dumb question

[lilsquirt]

I am in desperate need of wheels, Racing wheels to be exact. and I am wondering if what I have in mind will work ~~~~~~~~~~

there is a clay on the market that will harden when placed in the oven at a certain degree!

I propose to press an old racing hub in the clay and let it harden for a few days instead of oven treating it

A couple of days in the hot summer sun down here in South Carolina should be hot enough to do the trick.

When the clay is hard I propose to subject the cast to a great deal of heat _ enough to melt the old rim leaving a wheel cast ( if I am lucky)

when the cast is done I plan to use 2 part epoxy and fill the mold allowing it to dry then spray paint it with the desired color of paint

I ought to be able to mold a few sets before the molds come apart

will this plan work??

lilsquirt

[Smart-Resins]

I am not sure about the heat instead of the baking? Otherwise I have heard of poeple using sculpty ect with epoxy. Only makes a few I was told. Now as for the subjecting it to enough heat to melt the plastic, I must ask why first? If you can not remove the original, then how will you remove the copies? Secondly, to melt the kit plastic, it might subject the clay to too march heat and crack it I would think? However I dont know as I never tried it that way! Jody

[randx0]

you could also try using a silicone gasket material to make the mold.

[James W]

Beware the type of 2 part epoxy you use.

The 5 minute epoxy found in hobby shops that is primarily a glue dose not harden enough to become a usable part.

Something like JB Weld might do the trick however.

Note that if you have any undercuts in the finished part, the mold will have to flex to get the parts out.

[lilsquirt]

Hay Hay Hay

SMART

never thought of using a gasket silicon ----that might be just the thing!!

and using 2 part epoxy------ the JB Weld should work!

We use both the silicon and the weld on our raciing karts so why not on the models

gonna try it Gonna try it Gonna try it Today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let yall (Southern For you all) know what happens!

If I dont get back to you

you will fondly remember me as the Guy who said

Gonna try it Gonna try it Gonna try it

lilsquirt

[randx0]

if you have problems getting your parts out try wd 40 as a mold release.and don't give up try a few times and be patient with the silicone somtimes it takes awhile for it to dry inside . good luck post some pics when you are happy with the results.

[Eshaver]

Uh, Lil Squirt, I've had indifferent results from silicone sealant molds over the years . Pretty much all the time , the sealant will adhere to the parts like they're hangin fer dear life! I have had the best luck with either the Red or the Black. I dunno, what the difference is there as far as chemicals but the copper and the clear are out of the question. You can also use plain Epoxy fiberglass resin too! Yes , it's sticky as you pull it out of the mold but if you spray clear Testors lacquer on it , it works fine . I have been casting gas pump globes like this for several years using this material. In fact if there isn't a whole lot of fine detail you can also shovel in Bondo into yer mold . Yep it works too. Kinda grainy but it looks like a cast iron piece . Try that , see if any of that helps . Meanwhile I'm back to trying to build a door for the Amoco project.

Ed Shaver

[VW Dave]

The 5 minute epoxy found in hobby shops that is primarily a glue dose not harden enough to become a usable part.

Something like JB Weld might do the trick however.

I have to disagree on the epoxy comment - If the epoxy isn't thoroughly mixed it won't harden; I've had great results with Devcon and Permatex 5-minute epoxy, and it's probably because I make sure it's very well mixed before pouring. What I've also done is coat the mold with appliance touch-up paint beforehand, to act like gel-coat used in fiberglass layups. It also helps with post-casting cleanup, as the part is not so transparent.

JB Weld does indeed make a good media, but it doesn't flow into the mold as well as epoxy does. I've used a small electric clipper to vibrate the mold and help release trapped air bubbles.

Another good mold-making product is Woodland Scenics' latex mold compound(formerly known as 'Mountains in Minutes").

[lilsquirt]

Thanks everone for trying to help but I have a solution to my dumb question

I think that I will just bid on rims on ebsy

sounds like i bit off more than I could chew Gag, hack, and other strangling sounds!!

I glanced at ebay and ther are quite a few to bid on

might be cheeper and MUCH easier to just bid and pay HE HE HE HE

lilsquirt

willl it be okay if I just used my real name to end the thread??

if so

Larry

[Smart-Resins]

Sometimes that is the case. I have learned that somethings can be too difficult for me to cast, or that is with multiple part molds like 3 and 4 part molds. I just cant do them! Also someone had approached me regarding casting a piece for them, a more regular piece that you can find in any $10 kit. I had told them without charging for time, that it would be around $15 to cast the part for them. Wich I really had no interest in casting the part because it was a comen part, so perhaps should have quoted more? But I figured just charging raw cost and shipping. So as I told them, would honestly be better off buying the kit and having that much more to have around for the parts bin.Now, if it is a very rare and hard to find part, I can see doing it both for the customer and for myself. As for those wheels you are looking for, maybe put a wanted add up. Perhaps youll find more that way too? Jody

[Art Anderson]

I have to disagree on the epoxy comment - If the epoxy isn't thoroughly mixed it won't harden; I've had great results with Devcon and Permatex 5-minute epoxy, and it's probably because I make sure it's very well mixed before pouring. What I've also done is coat the mold with appliance touch-up paint beforehand, to act like gel-coat used in fiberglass layups. It also helps with post-casting cleanup, as the part is not so transparent.

JB Weld does indeed make a good media, but it doesn't flow into the mold as well as epoxy does. I've used a small electric clipper to vibrate the mold and help release trapped air bubbles.

Another good mold-making product is Woodland Scenics' latex mold compound(formerly known as 'Mountains in Minutes").

YEARS ago, I made my first attempt at resin casting, a set of wheels and tires for a USAC dirt track championship car (Watson Offenhauser front engine, from the early 60's). To cast the wheels and tires, I used simple liquid latex rubber to get the mold surface, then backed that up with DAP Silicone II bathtub sealer, for both halves of each wheel, front and rear.

(Note, latex rubber will not work at all well with urethane resins, such as Alumilite!).

For resin, I used Envirotex, which is a clear coating resin still found in places like Michael's or Hobby Lobby. Envirotex is two part, thin consistency, but it does cure to a flexible texture. I learned that I could put the wheel/tire halves on a cookie sheet, and by baking them in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees, once they cooled, they were as hard as a rock. It was a very simple matter then, to face off the back sides of each part, and epoxy them together, then file and sand the seam down the middle of the tread. Worked well enough to take "Best Scratchbuilt" at the 1985 IPMS Nationals in Indianapolis.

Art