anybody trying abs yet

[jesse c]

at work we mold abs plastic sheet over plaster molds and sometimes vacuform over molds.I was thinking with a bit (a lot?) of pre work you could make some reuseable molds to crank out any number of duplicate parts,and if your design was symetrical you would only have to make half the molds since your right rear would be the same as left front,etc..and pieces could be abs glued together.You could even make abs ribs for stifening and attatching interior panels
I work in the theater industry and build lots of cool stuff out of 1/8"ply sometimes bending and laminating plies that are extremely strong and lightweight to carry rapidly offstage during quick set changes. 1/8" ply is usually much higher quality than 1/4" luan and is almost as strong due to that fact
Sorry,just sitting here dreaming of building a mini trailer and thinking with a keyboard in front of me

[Greg M]

Don't apologize. Crazy ideas are what we're about around here

-Greg

[kennyrayandersen]

at work we mold abs plastic sheet over plaster molds and sometimes vacuform over molds.I was thinking with a bit (a lot?) of pre work you could make some reuseable molds to crank out any number of duplicate parts,and if your design was symetrical you would only have to make half the molds since your right rear would be the same as left front,etc..and pieces could be abs glued together.You could even make abs ribs for stifening and attatching interior panels
I work in the theater industry and build lots of cool stuff out of 1/8"ply sometimes bending and laminating plies that are extremely strong and lightweight to carry rapidly offstage during quick set changes. 1/8" ply is usually much higher quality than 1/4" luan and is almost as strong due to that fact
Sorry,just sitting here dreaming of building a mini trailer and thinking with a keyboard in front of me

In a word: Tooling costs

Also, the ABS, would have to be pretty thick to be ‘structural’, or it would have to be bonded on to something to make it structural.

[teardrop_focus]

jesse c

at work we mold abs plastic sheet over plaster molds

Personally, I don't like the idea of sleeping in a plastic teardrop. Now I don't know the differences between abs and pvc plastics, but... I'd rather build out of and sleep within a wood structure*.

And, like Greg just said, keep the ideas coming! That's what this place is allllllll about.





*Although with the epoxies used to seal wood against the elements, the "exterior" glues used to laminate the birch ply I intend to use (slightly less potential hazard than "interior" glues) and the spar varnish used to seal and color the interior birch, there'll be plenty of potentially hazardous fumageses... at least until most of it cures. Who knows...

[Ageless]

Not a bad idea; but do you know what is involved in making a mold? You create a 'master' and it has to be almost perfect; then you make the mold off the master. We are talking many hours, 100+ for a 12 x 36 inch part.

For a single application; this is a waste of labor. If you plan to produce 100 units; you might get to a break-even point.