Andrew Manto
howtomakealmostanything
Home Week 01 Final Project Proposal Week 02 Laser Cutting Press Fit Week 03 Integrated Circuit Programming Week 04 3d Printing and Scanning Week 05 Circuit Board Design Week 06 Molding and Casting Week 07 Programming Week 08 Make Something Nice Week 09 Input Devices Week 10 Composites Week 11 Output Devices Week 12 Interface and Application Programming Week 13 Networking Week 14 Final ProjectvWEEK 06 // Molding and Casting
I used this exercise to experiment with creating a component that could be useful in a studio exercise that I am working on concurently. The exercise revolves are the design and construction of small "cellular" elements that stack to create longer chains. Each one of these cells has four sides that are defined as ruled surfaces.
I laid out my part in Rhino, and did the toolpathing in Mastercam. I then exported machine code to the shopbot. To avoid any undercuts, and divided the part along two opposite edges. I set the toolpathing up to rough out the pockets with a 1/4" flat end mill and finish using a 1/8" ballnose end mill.
I glued the block of machinable wax directly to the mdf bed of the shopbot. I set the toolpathing up to rough out the pockets with a 1/4" flat end mill and finish using a 1/8" ballnose end mill.
Part one of the mold turned out super clean. All it took was a little compressed air to clean all the excess chips out and it was set to recieve oomoo.
Next, I poured Oomoo 25 directly into the machinable wax mold and let it cure over the course of 75 mintues.
Despite mixing the oomoo for over 10 min, andwaiting over 2 hours to cure, the oomoo didn't harden at all. I have made many molds before, and I have never had this happen. Needless to say, the mold is ruined right now, as the oomoo is too goopy to remove. I will try and cast again later if I have revive this mold.