Greetings. What is the best material and method for this?

[mikeshole]

Hi, I'm not sure what method or material to use. I tried skimming through the begginers section. The object I'd like to replicate is functional and not ornamental. It's a metal clip that goes into the hand controls attatched to the handlebars on a motorcycle. It's purpose is to prevent the hand controls from rotating, such as these:



The way it works is that they slide into the control's housing and there is a little nipple that sticks out that bites into a hole in the handlebars. Here is a good shot of it in the housing:



These are originally casted out of pot metal and are incredibly brittle. This part is usually broken in most people's bikes. I've been experimenting with Oogoo with the hopes of using the strongest loctite liquid mix A + B type metal epoxy I could find. However I've heard that there is probably a much better material that won't crack or chip under stress.

Also, this part is very small and very 3D and I'm having a difficult time making my mold using Oogoo. What do you good people reccomend?

Here are some pictures of what I'm trying to make:









Here is the technique that I've been practicing and failing at. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6FsHR1b4KQ The problem is that even if I was able to make a perfect mold I can't fill it with my epoxy well. I think I need to buy an entry level kit or something, I'm just not sure what to get.

[Fleafa]

I would say not resin. An ABS 3D printed version could work for you.

[mangozac]

I agree, this is where 3D printing excels!

Most resins aren't going to be much better than the cast metal that the originals are made from. It might be worth trying the loctite metal epoxy though, just as a comparison. I reckon brittleness and strength will be very similar to the originals. Do you have access to a lathe or mill - machining them from aluminium would probably be a good solution.

Unless you want to really jump down the rabbit hole of making moulds, the oogoo should be good enough for this task. What problems are you having with it?

[mikeshole]

At first my oogoo had mineral spirits in it and 1 large tablespoon of corn flour. This is what a forum post suggested and to wait 24 hours. After 5 days it was still sticky. Then reddit told me that mineral spirits shouldn't be in there and I was using way too little corn flour. So I went with this method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6FsHR1b4KQ

It says to give it 20 minutes to cure, but even after 1 hour it was more like playdough. That isn't even the real concern though. The main problem is how 3D this piece is, but its very small. I'm not quite sure how to get the epoxy into the mold without it squishing out and making a mess. I've heard people suggest to fill up both sides and clam them together but that sounds super messy and like it wouldn't work well.

Also I'm not sure if I should push this piece into oogoo until its flat in there then cover it up with a new layer of oogoo. Sandwiching the two between oil or soap so its easy to seperate. Should I make the mold thick? When I do it never cures.

[mangozac]

I didn't realise that oogoo was home made stuff! I have no idea what to advise there, other than that you may want to try silicone putty or something.

The parts aren't too "3D". I'd fill the hole in one of them and just drill it out on the reproduced parts. Without using vacuum and pressure casting equipment the "fill up both sides and clam them together" will probably give you the most success...

The mould doesn't need to be too thick. Give 5 to 10mm around the part.