Making A Rotational Casting Machine With A Cnc

[guido666]

I stumbled across this article and video, and thought that some of the dedicated roto-casters here might be interested in how to make their own hand crank rotational casting machine.



Full Article: http://www.cerebralmeltdown.com/cncstuff/page4/Rotational_Casting_Machine/default.html

Video Only:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX8_PaWjV5Y&feature=player_embedded[/media]

 

[Trigger]

I think you just blew my mind what does that do casting-wise?

 

[guido666]

I think you just blew my mind what does that do casting-wise?

Haha. So you hear the term around here "slush casting"? What people are talking about is literally pouring some casting material in a hollow mold, and "slushing" it around inside as it thickens to try to build up a layer. Slush casting is basically a crude, manual form of what the industry calls "rotational casting", or "roto-casting" for short. Professional roto-casting uses a machine, to spin the mold all around in many directions while the casting material dries, like those space gyro rides you see at carnivals. So this machine is a way to have your own contraption to swirl the casting material around in the mold, without needing to shake it around by hand.



It's like one of these, for your mold...

 

[Kamaro]

I've seen a TV report, in wich they used this technique to make chocolate easter bunnies ^^

Wouldn't it be a huge effort to build such a machine? Sure for small parts, why not, but larger parts like body armor?

 

[guido666]

I've seen a TV report, in wich they used this technique to make chocolate easter bunnies ^^

Wouldn't it be a huge effort to build such a machine? Sure for small parts, why not, but larger parts like body armor?

Haha, yes, this is also how they rotationally mold chocolate bunnies.



As for if it would be worth the effort to build a large one, I guess that's up to you to decide. IF you have access to a CNC machine, to cut this out for you, it's absolutely no difference to cut the parts out in any size, up to very large pieces several feet wide. It will take the machine a little longer to cut it, but only takes a few seconds to scale it up. I can tell you that large molds, for things like a chest plate, can be pretty heavy, and holding them and rotating them by hand can be quite a chore. Given the choice to use a machine like this, or not, I would definately use it, so I guess it's just a matter of how often you do it and how much it means to you to save the effort. Plus it's just cool.

 

[mroreo123]

I remember reading an instructable that shows you how to make one with bike gears and chains as opposed to CNC'ed parts.

 

[guido666]

I remember reading an instructable that shows you how to make one with bike gears and chains as opposed to CNC'ed parts.

If you can find a link, post it up!

 

[GremlinLord]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-A-Rotational-Casting-Machine--For-Under-150/



Was in my subscribe list.

 

[guido666]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-A-Rotational-Casting-Machine--For-Under-150/



Was in my subscribe list.

Pretty cool. If you have access to a CNC machine, making your own gears probably cuts the cost significantly, but if not, that Instructibles one looks nice.