Hobby Injection Molding The Machine
So. This seems like the culmination of a maker’s hobby. Getting a machine to produce high quality and strong parts quickly is a dream for anyone who makes products.
Well, that definitely is the dream, but I cannot afford a $25,000 machine. BUT, I can afford over time to get a $600 machine. It is sort of janky and unprecise, but it is very much usable for what I want to do.
I discovered this sort of machine by Buster Beagle. Here is the model I chose to build.
My version is pretty much identical, and i works fairly well. I do need to continue to modify it to be more precise, but it is nice.
Resin 3d Printing Experiments
Fun with Additive Manufacturing.
This form of making new parts has become much more popular as of late, and I definitely understand why. There is something super satisfying about seeing something being created over time.
My want is to experiment with a mixture of 3d design and 3d printing to try things that aren’t used often or at all in the 3d printing commnunity. Also another want is to create quality compatible or simply re create simple modified lego parts that I can use myself.
I use a resin 3d printer mainly, and love printing with effect powders. These are really fun to use, and give a great cat eye effect to the resin. This is especially lovely in masks with large flat forward faces, or in gems in the orientation you will be seeing them in.
Here are a few examples of that sort of effect I have used before.
You can also use regular casting resin pigments for resin 3d printing, although any powdered pigments will almost always settle to the bottom of your resin vat. It is personally advised that you use the tank clean feature to clean out these instead of wiping off the film and scratching it with the pigments.
Printing with lots of flakes. Probably a little too much.
As you can see, lots of pigments are cleaned up at once with this, and your fep film is saved from lots of scratches. although there is a large loss of pigment, you can stir the resin to recover most of the pigment before tank cleaning. Just be careful to not touch the fep film while doing the stirring.
Even Shinier! Electroplating Update
So. This process I have developed has been vastly improved, and has provided some really nice results. Just a few more supplies have helped vastly increased the quality of these electroplated parts.
The main difference I got was a brightener additive for both of my solutions. Then getting a new power buck which is very precise and easy to use. Some bare copper wire and careful planning also helps the copper to spread evenly and without any blemishes to the surface of the parts.
There are also a couple of other improvements that help there be more consistent results. One is some anode bags made from pool filtering cloth, and another is a cathode bar that you hang the parts from. Here is a video by Jason welsh that sows the method I emulated.
Another Mask I made This time using my nickel plating bath.
Electroplating. Ooh, shiny!
Really Shiny, Real Metal!
I am always looking for fun ways to make my products unique and fun. One way is to make things look realistic and metallic! This is why I want to get into electroplating some of the custom masks and parts that I make. Not only to make them really neat looking, but also possibly have some good applications for micro electronics and other fun such things.
I have done a few tests so far, and things are promising, and getting better! These tests have been with simple ingredients, and simple methods, but will soon hopefully get some good results soon!
So, the two basic plating baths you will need are for copper and nickel. Copper is much easier to plate onto conductive plate, but nickel can be very shiny and useful in getting some good finishes.
I was able to make a good copper plating solution that gave a fairly even matte coating using just these ingredients. This youtube video is what I started with. https://youtu.be/5k6x3OzYwDk
copper sulfate (root killer in most stores)
Sulfuric acid (car battery acid pre mixed)
distilled water
Miralax (Yes, the laxative.)
For the nickel plating solution, it was even simpler. Here’s the main video I used. https://youtu.be/G-PtnwtOR24
table salt
A couple of pure nickel rods
Pure White vinegar
I used a low amperage wall adapter with some crocodile clips, but I would highly suggest using something very safe. I have since switched over to a small power controller.
