Cold Casting

robertmacdowell · **Posted:** Sun Nov 01, 2015 1:01 pm

NYCRRson wrote:

You could get a 3-D scan of these parts and turn it into a CAD model. This could be used with a 3-D printer to make a wax pattern. The 3-D scanning and 3-D printing technologies could help to make copies of these parts, but it does require melting brass at 1600F to get final strong useful parts.

For the relatively flat part pictured in OP, I half agree. If I was doing that part, I'd 3-D scan it into a CAD model, yes (or just 2-D scan it, never underestimate the usefulness of a common 2-D scanner). But then I'd cut it out of billet on a CNC mill. Might drill the holes conventionally.

It's a lot easier to visualize what's possible and be inspired if you have access to such tools, kit, software and staff - and a good place to do that is a public access "maker spaces" (think a gym membership, but with machine tools) such as TechShop. You can just walk around and see other people working on their projects, or notice how they fabbed many of the mundane items around the facility.

hamster wrote:

This is a tempest in a teapot. A quick Google search for "cold casting" yields a host of information about the use of metallic powders in a polyurethane or epoxy binder to cast "metallic" items... The resin binders do not have anything like the required strength to make a practical working object.

Resin binders (such as the West System epoxy that may be in your shop) extract their tensile strength from the material they embed. If that's carbon fiber, it's strong enough to build Dreamliners. If it's a powder, it has the tensile strength of powder: none!