THE FATE OF W196R

[Mastercaster]

Another day of curing helped a lot. It is much firmer than yesterday. Yesterday it was like it had jelly inside of it. Today it is almost as firm as the original tire. I filled the vent holes with RTV, I will try it again and see how it turns out without venting it. I think one problem is mixing too small amount to be used. Mixing 2.5 MIL of "A" and "B" might be troublesome. I have read this can be a problem. This time I will mix more resin and pour it in and then push the plug in and give it a few turns like I'm winding it up to maybe help it not become air locked despite the use of a pressure pot. My wife had trouble telling the difference between my copy and the original. I will make a mold for all four tires. This one was a test of my resin casting system, get some clay. You can now return to your regular programming!

[Mastercaster]

Ok, so the second tire came out better but I think I can do better. My GE silicone II plugs got pushed up a bit under pressure so there was still a bit of sprue/ vent to remove from the inside of the tire. The top pic shows the side of the tire that is in the bottom of the mold and you can see it is a bit rough at the bottom of the tire. The next pic shows it's a bit rough from being at the top of the mold next to the plug. The bottom pic is with the wheel and it is all in all a pretty good tire.

[Mastercaster]

Here are all four tires ready for a mold. Someone asked me to post more pics. In the top view I took a drill bit and numbered the tires with shallow holes so I can key the plugs.

[Mastercaster]

Here are the tires ready for silicone.

[Mastercaster]

I finished the mold and then cut the plugs apart to be able to individually turn them in place. I warmed the mold and mixed a total of 20 ML of resin. The resin started curing while I was trying to get it poured in the holes and get it worked in. I mixed up the plugs and that took time to figure out.. I got the plugs in right and threw it in the pot but forgot to get some weight on it. The flash inside the tire is too thick due to lack of weight. Now the mold is setting from yesterday afternoon with some still uncured resin in it. I did not warm it up this time. I just hope this does not turn into a mess!

[Mastercaster]

Tire making is becoming an uphill battle! Since the resin was still a bit goopy, I put it in the mold warming box for several hours and let it cool only to find the resin still did not fully cure. Now I have regular resin in to make certain that all the tire resin can be removed from the mold and then I will try it again.



Here are the tires I made to help clean out any missed tire resin. You can tell it worked. At this point the mold has been slightly warmed, filled with tire resin and is in the pressure pot again.

[davewilly]

I hope it works out this time...thanks for the sharing of the lab creations its a interesting tread to follow along with.

Thanks and keep up the great work...even though it seems tough at times

[Mastercaster]

Another attempt made tires that broke when squeezed on. When the bottles say expires in January 2012, it means it. It must be engineered to go bad, otherwise how does something like this know it is time to go bad?

[Mastercaster]