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Week 12 - Molding and Casting

Assignments | Week 12 | Moulding and Casting

Group assignment

  • Review the safety data sheets for each of your molding and casting materials
  • Make and compare test casts with each of them

Individual assignment

  • Design a mold around the stock and tooling that you’ll be using, mill it (rough cut + (at least) three-axis finish cut), and use it to cast parts.

Learning outcomes

  • Design appropriate objects within the limitations of at least 3-axis machining
  • Demonstrate workflows used in mold design, construction and casting

Introduction

In the context of Fab academy, we are going to explore the moulding and casting process.

Previously, we covered in many weeks the digital fabrication process. Digital fabrication is a modern manufacturing process that utilizes computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technologies to create objects directly from digital data. It involves the use of computer-controlled machines, such as CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines, 3D printers, laser cutters, to fabricate objects with high precision and efficiency.

Moulding and casting are different manufacturing processes that are also used to create objects with specific shapes and structures.

Fabrication involves assembling and shaping materials, while moulding and casting involve using moulds or casts to shape materials into the desired form.

This week will be a fun week! We are going to design a mold and use it to cast something.

Analyzing Constraints

The constraints of this week were many.

  • The size of the counter mould that we are going to use was 175 x 76 x 38.
  • The design file have to be ready by friday morning. Because this is the only day we have both time for finish the design and our instructor for the shopbot machining.

Idea of object to mould and cast: - Comb? - Construction block? -

  • Candle?
  • Lego?

3D Design

CNC Machining

Creating mould

Casting Parts

Candle

Soap : Saponification

masse volumique eau vs paraffine

HERO SHOT

Conclusion

While moulding and casting can be a satisfying process for creating unique objects, it’s important to be aware of the potential dangers associated with handling chemicals and working with materials and tools.