So, it’s taken me awhile to get here, but I think I’m about to start machining my mold tools. The real problem so far is the speed at which I can make each individual Phire Charger. The 3D printer has been a PHENOMENAL tool for rapid prototyping and testing my molds, but it’s about time to move past it.
I had an opportunity to spend some time at a makerspace in St. Louis, MO last month and put my hands on Tormach CNC machine. I have yet to actually create anything of any substance or value with it, but I now have a pretty clear understanding of what the machine is capable of. Running through the basics on this machine has let me design around the capabilities and constraints of it and this is what I’ve come up with:
These are the three pieces of the mold tooling that I’ve 3D printed to try and identify any issues that are going to occur before I begin feeding expensive chunks of aluminum or steel into a CNC machine. I’ve been testing them with some melted candle wax that I hardened with HDPE plastic. They seem to work well, but need some vent holes to let air escape. This will let the viscous material get everywhere in the mold. It’ll also help that when I get to make molds out of metal, I can heat them up before adding any material. This will definitely let it flow a lot better.
The next step is making some small alterations to this mold design, and then making a mold for the upper section of the Phire Charger. This should go pretty quick and easy. I should have that finished up by the end of the week. Then, next week I’m heading to STL to start working with the Tormach 1100.
This is gonna be challenging, but fun.