The current resin I use has a 50 second gel time.  Its a little like flying
rc, if it gets ahead of you you are in trouble.

I wonder if a person could make a inlet control valve with a piece of
tubing and clamp, or special clamp?  Something that would take about 15 psi
forward pressure to open the clamp.


On Sat, Sep 28, 2013 at 7:16 AM, Erik Friesen <e...@aercon.net> wrote:

> For the high speed vacuum, why not just use an external tank, with
> plumbing valve or equivalent to switch to whichever has highest vacuum?
>
>
> On Sat, Sep 28, 2013 at 12:13 AM, Gregg Eshelman <g_ala...@yahoo.com>wrote:
>
>> On 9/27/2013 6:29 PM, Erik Friesen wrote:
>> > Do you think vacuum alone would pull into every nook and cranny?  I have
>> > looked for other people that have tried something similar, but didn't
>> find
>> > much.  By vacuum, my idea is to in some way place the mold under vacuum,
>> > and fill it using atmospheric pressure, perhaps using some type of
>> funnel
>> > and valve.  If you do calculations on a 4 sq in mold at my pump rating
>> of
>> > 10pa, it calculates to a .07" cubed volume at atmosphere of 101kpa.
>> >
>> > Whats the demold/depressurisation time for pressured polyurethane?
>>
>> It depends a lot on the resin. Fast cure ones like you're using could
>> come out in a few minutes to an hour, just to be sure. Most of what I
>> use is Smooth-On Crystal Clear and I leave it under pressure 24 hours. I
>> also post-cure at 145F with convection heat so if not left under
>> pressure long enough I've had problems with small bubbles forming.
>>
>> I've also used some of Smooth-On's faster resins like Onyx and have been
>> able to take out of pressure in about 30 minutes. That one cures hard
>> enough it doesn't need post curing.
>>
>> Think of using pressure like what a deep diver experiences, except for
>> with the resin and silicone keeping it under pressure long enough
>> ensures the gasses never get back out.
>>
>> You can speed up the cure by shining a halogen work light on the
>> pressure tank or putting the tank in a very warm room. I've cast
>> silicone molds under pressure in the middle of winter in a poorly heated
>> shop, with a halogen lamp shining on one of my larger tanks. Most resins
>> and silicones need to be at least 75F to cure properly.
>>
>> Therin lies a useful property that can be exploited some times. Chill
>> the components prior to mixing to stretch out the pot life, then after
>> pouring into the mold, apply heat to speed up the cure.
>>
>> However, some resins can fail to cure properly if they're not at the
>> proper temperature or higher when mixed. In such a case, mix the resin
>> then fill the mold in a cold room, then transfer to a warm room to get
>> some more working time.
>>
>> If you have a bunch of leftover silicone after casting a mold, freeze
>> the leftovers. It'll bring the cure nearly to a halt. I've frozen mixed
>> silicone up to a week and still been able to use it to make molds. It
>> will be thick but will still flow.
>>
>> Another trick I've used to alter curing times is mixing resins from the
>> same product line with different cure times. I had to cast some large
>> but thin parts. The longer cure time resin wouldn't properly set in such
>> thin castings and the short cure time that would set in thin castings
>> would kick too fast to be able to get the mold filled. So I mixed the
>> two in a 50:50 ratio and the properties came out somewhere between,
>> stretching the time long enough to be able to fill the mold and get it
>> in a tank, while still generating enough heat from the chemical
>> reactions to fully cure. I told Smooth-On what I did. No reply but they
>> later added another resin in the Crystal Clear line with cure properties
>> between the 202 and the longer cure time number. I think they've also
>> altered the 202 because I can use it as-is in the molds that I couldn't
>> when I was mixing the two, and even if I do heat the tanks or set them
>> on the concrete in front of my shop on a sunny day, the castings still
>> need post curing.
>>
>>
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