If you are really handy at building stuff you can make a vacuum pump out of a automotive AC compressor. You will mount it and a electric motor with a belt to drive it. If you get a regular refrigeration pump it might spew out this nasty cloud of compressor oil and fog up your work area when you turn it on. You will need to vacuum the air out of the silicone before pouring it into a mold box. I know the container says you don't need to do that. If the container told you to jump off a cliff you would not do it. LOL The company nor the contents do not know the humidity or temperature of the room you are using it in. It does not know how deep the poured silicone will be either. Body molds could be three inches thick and I do multiple 200 milliliter batch pours until the body is properly covered. I keep my house at a 77 degree temperature. I also add a silicone oil to thin the material so it takes a bit longer to actually cure. You want every advantage for any trapped bubbles to escape from the material. If you get a tiny bubble next to your original part then every part you make will have this little round dot of resin that will need to be removed and you will not be happy about it. That little dot will be in some detail that will drive you crazy to remove it and still keep the part you made looking nice. Believe me! You will also need to vacuum your unused resin because it will draw in moisture out of the air and your cured parts will be really foamy looking. Resin cures because it can reach a temperature of around 150 degrees, hotter than you can touch and it won't be able to get rid of that moisture. Being patient and not getting in a hurry is really important. If you are talented and artsy fartsy you can make cool original stuff to make extra money too. If you are wanting to do wheels you should pour a small amount of silicone in the wheel opening and vacuum it down to insure no tiny air bubbles cure next to the detail of the spokes. I wish you good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrKerry Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 I'm here to tell you Greg knows his stuff and if you should listen to anybody about getting into casting he should be in the top five to listen to!!!! I have seen his work and have his Eleanor trans kit and love what I have seen!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Wann Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Thank you Dr. I saw your post on our forum. I started working on the coli covers again this last week and just posted some photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTalmage Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Holy cow Greg... I browsed the forum you linked to.... I wanna join just to see you make casts and molds. Amazing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrKerry Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Welcome Greg, I'll have to jump over again and check them out.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldcarfan Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 This Hobby Lobby kit is pretty good to practice with. Be sure and use the 40% coupon though to save money. I bought one a while back to make a copy of a wheel that I only had three of. The only thing about it is that the RTV was very hard, so it wasn't very forgiving when taking out the molded parts. Use plenty of mold release and try not to have any big undercuts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Wann Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Yes, undercuts can be a problem. Yes, plenty of mold release but don't get it so thick that it actually covers detail in finely detailed parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronw Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Greg thanks for posting the link. I've been casting for myself 10+ years now so I'm pretty familiar with the basics, but there is always more to learn and when it comes to resin casting more than one way to do things. Just a quick skim through that forum and I've already run into a few new ideas to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davysmodels Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 I have also used the Alumilite starter kit and agree with OLDCARFAN, the rtv rubber molds cure too hard and makes removing the parts difficult.Now using the Smooth-On starter kits. The blue RTV rubber molds are flexible and strong. Review the Smooth-On web site as they offer different strengths of RTV rubber.The S-O starter kit is excellent and includes a HUGE instruction booklet and DVD video.https://www.smooth-on.com/products/pourable-silicone-starter-kit/https://www.smooth-on.com/distributor-regions/canada/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Wann Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 https://www.smooth-on.com/distributor-regions/canada/If you are able to drive to a location and take one of their seminar classes you will be ahead on a learning curve and buy fresh products off the shelves. Resin and silicone is an amazing and diverse world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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