Molding and Casting the Vibro Axe Soft-flo soaker

To follow up on my scope thread, i thought I would show another odd casting method I use to make the soakers used on the vibro axe

When I finally found an original soaker, i knew i wanted to mold it, but the biggest issue was how would I get the main pipe through it. I couldn't mold it solid because drilling a 1" hole through a solid block of resin would suck and possible destroy the casting. I had thought about cutting it in half along its equator and casting it in 2 pieces, but that didn't sound too appealing either.

So, I thought why not try to mold it with a 1" hole already in it? and I came up with this.

I filled all the original soakers vents with clay and drilled out the bottom to fit a 1" pvc pipe

then did a 2 part mold using the main equator as the divider. This way, it would be easier to do any seam cleanup. I used a RTV layering method instead of a block method so I could make a mother mold to hold it together. Notice the recess on the left mold at the bottom? That is for the "core"




this is what it looks like closed



Yeah, I know. She doesnt look like much kid, but she's got it where it counts

then, I created a 1" solid RTV core with a threaded bolt in the center that has some washers in it. it gave it some stability and I can use the bolt to pull it out



with the mold halves secured with clamps, I slide the core into the mold and down into the recessed slot at the bottom using the bolt to lock in into place



then i pour the resin into the opening seen above. Very, very carefully. There is a vent on the other side as well. When cured, I slide out the core, open the molds and then snap off the pour sprue and it looks like this:



Ready to go.

And that is it

So, I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Its just another *way* over-engineered casting method I use