DIY Manufacturing Process Using RTV Silicone

INJEKTO 2.0 Plastic Injection Machine Kit: actionbox.ca/products/injekto-2
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In this video we take you through the exciting journey of designing, 3D printing, and testing silicone molds created using RTV silicone. Silicone molds can help you prototype at low-cost without the need for the use of expensive machinery like CNC machines.
🌟 Here's a sneak peek of the video:
1️⃣ Design on Fusion 360 and 3D Printing: Discover the intricate process of designing molds and utilizing 3D printers to bring your ideas to life.
2️⃣ Material Testing: Watch as we put our silicone molds to the test! We'll explore the versatility of these molds by using them to cast polyurethane two-part plastic, and hot glue using INJEKTO 2.0.
3️⃣ View final results and quality, as well as tips on how to get a perfectly smooth finish.
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[@ThantiK]

By the way, if you want a cheap and easy way to degas resins, grab the biggest syringe you can. Put the plunger in, and suck up the resin to about half way. Put your thumb over the tip, and then pull it back the rest of the way. It will create a vacuum, pulling all of the air out of the mixture, then you can use the syringe to fill your mold. Something like a 150mL syringe will do, it looks silly at first, but really works and will save you the need for a vacuum pump.

[@ActionBOX]

Very neat idea 💡 we have not tried that but what I wonder is what happens after a few bubbles make their way to the top? Your vacuum slowly decays which slows the rate of degassing for the rest of the bubbles in “solution”. In other words, how do you “recharge” the vacuum? Thanks again for an insightful comment 😃. Cheers, Dave

[@fluxcapacitor]

@@ActionBOX I have the feeling that you can repeat the process several times to achieve a high degasing rate with the same resin sample inside: 1. Dip the tip of the syringe into the resin and pull the plunger to pump it, but fill only halfway. 2. Turn the syringe upside down vertically, head up. 3. Put your finger on the hub tip, and pull the plunger all the way out. The resin is flowing at the bottom near the plunger and is degasing at the same time. 4. Release your finger: ambient air fills in the syringe again but in the upper hollow volume, hardly at all in the resin. 5. Push the piston again to get the resin up to the hub tip lip, like if you were preparing some vacc|ne but here without the needle of course. 6. Repeat from step (3)

[@UnvarnishedTarnished]

Don't mix silicone with a spoon, it introduces a ton of bubbles. Also if you are using a tin cure such as this, pour the non viscous part in the cup first, then the viscous. It will ensure you can thoroughly mix the entire cup and not have to worry about unmixed materials.

[@ActionBOX]

This is good advice. Thanks for sharing 😃. Was there anything you found insightful in this video? Cheers, Dave

[@AC-mu6ig]

@@ActionBOX next project: vacuum chamber to pull the bubbles from the silicone😂

[@ActionBOX]

@@AC-mu6ig Hahaha, make sure to subscribe, because we actually have a huge vacuum furnace video coming up 😉

[@greggv8]

Easier than vacuum degassing the silicone is to pressure cast it. Don't worry about bubbles getting in when mixing, the air pressure will crush them and drive air into permanent solution in the silicone. A Harbor Freight item number 66839 Air Pressure Paint Tank is big enough for a wide variety of molds. What you get with RTV silicone without pressure casting it, even if you vacuum degass it, is bubbles in sharp inside corners, which can be seen in the mold in this video. Only the thinnest viscosity, low durometer, RTV will flow well into those tight corners. But that softer silicone wouldn't be suitable for "pack and hold" injection molding. It might work for injecting until the mold is full then immediately releasing pressure. But then that method isn't suitable for plastics that have a lot of shrink as they cool. For some reason, tiny bubbles in the silicone like to cling on vertical surfaces, just beneath the surface of the mold cavity. The mold surface can look great but pressure cast resin or injection mold thermoplastic into the mold and those subsurface bubbles collapse. That produces bumps, spikes, or if the bubble ruptures, little balls of plastic on the surface of the casting. Those defects will then be rough on the mold when removing the casting. Never use tin cure RTV. It's not worth the small cost savings, not even for one off projects, especially when dimensional accuracy is important. Platinum cure RTV molds can last for decades if taken care of. I've been making silicone molds and resin castings for over 24 years and most of my molds from the early years are still in use, including a few that I didn't pressure cast the silicone. I just put up with the issues that came from that because those molds don't get used often. A few molds I have made enough castings to where they got worn and I've had to make new molds once. I have learned a lot about making silicone molds in over 24 years, especially how to make them faster, easier, lower cost, and better performing. I started out with a background in slip cast ceramics and plaster molds, and fiberglass mold and part making. Much of the molding techniques for those types applies to silicone molds. I started with the typical methods found in books published in the 80's and 90's, and still promoted in this century in countless KZbin videos. Tip from this pro, they could be doing it better. When I found that a traditional / historic method was difficult to do or produced results I wasn't happy with, *I figured out a better way*. I've often figured out a better way than my original better way several times. I am happy to share what I've learned through a lot of experience *for free* because I want other people to have the best experience making molds and castings by taking advantage of my years of experience to "short cut" from the old school techniques of 40 years ago to how I make molds now. Use my knowledge and learning so you can skip all the in-between development I've done from what's in books like The Prop Builder's Molding and Casting Handbook (still a good book to read for anyone making silicone molds) to making *better molds and castings* than what you'll get following the old books.

[@noviceartisan]

Pressure cast with a tank 100% for parts in silicone. idk what they're doing trying to injection cast into the soft and supple low shore silicone with that big ass machine lol May as well just use lost resin casting to make the parts from aluminium xD

[@aarrodri]

Would love to learn from you. Time to make a yt channel?

[@matthewbaker2573]

For those of you on a budget. Vibration also helps bubbles rise to the surface. You can achieve this simply by holding your mould as it dries on top of your washing machine when it's on full cycle

[@ActionBOX]

Now there's an idea!

[@matthewthompson7012]

2:24 use a vibration pad to get bubbles to the surface faster.

[@honestnewsnet]

Amazing for small production or home business.

[@RasTona_]

Gr8 job guys!! Always inspiring.

[@ActionBOX]

Thanks so much!

[@ChucksSEADnDEAD]

Love this concept, I really have to try it to make joysticks and throttles for flight sims.

[@ActionBOX]

That’s awesome, if you have any questions just reach out 😀 Cheers, Dave

[@diymaster101]

The legends are back 🎉 and amazing video

[@ActionBOX]

Hahaha, thank you 😊. We have a barrage of videos coming out soon, stay tuned 😃. Cheers, Dave

[@diymaster101]

@@ActionBOX definitely looking forward to see those videos 😀

[@old_man_dunsparce]

How many injections can you do before the mould wears out?

[@Onewa]

I'm wondering this same thing.

[@scalardev9089]

What silicone are you using is it tin cure or platinum cure if platinum cure what resin are you using?

[@ActionBOX]

We are using platinum cure with SRC polyurethane

[@motionsick]

Good fast drying silicone "epoxy": Silicone I (not II) mixed with a little baking soda. There is a good tutorial on Instructables.

[@ActionBOX]

Sounds neat. Can you share the link? Thanks.

[@samthomas5286]

Have you tried injecting any PP HDPE or similar polymers into silicone? How well does it work?

[@ActionBOX]

Hi, we have not tried those polymers yet.

[@eriklundqvist4221]

Damn you KZbin. Now I want to try injection moulding 😱

[@ActionBOX]

Hahaha, let us know if you want a discount 😃 actionbox.ca

[@StanlyTo]

വെരി ഗുഡ് very good

[@damienmartinguillerez]

Last time I tried using sla printer to create a silicon mold, the silicon didn't cure in contact with the resin. You need to use specialty resin for this and/or spray them with polyurethane.

[@ActionBOX]

You are correct. The solution is to use platinum cured silicone. Great catch and thanks for the comment. Cheers, Dave

[@JasonRennieWTF]

platinum cure will also fail. If you leave the 3d print for a long time it will lose it's sulphur, this is what inhibits. Heating helps the sulphur escape also. 80c. "Clear" resin will change from yellowish to clear for this reason. @@ActionBOX

[@greggv8]

@@ActionBOX Don't use enamel spray paint on anything you'll be casting platinum cure silicone against. Until the enamel is completely cured (which can take months) it can cause cure inhibition in the silicone. Urethane or lacquer are safe to use with platinum cure silicone. Been there, done that, had the ruined mold. Then I had to sand off the enamel and spray that master model with clear lacquer.

[@noviceartisan]

I use tin cure all the time for sla parts, never had a cure inhibition issue with any resins so far. Just make sure parts are extremely well cured and cleaned :)

[@gerritvisser]

Does this mean there is a 2.0 verion of the WEDM coming? please :-)

[@ActionBOX]

Yes Indeed 😃

[@aarondeuz4101]

can you use pet plastic instead of hot glue ?

[@ActionBOX]

Yes, we have successfully recycled water bottles using SHREDII and INJEKTO

[@jotham123]

Could ABS plastic be injected just as easily?

[@ActionBOX]

Yes, INJEKTO 2.0 can just as easily injects ABS plastic, in fact, that's what it was designed for. We've demonstrated injecting ABS in some of our other videos. You should check them out!

[@nandobarreto2]

for small parts like this you can degas using a large syringe

[@ActionBOX]

Thanks for the suggestion! Have you made anything using RTV silicone before?

[@nandobarreto2]

@@ActionBOX RTV no, regular silicone and epoxy, yes, works very well

[@ActionBOX]

Awesome, thanks again for sharing. sounds like you've done this before 😜 @@nandobarreto2

[@wowtah]

7:27 Looks like one halve was flipped?

[@wowtah]

@@ActionBOX yes. You made a 2 part mold,correct? In the casting you revealed at video time code 7m27 it looks like the bottom half of the part was rotated 180 degrees relative to the top half. Probably due to the fact that one of the mold halves was flipped. The part you casted with the hot glue had the part come out correctly, right?

[@ActionBOX]

Yup, you are correct, we did indeed have the 2 molds flipped the wrong way. One way to solve this is to make the alignment spheres at different distances on each side such that the molds only close one specific way. Im very happy to see that you are so attentive to our content 😃. Looking forward to your comment in our next video 😃 Cheers, Dave

[@j03jack]

7:22 hoopsie did you flip the mold in the first try? 🙈

[@ActionBOX]

hahah, yeah, great catch. This was our mistake, and the way to solve this is to change the distance of the sphere on one side of the mold, such that it only closes in one direction. Great catch, Im glad to see that you were paying such close attention 😃. Cheers, Dave

[@georgeovel6423]

Super! This is a super amazing super detailed super done super duper superdiliocious super idea!

[@ActionBOX]

Thanks for your support 😃. What did you find most useful in this video?

[@Neo3d12]

I dont have a injekto 2.0

[@ActionBOX]

You can get one at actionbox.ca. Message us for a special discount 👀

[@armo0325]

Great video, although I think some of your sound effects of choice (namely 1:38) are a bit annoying and not very well suited to an informative piece of content like this.

[@ActionBOX]

Thanks for the feedback! We aim to make informative content and the sound effects help make engaging videos. Glad you enjoyed the video! 😃