Molding and Casting (or how I learned about organization the hard way)
I'll be the first to admit that I tripped and fell on my face on this week's assignment. Jen, the architecture section TA, warned us that the molding and casting would take a lot of time, so we should get started early this week. I was also out of town this weekend, which compounded my troubles. I didn't get started on the CAD file until late on Monday.
I've done some casting with Oomoo and plaster before, but never using a milled wax mold for the silicone. I was determined to do something beyond just fulfilling the assignment. I should have known that the lack of time, the large amount of work, and my over-ambitious plans would lead to many problems.
It started out simply enough. I'm somewhat familiar with Rhino, so I decided to use it to model a LEGO man. How hard could it be? Aren't millions of these injection molded every year? Even better, I found a free CAD file of the LEGO piece. However, I soon realized that it wasn't optimized for Rhino or for mold making.
It took much longer than expected to get the file workable, and then I had to go through the mental gymnastics to make a mold for the mold that would cast the LEGO guy. I realized that the arms wouldn't be unmoldable if kept attached to the body. Plus, the complexity of the form meant I had to go in and simplify areas so that I could make it into a two-part mold. Even then, I eventually redrew most of it.
I made a model of the Oomoo mold using the lego CAD file. Then I used that to make a model of the wax mold!
Things became more and more complicated. The parts kept multiplying. Plus, making mistakes in Rhino would cause hours of corrections. I need to learn how to use Rhino more efficiently!
At this point, my late start and the unanticiapted amount of time it took to make the CAD file meant that there was no way I could get the part cast in time. I hoped to at least have the wax mold milled, but little did I know that Mastercam would be the final nail in the coffin!
A combination of a messy Rhino file and my inexperience meant that setting up Mastercam was a lot more confusing and time consuming than I imagined. Definitely the theme for this week for me!
