Burrito
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| So, as the title suggests, I was wondering if it is possible to recast street light heads using molds.
Is that possible or would it fail miserably?
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John
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| If we're talking about aluminium housings then most would have been originally die-cast. It's possible that these could be replicated on a small scale using sand casting, perhaps with some small modifications to the design to accommodate the differences between the processes. See various books by C. W. Ammen for instruction on sand casting. One might need to consider the copyright / patent implications though?
For plastic it's going to be ridiculously expensive to have an injection mould made, so perhaps 3D printing could be a better choice here.
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Burrito
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| Yeah, plus i heard somewhere that the casting would come out a little smaller than it's original size, but i have no evidence to back that up.
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ON LG FOR 2 YEARS! Please don't ask to meet up with me, as I am still living with my mother. Don't send me items either please, thank you!
Please, watch out for the future. It's not looking good. Loves instruction manuals of any kind!
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John
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| Yes true I forgot about that, there is going to be some shrinkage for sure. Probably enough that the bowl won't fit on. Perhaps you could 3D print an oversized plastic pattern and then sand cast that? That way you could also make any necessary modifications (for example to the internal ribs / fins) to make sand casting easier.
Are there any local foundries that could take the job on?
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Burrito
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| As far as i know there are lots of foundries in the US but not in my city.
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ON LG FOR 2 YEARS! Please don't ask to meet up with me, as I am still living with my mother. Don't send me items either please, thank you!
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Medved
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One might need to consider the copyright / patent implications though?
If you won't sell it as lantern part, there is no issue. Otherwise I would guess 3D printed template and a sand cast has the highest chance. You may even start from a 3D scan, oversize it in a CAD, make adoption for the sand casting process and viola. Directly 3D printing the lantern parts won't work well. 3D printing uses materials that do not handle heat well, plus they tend to corrode pretty fast when exposed to sunlight. The fact the 3D prints are rather porous is quite a factor here (oxygen gets access deep into the material). |
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Burrito
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| Yep! I had actually thought the same thing about not selling it.
Wouldn't the 3D print also melt in the sunlight, especially if it where to get in the triple digits (100 degrees or more)?
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Medved
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| The lowest temperature material used, the PLA, softens above 73degC, so the 45degC would not melt it yet. But it does contribute to the corrosion a lot...
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Burrito
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ON LG FOR 2 YEARS! Please don't ask to meet up with me, as I am still living with my mother. Don't send me items either please, thank you!
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