CapeBuild Build Journal

[Tom&Shelly]

Looking great John!

Happy New Year!

Tom

[Capebuild]

John, i sure have been/am enjoying sitting out in the peanut gallery watching your talents come together to create your little trailer

very little is impossible when one puts his/her mind to IT ... whatever IT is

KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON

sw

Looking great John!

Happy New Year!

Tom

Thanks a lot swoody and Tom. Great to hear. Thank you! Appreciate it.
Happy New Year's to you both and well as everyone else on this forum!!!
John

[nevadatear]

Any experienced writers/publishers here who want to take the lead on this?

A book is a lotta work... maybe 3x that of building a teardrop. It would be especially challenging to pull several builders together on something like this.

I've got two books in the mill at the moment –-one true crime and another nonfiction-- so I'll step aside on this idea.



But it is a good idea.

Tony

Tony, glad to hear you have a couple more books coming! I just finished “5 fingers” and also read one of your non-ficton. Really enjoyed! You are a very good writer. Highly recommended.

[tony.latham]

You are a very good writer.

Thanks for the plug... :thumbs-up:

Here's a precursor for the next Charley Cove story:

This was not a good room. It was a room of lies. It was a place that smelled of sweat and sometimes urine. A room that Cove used many times. But he’d always put his subjects in the chair that he was now sitting in. It was the chair farthest from the door. He put them in the chair to make them feel confined and locked in. Sometimes he handcuffed them to the U-shaped bar. Sometimes he unlocked the cuffs. Sometimes he offered them a Pepsi or coffee. Sometimes they cried. Sometimes they told the truth.



Tony

[Capebuild]

1.3.21

Started insulating the hatch but only doing a little at a time (the cold weather is getting the better of me).

So, just to keep things moving along, been working in the shop on preparing the parts for molding. First up will be the rubber like housing for the 2 tail lights and the bezel for the T hatch handle.
The mold for the tail light housing is a bit more complicated than the handle bezel as you'll see. There were 3 little protrusions sticking out from the bottom of the housing and I didn't want
to create undercuts in the mold and have to wrestle the castings out from the mold. But I started with claying up the pattern to the parting line.

clay up.jpg (542.39 KiB) Viewed 753 times

This will be a 2 piece mold so this is preparation for the first pour. It's good to have keys of some sort to kind of the lock the two mold halves together, or at least line them up correctly when you go to pour a casting. For this mold some half rounds will do. Sometimes you can just cut the keys in the corners after the first half is poured. Sometimes you can insert balls into the clay, pushing them down to their tangent point.

keys.jpg (358.98 KiB) Viewed 753 times

Then a box is built around the part. After applying some mold release, the first pour will occur. The material I'm using (a urethane with a 70 shore A durometer), will take 16 hours to cure. Will do that tomorrow, unless I get a burst of energy this evening.

After the urethane cures, the box is broken down, all the clay is removed, vents are added to the pattern, and the 2nd half is poured.


John

ready to pour.jpg (348.05 KiB) Viewed 753 times

[featherliteCT1]

This is great to see! Can't wait for more!

[tony.latham]

This will be a 2 piece mold...

You've got my attention. Fully.

Tony

[GarthB]

Awesome to see you making such great progress John! Your craftiness and attention to detail is inspiring.

[Capebuild]

1.5.22

Thank you Garth, Tony and Featherlite for the comments.

Most of the insulation for the hatch is complete. I'll have to wait to remove the 2 stabilizing support strips to install the 4 corner insulation pieces. Then need to sand down some high spots before I can install the interior ply. I suppose that will be up next, if the temps stay like today (but not looking too positive on that).

hatch insulation.jpg (415.87 KiB) Viewed 711 times

Additionally, just finished pouring the first half of the 2 molds I'm working on for the taillights and the hatch T handle. A light misting of mold release is applied.
This particular urethane can be measured out 100 parts A to 50 parts B.... they say you can do it by eye, but I like to weigh it.
This will take 16 hours to cure, then the other sides of the molds can be prepared and poured.

For anyone interested in molding and casting I can't recommend enough the company Smooth-On. I've used their products since the early 80's. They have tons of videos on their website about making molds and castings. They have great documentation and I've always found their company culture to be very helpful to many industries. This is NOT a paid endorsement. I just like them.

pour 1.jpg (516.65 KiB) Viewed 711 times

poured.jpg (443.06 KiB) Viewed 711 times

Thanks.
John

[Capebuild]

1.6.22

Just a follow up. The first pour of urethane cured overnight and I just set up and completed the second pour.

You can see the containing box is broken down and the clay removed, exposing the pattern that will get enveloped with the second pour, creating the "2 piece mold".
On the smaller mold I cut the keys in the corner with an x-acto knife so the 2 mold halves line up correctly.

The white posts will create vents. The larger posts in each of the molds will create sprue openings where the casting material will be injected (with a large syringe).
Another 16 hours now for the 2nd pour to cure.

John

[swoody126]

bringing back rememberies of college days when we did all this w/ sand and aluminium in metals courses

though the mediums have changed for this thread the processes are the same

THANKS FOR THE REMEMBERIES

sw

[Capebuild]

though the mediums have changed for this thread the processes are the same

Yes.... there are certain aspects of molding and casting that have not changed much since, well.... probably the Greeks / Egyptians or the Bronze Age.
The materials have technically advanced quite a bit. The college days...... hmmm... .I remember them.... and learned a lot there..... some things have stayed with me for quite a while now
Although I've never poured aluminum as you REMEMBERIES. You must be an engineer.


Completed the molds and poured the first castings. They'll take 16 hours to cure and tomorrow I'll de-mold and see how they came out. Success is not always a guaranteed thing...... short shots or air bubbles can mess things up. The vent holes can help with keeping the air bubbles to a minimum. Same with the pressure pot keeping the air bubbles to a minimum, but again, not a guaranteed thing.
John

[Onajourney]

Wow John! You are taking this build to a new level. Very impressive to say the least.

[swoody126]

" You must be an engineer.

nope justa lowly old retired'd middle school general chop teacher

jack of many master of nun

sw

[tony.latham]

Completed the molds and poured the first castings.

Quite the process. Thanks for sharing this.

Tony