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Ok, I bought a lathe. I went with the wood lathe in the end as I think its easier to shape freehand rather than on a metal lathe. If everything was parallel a metal lather would be the go but shaping...

Righto. Well, I ended up giving all of the metal lathes a wide berth. All of the stories of rebuilding or stripping and reassembling various machines, dodgy this and run out on that etc...etc... put...

Thanks Big Shed.

Cool tongleh. Without any real pressure they dropped the price to $1650 including gst and a promised heavy discount on any extras. I'll have to get them to deliver it I think and...

I wasn't going to buy the stand. I have a steel bench with a ply top that I made ages ago. It fits my space just right and is built like a mother so it should take the 180 kg no probs (fingers...

Space is no real concern, within reason. Something about 1200 long max fits the space Ive allocated but a bit of a reshuffle and 4 mt long is possible. That would mean moving power etc... which I'm...

Ok cool thanks. I just need something that will get me started and learning for minimum cost. Later down the track I will no doubt upgrade to better tooling but for the next few weeks, cheap is good...

Ok, so I'm sold on the AL250 from H&F and was on my out the door to buy it when I thought of tooling. I only require at this stage very basic bits to turn resin. The specs say 16 mm tooling. Its...

Thanks fellas. Yep I read that thread via google Big shed, and the capacitor one too - lucky boy. I assume its accurate tongleh ? If I go with the hafco just hope I get a Wednesday machine :D:D

Yep the tooling and other toys soon add up eh.:D I've done a bit of research on the Hafco and looked at one and they seem to be very good value for money. There is a bit of chat regarding capacitors...

Hi all. Time to step up and buy my first lathe. It will mostly be used for resin. I'm not really interested in thread cutting. Must haves are powered long and cross feeds, 200 min swing and 400...

Waiting for someone to notice that with the safety glasses :D:D

I have the MM and have used it on a few but time is money. Of course, for my own pieces I go all out:p The best time saver will be a...

Yep absolutely dai sensei. PITA but I had to get buy with what I have. I'm in the market for a lathe now but I'm having trouble deciding on metal or wood. I'm leaning towards metal but the wood is so...

Cool John. I'll give it a go. Worth a shot at that price as its the main cost driver in production.

Cheers,

Alex.

G'day John. So the blue stuff is a alternative to pinkysil ? Obviously the mixing ratio is different though ( 1:1 with pinkysil). The last 2kg pinkysil I got was $126

Cheers, Alex.

No problem. I really liked doing it actually. Bad head for camera though :D

Thats awesome Fly:2tsup:

I too have put my mug on youtube with a 7 part series on how to make one of my products from scratch. It shows making the mould with pinkysil, pouring and mixing colours and finishing.

Cheers,
...

Thanks mate. Hardly invention status worthy:D Plenty of free marketing through Facebook and various coffee forums that I belong too.:p

A pic of a blank ready for turning. Its 150 long and 48 D

Thanks guys. Yep, quite a journey but a great one too. There is nothing like my product ( tamper stands) in the world. They are impossible to mass produce - well the colour mixing anyway. I'm now...

Hi all. Well its been a long time between posts - real work getting in the way:D. But, we have a product on the market which is selling. No secrets, no patents and a product that in no way resembles...

You must have been born without the male impulse bull at a gate gene:D

Geez you are a patient man. 12 months of waiting for a corncob. I couldn't do it:D:D. Maybe 24 hours:p

Like the in the pinkysil ? I had to use some 100 mm sewer pipe as a mould and from previous experience I knew I had to use something. I did 2 casts 1 with silicone spray and the other with WD40. Both...

Just discovered that WD40 works great as a release agent on PVC pipe with PR. Learning every day.

Looks neat. Ive heard that putting things in the freezer removes moisture aswell. Haven't tried it though

The old brasso works great but I reckon eee would be better. My moulds are very good as I make a timber master, pour it, then sand the PR cast to glass and then remould that as a new master. But the...

Cheers John. I was thinking along those lines for the actual polishing but its the rough to smooth sanding and going through the different grits thats time consuming. I have a fella looking into...

Hi all. Well things are progressing nicely ( and expensively) so far. It looks like I will have something to patent ( fingers crossed). Anyway, I was wondering if anyones knows of a wet sanding...

Thanks for the advice guys - looks like more research. I have received advice to avoid 2 part molds where ever possible but sometimes there is no choice I guess

Geez John I dunno. I'm messy at the best of times, plaster could be a disaster

Cheers,

Alex

Oh God, technology overload. I'm sure things were manufactured before CNC and 3D were around:D. Hmmmm, maybe get some clay:p

A lot of useless bits of expensive prototypes sitting on the bench at the moment:D Make a master, make a few changes to it, re mould it as a new master, make changes, re mould it etc...... its the...

Loving the epoxy, sort of. Temperature is vital to cure time. I poured late yesterday arvo and this morning the items were super flexy, not tacky though. Prized them out of the moulds and left them...

So far so good. More expensive but if it saves me hours of sanding and finishing its money well spent. Plus its so non toxic to be around compared to PR, which is pleasing the wife no end. The PR was...

So Ive decided to give epoxy a go instead of PR. Because I have to hand sand everything I'm spending hours cleaning up the crappy finish on the PR. Despite my master been high gloss and the moulds...

Ive also considered stting the mould into a icey waterbath to draw heat from the cast. Never seen it before but would be easy to do. 1 x deep sided baking tray, sit the mould in, pour the resin -...

I have played around with the hardener a bit but I cant go below 0.6 % according to the tin. 0.75 % seems to be a good compromise for the bigger casts and 1 % for the smaller stuff

Cheers,

Alex

At least I didnt waste any pinkysil making a mould

Flowers straight off the tree and into the resin:D:D. That will teach me for trying to make a birthday present for my niece:p. If I were to flash the flowers in a strong hardener mix before embedding...

Ah well, it had to happen eventually I guess. I tried to make a small bowl and all was well until the exotherm. It got super hot but didnt smoke. The outer mould was shiny plastic bowl and the inner...

Indeed.

I havent actually got that far with it yet John. Had a few other little refinements to finish off. It wont stop me putting it into service for some R&D. As usual, I'm a bull at a gate when I get on a...

Yep, fair call on the hijack. Sorry.

I had no idea my project would actually work. As is it neither new in concept or principle,all I have is been first to market. Posting photos would be the...

Yep, thanks John. Nailed it in one. I really hate not been able to show you most helpful guys but it will come out eventually. I'm definitely no hit and run poster either. Ive jumped across from the...

Nah nothing like that at all. The product or concept is not new and there are quite a few different versions already on the market. Its the rip off factor that concerns me as I have been badly burnt...

Excellent. Ive given it a wet and dry to get rid of the dags. See what tomorow brings. I really appreciate all the info guys. I know I said I'll put photos up but this protoype has turned a bit...

Ok update time. The moldworked great and the cast went quite quite well. One embedded item on each side made its way to the edge si I have a quick question. Can I just pour another thin layer of PR...

Ok, with suitable restraint in place, the mould is done. I'll crack it open in a little while and have a gander. PR cast tomorrow with a bit of luck. Still trying to work out how to shred the old...

Hmmm, interesting dai sensei. So its just used as a bulking out material once shred. Is ther a limit to the % of shred to liquid ? How the hell do you shred it, the mold is pretty chunky