I've been looking into buying a small home foundry from these guys: http://www.foundry101.com/search.htm . BTW, what ever happened to Russ and his T-34? If I recall, him and his buddys went in on a spin casting machine. I don't know if he is still around. I'm sure he could give some input on the whole casting issue. I would love to cast my tracks in metal or even in plastic if a spin casting machine could do plastic.
Derek On Thu, Nov 3, 2011 at 5:31 AM, Forlorn Foundry <[email protected]>wrote: > If you use the same silicone or polyurethane molds, you could cast > them in casting or foundry wax and use the lost wax casting method to > cast them in aluminum instead of plastic. I work at an art foundry > and that's something I could do if anyone is interested in having > metal parts cast. I can also do bronze, iron, steel, and stainless > steel. > > Bryan > > On Nov 2, 8:24 pm, [email protected] wrote: > > Hi all, I've been following this thread with great interest and > excitment in hoping that this process will develop. I currently have some > 3d models I would like to have produced with 3d printing and then molded by > Frank into usable objects in different materials depending upon their use. > I've been looking into 3d printers over the last several months thinking I > wanted to buy one. What I have learned is that 3d printers are like > everything else, you get what you pay for. The less expensive 3d printers > do not give you the quality print that higher quality printers do. > Unfortunately quality begins at about $10-20 grand. But the great thing is > that the owners of these machines are learning that volume is the key so > prices are becoming more reasonable from 3d printing services. I currently > have a 3d model of a 20 Ton long jack for my KT that I am trying to get > printed. The jack is about 5" long and 1.2" wide and the best quality > print price I've found so far is $60.00 just for this item. If anyone else > has a more cost effective price for a good print I would love to hear from > you. > > > > > > > > I've also been starting to design the modeling for my next tank > after finishing the KT and what I am going to do is have the running > gear, 1 sprocket, 1 wheel and 1 idler, plus suspension pieces printed in 3d > and have Frank teach me how to mold them in a strong enough material to do > an entire 1/6 tank. After hanging out with Frank and the guys I'm totally > convinced it can be done, wheels, tracks, idlers, suspensions and all, you > would be amazed at what he can do. > > > > > > > > The other great thing is that now the same companies also offer 3d > scanning. So for instance we can send then a complete set of running gear > from a model and they can scan it into 3d so that the complete set, > sprocket, tracks, wheels, running gear, etc. are completely adapted/scaled > to each other so that all we would have to do is bring it into a 3d > program, rescale it to 1/6 and then export it so to be printed in 3d. :) > Just thinking out loud. > > > > > > > > Kind regards, > > > > John > > > > > > > > > > > > On 11/02/11,Frank Pittelli<[email protected]>wrote:On 11/2/2011 > 1:41 PM,[email protected]: > > > I know that molds have a finite lifetime. Typically > > > how many castings can I expect to get from a silicone mold ? > > When properly maintained, a rubber mold can be used for hundreds of > > castings. We've had no problem making tread parts for multiple tanks > > with a single 8 tread mold. > > Regarding set time: It doesn't take long to pour resin into 6-8 molds. > > Once you've learned the process (spray, measure, dye, mix, pour, pop) > > things go pretty smoothly. > > > I'm leaning toward molding and casting myself, but I like Franks offer > > > of "prototype parts for molds". At least I wouldn't need to make my own > > > molds and I could still play with a Thing-O-Matic. > > Now we're talking. John White (KT builder) is ready to crank out dozens > > of CAD designs for tank parts. Together, we can form the un-holy > > trinity of mold making :-) > > Frank P. > > -- > > You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. > > To post a message, send email [email protected] > > To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] > > Visit the group athttp://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat > > -- > You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. > To post a message, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] > Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat > -- You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat
