Post by Mastercaster on Aug 13, 2011 14:26:01 GMT -8
I am going to attempt to build a bigger chamber that I can do vacuuming and pressure casting in. I have had this piece of 12" schedule 40 PVC pipe for a good while. I will cut a 16" length from this to work with. I already cut off a end to true it up. The pipe is 1/2" thick.
Now that the length has been cut I got a good size piece of laminated wood and marked some lines to center the pipe on. I also drilled holes in each corner to put bolts through to make sure the board was level using a round bulls eye level.
The yellow thing at the inner diameter is a plastic case that cutting blades came in. There is a 1/2 " wide piece of aluminum that will act as a form so that I can pour in silicone. This is part of the lid gasket. I am using the yellow case as a spacer and using GE Silicone II to tack the form in place.
Here is the silicone poured in to start forming the lid gasket.
And here I am doing the same thing to the outside of the pipe too.
Now that the silicone is formed in and out I drilled 1/4" holes every 2 " and inserted 1/4 inch bolts 1 1/2 " long. and of course I forgot to take pics but I took pennies in stacks of four held together with thin strips of ductape to space away from the silicone by 1/4" and about 1" taller to create a resin ring that covers the bolts and silicone.
Here is the silicone rings in and out with the wall of resin to hold it steady. A Silicone3/8" thick layer will be added over this surface once the back end is completed.
Down at the bottom of the pipe here it is centered and four pieces of metal are siliconed down to create a form that will let me make a resin square that will be slid up to be siliconed to the back edge of the ring at the top. I will make two of these rings for support and then a solid end of resin to cap the back end. I will drill holes again and use lengths of rod to keep the back end capped under pressure. Sure hope this works!
Here is the first ring cast and cleaned up and then a pic of it in place. Many sharp edges formed from casting parts like this. Be careful when handling parts. You can get cut easily. I wrapped a layer of tape around the pipe before casting this ring to add as a spacer. The pipe is not perfectly round. It was still a bit hard to put on.
Here is the second ring in the form.