18

APR

Moulding and Casting


Introduction

This week task is to design a shape and create a mould and cast it. I will be doing 3 way moulding and casting. In the begging the lap provided the materials that are gonna be used in the lap.

Wax for Shape Sculpture

Casting Materials

Moulding Materials

Desiging my Shape

I used OnShape to design the company I work on logo. I set my mesurments in Mellimeter and made the following design:


I used the following features in OnShape:
1) I created a 7.5 mm base for the logo.
2) I made an outside extrude of the logo shap with 7.5 mm.
the wax size we are using is 30 mm. and I am trying to let my collagues utilize the same wax bar.
Afterwards, I downloaded the file as .STL and opened the file in ArtCam program. in the ArtCam go to import 3d model -> I center my design in the middle.



Then I set an offset to pull down my design and create a frame for moulding.


I also did configure the required options for the cutting using CNC twice. one for 3mm pit and the second for the V shaped pit. below is shown the configration for the V-pit. the 3 mm shape is the same.



Cutting with CNC

CNC Pits

I save the file into a flash drive and plug it in the CNC controller -> choose my file with the 3mm pit in as a first run, this option made a rough cut for the shape, i did face an issue which is i made in the design a small part that the machine didnot cut. after the first run finishs, i change the pit to V shaped pit in order to make a fine cut on the shape edges and do a second run on the same wax position.


Making the Mould

I had several preperations proior doing the moulding such as:
1) Gloves.
2) Measuring Cups.
3) Cups for mixing the materials.
4) Wooden Sticks for mixing the materials.
Then I went through the following steps in order to do the moulding:
1) Took the measurments for the required quantity to fill out my wax Sculpture. I filled the Sculpture with water, the poured it in a measuring cup to get the quantity.
2) Mixed Material A with Material B in a ratio of 1:1. Both materials are silicon based.
3) Filled the shape with the mixture.
4) Waited six hours for the mould to be ready.

Casting the Logo

For Creating the Cast i followed the same requirments and steps mentioned earlier in created the mould except that i changed the materilas used for mixing.
I merged the casting material as shown below with a ratio of 1:1 and filled the mould. It took 2 minutes to start drying and a total of 10 minutes to totaly dry.

Casting Materials




Download Files



Onshape Logo Design