Rotocasting??

[amph]

Mangozac Edit:I've split and merged a couple of topics together for this one.

I need your knowledge mates....

I allready posted this before, but I want to start a fresh thread just for this:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aur ... c?ref=live

Is an intelligent rotocasting machine, controlled by an arduiono open source machine.
U put the curing time and the type of resin and the machine calculates the speed and the rotation.
And I think it's preety cheap..

But U consideer rotocasting a nice solution?? It seems that is the best solution...

[blind pig]

Hmmmmmm......can I nick that idea for my wood lathe as one of the axis and as the motor?

YoooooHoooo......Zac!

[mangozac]

Rotocasting certainly has its uses, but not so much for small miniatures. Larger vehicle parts maybe. And I certainly know why Blind Pig would find it useful!

For what it's worth I reckon you'd be better off building the whole separate rotocasting machine like in the kickstarter rather than mucking around retrofitting the lathe. Note things like the belt and gearing that provides the rotation about the second axis...

[blind pig]

Yeah, I was thinking that the lathe at a bit over 200KG is quite sturdy and has really easy to alter speed control. Throwing around a 9KG (10KG when in its' supporting box) mould at a revolution a second (the slowest I can go) is not good if unbalanced!

I already use my wood lathe for rotor casting, but that is only along one axis, adding the second axis would make a good setup fantastic. The frame would need to be made from aluminium or steel, me thinks.

[mangozac]

[blind pig]

I was going to go with mild steel, as I can stick weld that myself, but with aluminium I'd need my mate to Mig weld it and he can be a little slow in getting to a job.

[mangozac]

What about bolting together? Steel would add a lot more weight (aluminium is about 1/3 the weight of steel) and ally is just a much nicer material overall IMO.

[blind pig]

Bolts rattle apart eventually, welds generally won't.
Weight isn't a problem with a 4HP lathe! It's got *plenty* of torque.
I cannot use aluminium, as I don't have access to a Mig welder (and don't know how to do it, so it'd have to be done by a friend who is a little busy with a newborn), but I do have a stick welder and am pretty handy with it.

[amph]

I'm starting my designer toy indie company, so I guess that rotocasting ca be a nice solution for my 4 to 7 inch toys. Notice are big enough and are not super detailed and with tricky undercuts.

[amph]

This is my first project (it's about 4 inch tall) , I need a couple of suggestions:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... =1&theater

-U think it will be better a 2 part mold or a single splitted mold??
-rotocasting with the diy machine will be fine??


i'm really seriously in the rotocasting machine, but in this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkNkQRC0 ... re=related

(really easy to do, I allready ordered the bike chainrings and the chain )


WHAT DO U THINK??

[mangozac]

I guess the large style figures like that should be ok (I couldn't get the first link to work though).

You might as well start of trying a split mould, however it may give you alignment issues, in which case you'd need to change to a two part mould with plenty of keys.