I'm not sure how this will work out, but I am going to try it. This is
strictly a fun personal project to find out.

The goal is a two sided embossing die for paper. One is a positive and
the other is a negative. I know I could just have one made cheap by the
guys who make notary stamps, but this one will have a 3D image of my mom
from a painting my grandmother did when she was dating my dad. I want
to make it myself.

Here is the process I am going to try.

1. Machine pocket with all the features raised at the bottom of the
pocket. 2hrs apx

2. Spray it with UMR.

3. Make a backing plate the size of the pocket with some screws set in
it for anchoring.

4. Fill the pocket with casting resin, and place the backing plate into
the resin.

5. Pull resin plug at listed demold time and set aside. 10-15 minutes.

6. Machine away side walls of aluminum positive plate leaving just some
holding tabs.

7. Remove positive from bar stock and clean up on bench sander.

8. Wait 24 plus hrs for full cure of resin.

9. Mate the two halves and mount them for pressure turning on the
lathe. Turn the resin plug down to match the aluminum plug.

10. With halves mated mount on spring plates.

On Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at 2:54:13 PM UTC-5, Bob La Londe wrote:
I'm not sure how this will work out, but I am going to try it. This is
strictly a fun personal project to find out.

The goal is a two sided embossing die for paper. One is a positive and
the other is a negative. I know I could just have one made cheap by the
guys who make notary stamps, but this one will have a 3D image of my mom
from a painting my grandmother did when she was dating my dad. I want
to make it myself.

Here is the process I am going to try.

1. Machine pocket with all the features raised at the bottom of the
pocket. 2hrs apx

2. Spray it with UMR.

3. Make a backing plate the size of the pocket with some screws set in
it for anchoring.

4. Fill the pocket with casting resin, and place the backing plate into
the resin.

5. Pull resin plug at listed demold time and set aside. 10-15 minutes.

6. Machine away side walls of aluminum positive plate leaving just some
holding tabs.

7. Remove positive from bar stock and clean up on bench sander.

8. Wait 24 plus hrs for full cure of resin.

9. Mate the two halves and mount them for pressure turning on the
lathe. Turn the resin plug down to match the aluminum plug.

10. With halves mated mount on spring plates.

Do you think there might be a problem with the positive and negative being the same size without clearance for the paper? I can imagine that you could end up with more of a punch than an embosser. Of course, I'm as likely to be wrong about this as not, and it won't cost much to give it a try. Interesting project.

On 12/20/2017 1:07 PM, rangerssuck wrote:
On Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at 2:54:13 PM UTC-5, Bob La Londe wrote:
I'm not sure how this will work out, but I am going to try it. This is
strictly a fun personal project to find out.

The goal is a two sided embossing die for paper. One is a positive and
the other is a negative. I know I could just have one made cheap by the
guys who make notary stamps, but this one will have a 3D image of my mom
from a painting my grandmother did when she was dating my dad. I want
to make it myself.

Here is the process I am going to try.

1. Machine pocket with all the features raised at the bottom of the
pocket. 2hrs apx

2. Spray it with UMR.

3. Make a backing plate the size of the pocket with some screws set in
it for anchoring.

4. Fill the pocket with casting resin, and place the backing plate into
the resin.

5. Pull resin plug at listed demold time and set aside. 10-15 minutes.

6. Machine away side walls of aluminum positive plate leaving just some
holding tabs.

7. Remove positive from bar stock and clean up on bench sander.

8. Wait 24 plus hrs for full cure of resin.

9. Mate the two halves and mount them for pressure turning on the
lathe. Turn the resin plug down to match the aluminum plug.

10. With halves mated mount on spring plates.

Do you think there might be a problem with the positive and negative being the same size without clearance for the paper? I can imagine that you could end up with more of a punch than an embosser. Of course, I'm as likely to be wrong about this as not, and it won't cost much to give it a try. Interesting project.


I am concerned about that possibility, but I have a couple commercial
embossing dies I bought to study, and they seem to cut as much as
emboss. You can hear the paper tearing when you emboss the paper.
Ideally I'd need atleast .003" difference, but title and information
pages of books vary in thickness. I'd have to find a happy medium. It
might be ok since I did design everything with about 5 degrees of draft
angle to make it easier to pull the resin plug.

I'm generating code right now.

On Wed, 20 Dec 2017 12:54:10 -0700, Bob La Londe
wrote:

I'm not sure how this will work out, but I am going to try it. This is
strictly a fun personal project to find out.

The goal is a two sided embossing die for paper. One is a positive and
the other is a negative. I know I could just have one made cheap by the
guys who make notary stamps, but this one will have a 3D image of my mom
from a painting my grandmother did when she was dating my dad. I want
to make it myself.

Here is the process I am going to try.

1. Machine pocket with all the features raised at the bottom of the
pocket. 2hrs apx

2. Spray it with UMR.

3. Make a backing plate the size of the pocket with some screws set in
it for anchoring.

4. Fill the pocket with casting resin, and place the backing plate into
the resin.

5. Pull resin plug at listed demold time and set aside. 10-15 minutes.

6. Machine away side walls of aluminum positive plate leaving just some
holding tabs.

7. Remove positive from bar stock and clean up on bench sander.

8. Wait 24 plus hrs for full cure of resin.

9. Mate the two halves and mount them for pressure turning on the
lathe. Turn the resin plug down to match the aluminum plug.

10. With halves mated mount on spring plates.




Is the resin really that durable? I'm impressed. What kind of resin
are you using? I don't have any experience with the stuff but your
post has me intrigued.
Eric

On 12/20/2017 1:54 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 20 Dec 2017 12:54:10 -0700, Bob La Londe
wrote:

I'm not sure how this will work out, but I am going to try it. This is
strictly a fun personal project to find out.

The goal is a two sided embossing die for paper. One is a positive and
the other is a negative. I know I could just have one made cheap by the
guys who make notary stamps, but this one will have a 3D image of my mom
from a painting my grandmother did when she was dating my dad. I want
to make it myself.

Here is the process I am going to try.

1. Machine pocket with all the features raised at the bottom of the
pocket. 2hrs apx

2. Spray it with UMR.

3. Make a backing plate the size of the pocket with some screws set in
it for anchoring.

4. Fill the pocket with casting resin, and place the backing plate into
the resin.

5. Pull resin plug at listed demold time and set aside. 10-15 minutes.

6. Machine away side walls of aluminum positive plate leaving just some
holding tabs.

7. Remove positive from bar stock and clean up on bench sander.

8. Wait 24 plus hrs for full cure of resin.

9. Mate the two halves and mount them for pressure turning on the
lathe. Turn the resin plug down to match the aluminum plug.

10. With halves mated mount on spring plates.




Is the resin really that durable? I'm impressed. What kind of resin
are you using? I don't have any experience with the stuff but your
post has me intrigued.
Eric



I don't know. I'm using some polyurethane resin called Quick Cast from
Tap Plastics called Quick Cast. I'll find out. I recently did some
other casting with AlumiRes RC3 from Alumilte for a totally different
application and it turned out ok, but only time will tell. Upon
thinking of it I have a couple other resins coming (slower demold time
and thinner pour viscosity) for another application. I may just cast
mating plates with all of them before cutting out the aluminum plug so
if one doesn't hold up I can swap out another.

I actually started this project back in 2016, but time and paying work
got in my way. I recently machined some crankbait molds to be used with
casting resins. They worked out pretty good, and it got me back to
thinking about this project.

On Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at 11:54:13 AM UTC-8, Bob La Londe wrote:
I'm not sure how this will work out, but I am going to try it. This is
strictly a fun personal project to find out.

The goal is a two sided embossing die for paper. One is a positive and
the other is a negative....
1. Machine pocket with all the features raised at the bottom of the
pocket. 2hrs apx

2. Spray it with UMR.

3. Make a backing plate the size of the pocket with some screws set in
it for anchoring.

4. Fill the pocket with casting resin

It is not unknown to press metal (even deep forming) by a die against a block of
smooth neoprene, so maybe the hard resin isn't a necessity.
The 'machine pocket' step might be followed by some variation on polishing
(electropolishing or abrasive blasting or buffing with polishing compound).
One could do a quickie test on some simple-to-machine shape in a scrap, first.

Heck, one could experiment pressing paper with a coin against various backings.

On 20/12/17 21:46, whit3rd wrote:
On Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at 11:54:13 AM UTC-8, Bob La Londe wrote:
I'm not sure how this will work out, but I am going to try it. This is
strictly a fun personal project to find out.

The goal is a two sided embossing die for paper. One is a positive and
the other is a negative....
1. Machine pocket with all the features raised at the bottom of the
pocket. 2hrs apx

2. Spray it with UMR.

3. Make a backing plate the size of the pocket with some screws set in
it for anchoring.

4. Fill the pocket with casting resin
It is not unknown to press metal (even deep forming) by a die against a block of
smooth neoprene, so maybe the hard resin isn't a necessity.
The 'machine pocket' step might be followed by some variation on polishing
(electropolishing or abrasive blasting or buffing with polishing compound).
One could do a quickie test on some simple-to-machine shape in a scrap, first.

Heck, one could experiment pressing paper with a coin against various backings.

I've done that pressing a coin into 0.05mm stainless steel tool wrapping
foil and IIRC a firm rubber disc and it gave quite a decent impression
in the foil.

On Wed, 20 Dec 2017 13:23:34 -0700, Bob La Londe
wrote:

On 12/20/2017 1:07 PM, rangerssuck wrote:
On Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at 2:54:13 PM UTC-5, Bob La Londe wrote:
I'm not sure how this will work out, but I am going to try it. This is
strictly a fun personal project to find out.

The goal is a two sided embossing die for paper. One is a positive and
the other is a negative. I know I could just have one made cheap by the
guys who make notary stamps, but this one will have a 3D image of my mom
from a painting my grandmother did when she was dating my dad. I want
to make it myself.

Here is the process I am going to try.

1. Machine pocket with all the features raised at the bottom of the
pocket. 2hrs apx

2. Spray it with UMR.

3. Make a backing plate the size of the pocket with some screws set in
it for anchoring.

4. Fill the pocket with casting resin, and place the backing plate into
the resin.

5. Pull resin plug at listed demold time and set aside. 10-15 minutes.

6. Machine away side walls of aluminum positive plate leaving just some
holding tabs.

7. Remove positive from bar stock and clean up on bench sander.

8. Wait 24 plus hrs for full cure of resin.

9. Mate the two halves and mount them for pressure turning on the
lathe. Turn the resin plug down to match the aluminum plug.

10. With halves mated mount on spring plates.

Do you think there might be a problem with the positive and negative being the same size without clearance for the paper? I can imagine that you could end up with more of a punch than an embosser. Of course, I'm as likely to be wrong about this as not, and it won't cost much to give it a try. Interesting project.


I am concerned about that possibility, but I have a couple commercial
embossing dies I bought to study, and they seem to cut as much as
emboss. You can hear the paper tearing when you emboss the paper.
Ideally I'd need atleast .003" difference, but title and information
pages of books vary in thickness. I'd have to find a happy medium. It
might be ok since I did design everything with about 5 degrees of draft
angle to make it easier to pull the resin plug.

I'm generating code right now.

Dampen the paper slightly before embossing, and let it stand for a
while after you dampen it. You'll have to experiment with the timing.

Wax film is a traditional medium for getting separation between the
punch and the die. It used to be available commercially, but you can
make your own from 75% paraffin wax and 25% beeswax. If you have
access to microcrystalline wax, you can try that, but I haven't worked
with it.

Anyway, you melt the wax and float the wax on hot water, and then let
it cool. Lay the resulting film across the die and heat it enough to
work it into the corners. A hair dryer works.

--
Ed Huntress

On 20/12/17 23:19, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Wed, 20 Dec 2017 13:23:34 -0700, Bob La Londe
wrote:

On 12/20/2017 1:07 PM, rangerssuck wrote:
On Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at 2:54:13 PM UTC-5, Bob La Londe wrote:
I'm not sure how this will work out, but I am going to try it. This is
strictly a fun personal project to find out.

The goal is a two sided embossing die for paper. One is a positive and
the other is a negative. I know I could just have one made cheap by the
guys who make notary stamps, but this one will have a 3D image of my mom
from a painting my grandmother did when she was dating my dad. I want
to make it myself.

Here is the process I am going to try.

1. Machine pocket with all the features raised at the bottom of the
pocket. 2hrs apx

2. Spray it with UMR.

3. Make a backing plate the size of the pocket with some screws set in
it for anchoring.

4. Fill the pocket with casting resin, and place the backing plate into
the resin.

5. Pull resin plug at listed demold time and set aside. 10-15 minutes.

6. Machine away side walls of aluminum positive plate leaving just some
holding tabs.

7. Remove positive from bar stock and clean up on bench sander.

8. Wait 24 plus hrs for full cure of resin.

9. Mate the two halves and mount them for pressure turning on the
lathe. Turn the resin plug down to match the aluminum plug.

10. With halves mated mount on spring plates.
Do you think there might be a problem with the positive and negative being the same size without clearance for the paper? I can imagine that you could end up with more of a punch than an embosser. Of course, I'm as likely to be wrong about this as not, and it won't cost much to give it a try. Interesting project.

I am concerned about that possibility, but I have a couple commercial
embossing dies I bought to study, and they seem to cut as much as
emboss. You can hear the paper tearing when you emboss the paper.
Ideally I'd need atleast .003" difference, but title and information
pages of books vary in thickness. I'd have to find a happy medium. It
might be ok since I did design everything with about 5 degrees of draft
angle to make it easier to pull the resin plug.

I'm generating code right now.
Dampen the paper slightly before embossing, and let it stand for a
while after you dampen it. You'll have to experiment with the timing.

Wax film is a traditional medium for getting separation between the
punch and the die. It used to be available commercially, but you can
make your own from 75% paraffin wax and 25% beeswax. If you have
access to microcrystalline wax, you can try that, but I haven't worked
with it.

Microcrystalline wax should be readily available from any number of
hobby suppliers. Friends of mine here in the UK use it for certain glass
forming related techniques at the glass school they run.

Anyway, you melt the wax and float the wax on hot water, and then let
it cool. Lay the resulting film across the die and heat it enough to
work it into the corners. A hair dryer works.

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...

Wax film is a traditional medium for getting separation between the
punch and the die. It used to be available commercially, but you can
make your own from 75% paraffin wax and 25% beeswax. If you have
access to microcrystalline wax, you can try that, but I haven't
worked
with it....

--
Ed Huntress

Toilet ring wax is readily available and also makes paraffin wax less
brittle when cold.

On 20/12/17 23:46, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...
Wax film is a traditional medium for getting separation between the
punch and the die. It used to be available commercially, but you can
make your own from 75% paraffin wax and 25% beeswax. If you have
access to microcrystalline wax, you can try that, but I haven't
worked
with it....

--
Ed Huntress
Toilet ring wax is readily available and also makes paraffin wax less
brittle when cold.


I've heard of toilet ring wax being available in the US and apparently
it is quite good as a lubricant for metal spinning but I mentioned it to
someone in plumbing in the UK and he wondered if you were still in the
stone age in the US as all those applications in the UK/Europe would be
using flexible rubber seals these days. What is the benefit of the wax seal.

On Wed, 20 Dec 2017 23:35:08 +0000, David Billington
wrote:

On 20/12/17 23:19, Ed Huntress wrote:
On Wed, 20 Dec 2017 13:23:34 -0700, Bob La Londe
wrote:

On 12/20/2017 1:07 PM, rangerssuck wrote:
On Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at 2:54:13 PM UTC-5, Bob La Londe wrote:
I'm not sure how this will work out, but I am going to try it. This is
strictly a fun personal project to find out.

The goal is a two sided embossing die for paper. One is a positive and
the other is a negative. I know I could just have one made cheap by the
guys who make notary stamps, but this one will have a 3D image of my mom
from a painting my grandmother did when she was dating my dad. I want
to make it myself.

Here is the process I am going to try.

1. Machine pocket with all the features raised at the bottom of the
pocket. 2hrs apx

2. Spray it with UMR.

3. Make a backing plate the size of the pocket with some screws set in
it for anchoring.

4. Fill the pocket with casting resin, and place the backing plate into
the resin.

5. Pull resin plug at listed demold time and set aside. 10-15 minutes.

6. Machine away side walls of aluminum positive plate leaving just some
holding tabs.

7. Remove positive from bar stock and clean up on bench sander.

8. Wait 24 plus hrs for full cure of resin.

9. Mate the two halves and mount them for pressure turning on the
lathe. Turn the resin plug down to match the aluminum plug.

10. With halves mated mount on spring plates.
Do you think there might be a problem with the positive and negative being the same size without clearance for the paper? I can imagine that you could end up with more of a punch than an embosser. Of course, I'm as likely to be wrong about this as not, and it won't cost much to give it a try. Interesting project.

I am concerned about that possibility, but I have a couple commercial
embossing dies I bought to study, and they seem to cut as much as
emboss. You can hear the paper tearing when you emboss the paper.
Ideally I'd need atleast .003" difference, but title and information
pages of books vary in thickness. I'd have to find a happy medium. It
might be ok since I did design everything with about 5 degrees of draft
angle to make it easier to pull the resin plug.

I'm generating code right now.
Dampen the paper slightly before embossing, and let it stand for a
while after you dampen it. You'll have to experiment with the timing.

Wax film is a traditional medium for getting separation between the
punch and the die. It used to be available commercially, but you can
make your own from 75% paraffin wax and 25% beeswax. If you have
access to microcrystalline wax, you can try that, but I haven't worked
with it.

Microcrystalline wax should be readily available from any number of
hobby suppliers. Friends of mine here in the UK use it for certain glass
forming related techniques at the glass school they run.

Anyway, you melt the wax and float the wax on hot water, and then let
it cool. Lay the resulting film across the die and heat it enough to
work it into the corners. A hair dryer works.

Yeah, microcrystalline wax is readily available here, too. I've just
never used it so I don't know how it behaves.

The method I described is the one I used 20 years ago to make
fiberglass parts in matching two-part molds. I made some molds from
high-strength plaster (Hydrocal) and others from polyester resin. Both
worked well, but you have to seal the plaster and both need multiple
sprayed coatings of polyvinyl alcohol.

I should have pointed out that the wax should go over the half of the
die set that has the detail, because it won't hold detail itself and
it's only good as a separator and facing for the backing half of the
set. Depending on how you're doing it, that could be the male half or
the female half.

Dampening the paper is something we did when I worked in a
photoprocess/print shop when I was in high school. We made embossed
covers for invitations for the Princeton Univ. eating clubs
(Princeton's equivalent of fraternities). The dies, with the logo of
each club, came from an outside supplier, so I have no idea how they
were made, but they did have clearance for the paper. We used a pretty
thick, very fancy all-rag paper, and it had to be sprayed, covered
with plastic wrap, and allowed to sit for an hour or two before
embossing. Then it had to be dried under weight to keep it flat. It
was very tedious and we charged a bundle to do it.

--
Ed Huntress

On Thu, 21 Dec 2017 00:09:03 +0000, David Billington
wrote:

On 20/12/17 23:46, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...
Wax film is a traditional medium for getting separation between the
punch and the die. It used to be available commercially, but you can
make your own from 75% paraffin wax and 25% beeswax. If you have
access to microcrystalline wax, you can try that, but I haven't
worked
with it....

--
Ed Huntress
Toilet ring wax is readily available and also makes paraffin wax less
brittle when cold.


I've heard of toilet ring wax being available in the US and apparently
it is quite good as a lubricant for metal spinning but I mentioned it to
someone in plumbing in the UK and he wondered if you were still in the
stone age in the US as all those applications in the UK/Europe would be
using flexible rubber seals these days. What is the benefit of the wax seal.

It complies with rougher surfaces, including rough tile. It's still
available, but the newer system is a hollow ring of rubber that you
fill with silicone rubber caulking just before you use it.

--
Ed Huntress

On Wed, 20 Dec 2017 13:23:34 -0700, Bob La Londe
wrote:

On 12/20/2017 1:07 PM, rangerssuck wrote:
On Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at 2:54:13 PM UTC-5, Bob La Londe wrote:
I'm not sure how this will work out, but I am going to try it. This is
strictly a fun personal project to find out.

The goal is a two sided embossing die for paper. One is a positive and
the other is a negative. I know I could just have one made cheap by the
guys who make notary stamps, but this one will have a 3D image of my mom
from a painting my grandmother did when she was dating my dad. I want
to make it myself.

I had to reread that twice to figure out what you meant, and to
realize that "my grandmother wasn't dating my dad." That's a really
cool, deeply sentimental project, BTW.


Here is the process I am going to try.

1. Machine pocket with all the features raised at the bottom of the
pocket. 2hrs apx

2. Spray it with UMR.

3. Make a backing plate the size of the pocket with some screws set in
it for anchoring.

4. Fill the pocket with casting resin, and place the backing plate into
the resin.

5. Pull resin plug at listed demold time and set aside. 10-15 minutes.

6. Machine away side walls of aluminum positive plate leaving just some
holding tabs.

7. Remove positive from bar stock and clean up on bench sander.

8. Wait 24 plus hrs for full cure of resin.

9. Mate the two halves and mount them for pressure turning on the
lathe. Turn the resin plug down to match the aluminum plug.

What is "pressure turning on the lathe"?


10. With halves mated mount on spring plates.

Do you think there might be a problem with the positive and negative being the same size without clearance for the paper? I can imagine that you could end up with more of a punch than an embosser. Of course, I'm as likely to be wrong about this as not, and it won't cost much to give it a try.

Yes, interference fits do give one trouble, unless you're aiming for a
few tenths press-fit.


Interesting project.

Yes!


I am concerned about that possibility, but I have a couple commercial
embossing dies I bought to study, and they seem to cut as much as
emboss. You can hear the paper tearing when you emboss the paper.

Are they paper- or metal-embossing dies? Metal stretches better than
paper.


Ideally I'd need atleast .003" difference, but title and information
pages of books vary in thickness. I'd have to find a happy medium. It
might be ok since I did design everything with about 5 degrees of draft
angle to make it easier to pull the resin plug.

What kind of depth are you aiming for in the emboss? Anything deep
and you'd have to use a thick, wetted paper, wouldn't you? Or put
paper-making soup in the mould and heat?

Have you tried wetting the paper and heating the dies just prior to
pressing?


I'm generating code right now.

Is there a set algorithm for mould relief between parts? That might
be very handy to know. Does it take an AI?

--
A sound mind in a sound body is a short but full
description of a happy state in this world.
--John Locke

On 12/20/2017 12:54 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
I'm not sure how this will work out, but I am going to try it. This is
strictly a fun personal project to find out.

The goal is a two sided embossing die for paper. One is a positive and
the other is a negative. I know I could just have one made cheap by the
guys who make notary stamps, but this one will have a 3D image of my mom
from a painting my grandmother did when she was dating my dad. I want
to make it myself.

Here is the process I am going to try.

1. Machine pocket with all the features raised at the bottom of the
pocket. 2hrs apx

2. Spray it with UMR.

3. Make a backing plate the size of the pocket with some screws set in
it for anchoring.

4. Fill the pocket with casting resin, and place the backing plate into
the resin.

5. Pull resin plug at listed demold time and set aside. 10-15 minutes.

6. Machine away side walls of aluminum positive plate leaving just some
holding tabs.

7. Remove positive from bar stock and clean up on bench sander.

8. Wait 24 plus hrs for full cure of resin.

9. Mate the two halves and mount them for pressure turning on the
lathe. Turn the resin plug down to match the aluminum plug.

10. With halves mated mount on spring plates.

I wonder if several coats of UMR might just be enough to give me some
clearance. In the instructions for most resins they say to give just a
very thin even coat of UMR to retain detail. Since I plan to make
several negative castings before cutting out the positive I may just do
both.

On Wed, 20 Dec 2017 14:04:26 -0700, Bob La Londe
wrote:

On 12/20/2017 1:54 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 20 Dec 2017 12:54:10 -0700, Bob La Londe
wrote:

I'm not sure how this will work out, but I am going to try it. This is
strictly a fun personal project to find out.

The goal is a two sided embossing die for paper. One is a positive and
the other is a negative. I know I could just have one made cheap by the
guys who make notary stamps, but this one will have a 3D image of my mom
from a painting my grandmother did when she was dating my dad. I want
to make it myself.

Here is the process I am going to try.

1. Machine pocket with all the features raised at the bottom of the
pocket. 2hrs apx

2. Spray it with UMR.

3. Make a backing plate the size of the pocket with some screws set in
it for anchoring.

4. Fill the pocket with casting resin, and place the backing plate into
the resin.

5. Pull resin plug at listed demold time and set aside. 10-15 minutes.

6. Machine away side walls of aluminum positive plate leaving just some
holding tabs.

7. Remove positive from bar stock and clean up on bench sander.

8. Wait 24 plus hrs for full cure of resin.

9. Mate the two halves and mount them for pressure turning on the
lathe. Turn the resin plug down to match the aluminum plug.

10. With halves mated mount on spring plates.




Is the resin really that durable? I'm impressed. What kind of resin
are you using? I don't have any experience with the stuff but your
post has me intrigued.
Eric



I don't know. I'm using some polyurethane resin called Quick Cast from
Tap Plastics called Quick Cast. I'll find out. I recently did some
other casting with AlumiRes RC3 from Alumilte for a totally different
application and it turned out ok, but only time will tell. Upon
thinking of it I have a couple other resins coming (slower demold time
and thinner pour viscosity) for another application. I may just cast
mating plates with all of them before cutting out the aluminum plug so
if one doesn't hold up I can swap out another.

I actually started this project back in 2016, but time and paying work
got in my way. I recently machined some crankbait molds to be used with
casting resins. They worked out pretty good, and it got me back to
thinking about this project.


I am really looking forward to finding out how your project works out.
Eric