i'm designing a few prototypes for 'organic' interior details and fixtures made of molded plastics. trouble is, i know little about how much manufacturing costs. anyone have any links to sites that explain the process of molding high-gloss plastics. most of the stuff i find is exclusively for manufacturing industrial parts. thanks.
wyoming81
Feb 27, 05 5:07 pm
I would call your local plastic fabricator. Prices can vary greatly from area to area.
noci
Feb 27, 05 5:58 pm
perhaps you could revert back to the shabby 'ole "cast it yourself with [insert resin brand here]" mode...
i think the main problem with manufacturing stuff is that special mold forms would have to be built for your model, and the costs associated with this wouldnt pay of for a let's say 2-piece-production run.
errr, and if it's a school project (?) i dont think anyone would care how well fabricated the things are- it'S all about the process anyways and how it shows in the model- in the model as a tool, that is.
chupacabra
Feb 27, 05 7:20 pm
you will be wanting to cast your own using sculpy or some other modeling material...then use the model and cast it with polystyren and then you have a mold to pour your plastic into. It all dpends on the resin you have access to as to what is the best mold/casting material to use with the plastic. Check your local suppliuers of lexan and other GE products and they will more than likely be able to help you further.
I have some links from a project I worked on over a year ago...I will try and dig them up for you.
beatmeofficer
Feb 28, 05 12:00 am
not for school just want to add some organic-morphy blobby touches to the corners of my house. violate the tyranny of the right angle and all that. maybe add a few lights inside to make things glow.
basically interested in the process of casting hollow plastic forms. so far the easiest seems to be: carve a mold out of some foam material, pour (plaster?) to create a negative mold, then cast in a nice shiny plastic.
since the objects will be hollow, how do i get a consistent depth of plastic along the entire surface?
SpringFresh
Feb 28, 05 8:39 am
would it be a problem if they weren't hollow?
stereolithography is well woth looking into- its basically a 3-d printing process, where you can create any form modelled in a 3 d program and then it prints the file, the bonus of this is that you dont need a cast so it works well as a one off process.
noci
Feb 28, 05 9:05 am
ah, getting a better picture of what you're planning..
guess you need some really big blobs, then.. with that size, i reckon that a resin-only structure wouldn't really be strucutrally sound- ever thought about composite materials?
there's a huge range of fibres available, be it carbon fibres or even better, as you want translucency: traditional fibre glass coated with a colored resin. there are many systems available to add colors to, say, a clear polyester resin.
from here on my rant gets kind of sketchy since i'm not an expert in this field.. but whatever here's my tentative instruct-o-guess ;)
i'd build a positive mold from sculpted foam or something similar; once u got the shape you want cover it with a separating agent and drape it with the fibreglass; laminate with colored resin; remove from positive form, voilà.
fibreglass offers nice translucency, so yeah if you put some outdoor lights underneath it'd shine through.
hell, gotta get some books about mold-making and handling instructions for clear-cast resins and hardeners. some manufacturers offer clear instructions and might even have general books about it- in fact just saw em yesterday, but i'm in berlin, so the URL wont help you ;)
Oscar_Ellis
Feb 4, 22 2:02 pm
The process of molding high-gloss plastic is very similar to the process of molding any other type of plastic. The first step is to create a mold, which can be made out of metal or another type of plastic. Next, the molten plastic is poured into the mold and allowed to cool. Once the plastic has cooled, it is removed from the mold and polished until it has a high gloss finish.
i'm designing a few prototypes for 'organic' interior details and fixtures made of molded plastics. trouble is, i know little about how much manufacturing costs. anyone have any links to sites that explain the process of molding high-gloss plastics. most of the stuff i find is exclusively for manufacturing industrial parts. thanks.
I would call your local plastic fabricator. Prices can vary greatly from area to area.
perhaps you could revert back to the shabby 'ole "cast it yourself with [insert resin brand here]" mode...
i think the main problem with manufacturing stuff is that special mold forms would have to be built for your model, and the costs associated with this wouldnt pay of for a let's say 2-piece-production run.
errr, and if it's a school project (?) i dont think anyone would care how well fabricated the things are- it'S all about the process anyways and how it shows in the model- in the model as a tool, that is.
you will be wanting to cast your own using sculpy or some other modeling material...then use the model and cast it with polystyren and then you have a mold to pour your plastic into. It all dpends on the resin you have access to as to what is the best mold/casting material to use with the plastic. Check your local suppliuers of lexan and other GE products and they will more than likely be able to help you further.
I have some links from a project I worked on over a year ago...I will try and dig them up for you.
not for school just want to add some organic-morphy blobby touches to the corners of my house. violate the tyranny of the right angle and all that. maybe add a few lights inside to make things glow.
basically interested in the process of casting hollow plastic forms. so far the easiest seems to be: carve a mold out of some foam material, pour (plaster?) to create a negative mold, then cast in a nice shiny plastic.
since the objects will be hollow, how do i get a consistent depth of plastic along the entire surface?
would it be a problem if they weren't hollow?
stereolithography is well woth looking into- its basically a 3-d printing process, where you can create any form modelled in a 3 d program and then it prints the file, the bonus of this is that you dont need a cast so it works well as a one off process.
ah, getting a better picture of what you're planning..
guess you need some really big blobs, then.. with that size, i reckon that a resin-only structure wouldn't really be strucutrally sound- ever thought about composite materials?
there's a huge range of fibres available, be it carbon fibres or even better, as you want translucency: traditional fibre glass coated with a colored resin. there are many systems available to add colors to, say, a clear polyester resin.
from here on my rant gets kind of sketchy since i'm not an expert in this field.. but whatever here's my tentative instruct-o-guess ;)
i'd build a positive mold from sculpted foam or something similar; once u got the shape you want cover it with a separating agent and drape it with the fibreglass; laminate with colored resin; remove from positive form, voilà.
fibreglass offers nice translucency, so yeah if you put some outdoor lights underneath it'd shine through.
hell, gotta get some books about mold-making and handling instructions for clear-cast resins and hardeners. some manufacturers offer clear instructions and might even have general books about it- in fact just saw em yesterday, but i'm in berlin, so the URL wont help you ;)
The process of molding high-gloss plastic is very similar to the process of molding any other type of plastic. The first step is to create a mold, which can be made out of metal or another type of plastic. Next, the molten plastic is poured into the mold and allowed to cool. Once the plastic has cooled, it is removed from the mold and polished until it has a high gloss finish.