Modelling > Tips, Tools & Techniques

UV casting resin

(1/2) > >>

Kerick:
Over on Whatifmodelers site there was a thread about epoxy resin cured by UV light. Usually used by craft and jewelry makers this looked like a probably useful tool.
I gave the UV resin a try and here is what I came up with. First of all the bottle I bought at Micheals craft store was $16.99. Not super cheap but not bad either. Also a pound of modeling clay for a mold. I cut a pill bottle in half to hold the modeling clay so it wouldn't deform later.



I made "feet" to hold the pill bottle half from rolling around with Aves epoxie sculpt.



I had to make the mold extend beyond the pill bottle to fit the length of the fuel tank half. Actually making the mold in the modeling clay was easy. I just had to make sure clay was pushed all the way up to the edge of the tank to get a proper complete shape of the mold. Detail was very good except where clay didn't get pushed into the corner where the fin met the tank. If I did this again I would push a little clay into these type of spots before pushing the tank into the clay. As I wasn't going to use the fins anyway it didn't matter here.



I took the mold and the UV resin outside in the full sun and set up on an overturned trash can. All set to go and I thought I should have a mold release agent. I grabbed a can of WD-40 spray oil. One little squirt was more than enough to coat the mold. Probably too much. I tipped the mold up to get as much to run off as possible. I stared to fill the mold with resin and it started to harden almost immediately. It took a couple of passes to fill the mold and just a tad more to make sure it was filled all the way. I had scribbed a line around the top of the tank half for a fill line. I turned the mold about once a minute for five minutes. More than enough time but I wanted to be sure.



After it was hard I removed the part by prying under the end of the tank with a model knife. It was a little stubborn but came out in one piece and didn't destroy the mold. I'm not sure if the WD-40 made much difference. I would have to try a new mold without oil to see for sure. I refilled the mold for a second part and it came out nearly as good as the first. Not bad for modeling clay.



The mold didn't look too good after the second part was removed. I blame it on the WD-40. After lots of sanding these should be usable parts.
Of course, by the nature of the UV resin you can only make one sided parts. If I were going to make more than a couple parts I would use a silicon type mold material that would be more durable. The biggest advantage I see here is the curing time of only a few minutes in direct sun and very clear resin material.

Jeffry Fontaine:
Thank you for sharing!

Frank3k:
Looks good for a first attempt. If it's like most of the "clear" resins used for 3D printing, it will yellow (slightly or a lot) over time as the interior cures.

Kerick:
This resin is meant for making crafts and jewelry so is supposed to stay clear. As it will be painted that doesn’t matter in this case.

GTX_Admin:
 :smiley:

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page