MAN! A big mistake yesterday!

A place where you can have some friendly discussion and leave some feedback about your experience!

Moderators: richardh08, Boophoenix, Lloyd

Post Reply
User avatar
Lloyd
Posts: 1902
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 1:43 am

MAN! A big mistake yesterday!

Post by Lloyd »

I'm experimenting with making some special molds for hemispheres. I have an all-aluminum mold in which I made prototypes, so I thought I'd use it as a 'master' for a secondary mold.

I was 'directed' toward UltraCal as a desirable casting composition, because it will not shrink upon curing. Unfortunately, they didn't mention that it EXPANDS upon cure! After a drastic failure, I reviewed the MSDS from the manufacturer, and it does expand from 0.5% to 1% upon cure. <ugh!>

Well it LOCKED into the mold so hard that it took me four hours to clean it back out without any (serious) damage to the metal. There are a few 'marks' on it, but nothing severe. But DARN!

Lloyd
"Pyro for Fun and Profit for More Than Sixty Years"
sambo
Posts: 957
Joined: Sat May 16, 2015 6:04 pm

Re: MAN! A big mistake yesterday!

Post by sambo »

Lloyd, I can almost feel your pain - when something unexpected thwarts what is otherwise an entirely sensible idea, and then there is that panicked feeling of right, I've gotta fix this now or else the pain will feel worse!

Sucks.
User avatar
richardh08
Site Admin
Posts: 2226
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2013 1:54 pm
Location: Bedfordshire

Re: MAN! A big mistake yesterday!

Post by richardh08 »

I feel for you, Lloyd. I've been there a few times and I know what it's like.
Even when I'm wrong, I'm convincing.
User avatar
Boophoenix
Posts: 968
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2015 11:49 pm

Re: MAN! A big mistake yesterday!

Post by Boophoenix »

If Great works came easy everyone would be doing it. Glad ya got it worked out.
Post Reply