X-Men 2 Carphone

[madmanmoe64]

Jay said he was planning on casting them up himself? and he said a low temp alloy.

What metal you can use all depends on how you planned to make your moulds. I used a high temp silicone rubber, pewter was just because I was making jewellery, but it can handle any low melt alloy, up to 300C. It's surprisingly strong if you use it right.

Anything else is really out of the scope of DIY. You can of course cast things like aluminium at home, but it's a big investment, and making moulds for such intricate parts would be really difficult.

But maybe I misunderstood and he's gonna send them off.

I'm definitely no metal casting expert so I'll just wait and see what he has planned.

 

[thesyfyguy]

SuperDrool, answer to your question its about44.11 total to ship here. I just ordered mine your only a couple of states from me, so It should be close to the same. Also Smoothe-cast has a metal powder you can mix in with the plastic to give it a Metallic look to it. I will be check into that and will let you know.

 

[thesyfyguy]

Just checked into is with smooth-on they have an epoxacast 665 epoxy Aluminum filled for general purpose casting applications and features a relatively low viscosity. 2 part system for roughly 38.00 plus S/H. when I do my casting I will post it and se what you think. Waiting on the electronic parts to come int to start build the enclosure and power dock. also I may have found a blue too that might do the job, Waiting for it to arrive.

 

[superDrool]

Just checked into is with smooth-on they have an epoxacast 665 epoxy Aluminum filled for general purpose casting applications and features a relatively low viscosity. 2 part system for roughly 38.00 plus S/H. when I do my casting I will post it and se what you think. Waiting on the electronic parts to come int to start build the enclosure and power dock. also I may have found a blue too that might do the job, Waiting for it to arrive.

Yeah, I'll wait till I hear back from Jay on what he plans on doing in scope of metal casting. But I'm curious to see how the aluminum mixed epoxy comes out.
Would that theoretically make the shape sturdier or pretty much the same just metal in color?

 

[jaybible]

I learnt a lot about making the prints smooth and creating moulds for metal casting, so if you want any tips shoot me a pm.

Thanks madman, I will probably hit you up for some info.. Ideally i would like to use investment casting for this process..so i gotta figure out how the plastic is affected by high heat.. I would love to be able to get it made in wax but shapeways cant make them from wax yet. I may just make a mast mold and make wax pulls from that.

I'm going to have a look around at some local forges and metal casters and ask for advice or possible for them to do a run.

 

[jaybible]

Im not sure about the viscosity of a mixed material like that, especially with much a small wall thinckness. Mixing materials introduces too many grain/flow issues.. but hey i could be wrong. I'll check it out!

Edit*!.... I take that back... that stuff looks brilliant!.. now to find how viscous it is. ALthought i'll probably use a pressure pot to make sure it fills all the detail.

 

[jaybible]

For those who ordered the phone, I have just recieved an email telling me that the centre and centre cover parts have walls that are too thin and cannot be made. I will reupload these tonight and get it sorted.

 

[superDrool]

Eeesh. Glad they were willing to tell you before things got outta hand after shipping. Honestly, do you think extending out the wall thickness will make a big difference all over? So there won't be another issue later on down the road. I'm trying to avoid any unnecessary breakage, as I'm all about sturdiness.

 

[jaybible]

well they said it was clear and ready for sale, until it sold. And then they come back and tell me its too thin in places... pretty poor on their part! The wall thicknesses they were informing me off were only the centre cover piece, on the part that sticks out in the middle and also the centre of the main body of the phone.

The printed material isnt the strongest in the middle of the centre piece but i think once the front cover piece is clipped into place it will feel a lot sturdier!... im hoping anyway you will see the new scaled size before me.

 

[superDrool]

So how close is this version ready for actual purchase? As I'm rearing to get the prototype going!

 

[jaybible]

It should be ok to buy now. I'm going to order it this evening. Someone ordered it already and that is why I got the email telling me it wasn't suitable for printing. I uploaded the corrected models last night so they should be approved today

 

[superDrool]

Right on... :cool

 

[thesyfyguy]

I'm the guilty one, needed a completed model to start casting parts for the charger. Still waing on that as well as the other electronic parts to making a rough prototype so I can work out any bugs in it.

 

[jaybible]

well if you have any issues with the delivery please let me know. Have you received any emails from shapeways recently?

 

[thesyfyguy]

no, not recently, just the one saying the canceled the or deer for the middle section until you got the corrections in for it. But have not received the other parts yet. just been working on making molds for the internal parts and experimenting with this liquid plastic. Also working on the mechanics and electronics.

 

[thesyfyguy]

I received the parts in the mail today, now jus go to order the body parts again. Its a very light weigh plastic, but if the upper and lower haves were in two pieces it would make it easier to insert the ear and microphone parts. It just makes it more of a challenge to do so. But I like a good challenge.

 

[superDrool]

Let us know how it goes. Any chance you can post images of those said pieces?

 

[thesyfyguy]

Here is the photos you asked for. will send photos of the missing parts as soon as they arrive. Now I can get started designing the opening parts. As soon as I get the rest in I will be able to start making the housing. I will be using a PIC controller board to run the mechanics in the charging station. Will keep everyone posted.

 

[thesyfyguy]

Here is a low tech ideal to high tech question. " how do we give it a metal look" besides casting them out of metal, which makes them heaver and could short out the electronics. the plastic parts could be chrome dipped, or have metal duct tape applied carefully. Just a couple of ideals.

 

[jaybible]

Wow your parts arrived fast! I have to wait ages for mine!.. How does it look and feel. Does it seem like the right size?

I agree it would be better in 2 pieces but it would be so difficult to print.

Chrome dipping could be an option, I never really thought about it.. It just seemed to shiny compared to the aluminum effect in the movie.

Best of luck with the electronics Im looking forward to seeming a nice housing for this I may have to buy one from u