Printing Project

[Pipescs]

A short thread on going from Idea to part in hand for those things you cannot find.

Or how to go from a sketch to a working part.

Earlier this year I attended Cabin Fever at York PA. There I met Steven Pontarelli of Dispatch Railroad Products. He was primarily displaying 1 inch scale castings in white metal.

Having taken His card I contacted him recently to see if he would be interested in doing a mold and producing a small order of 2.5 inch scale Journal Box Lids.

He agreed and this thread is on the results of the effort.

Before the rivet counters chime in, I will say that I am qualified to carry a candle for the late Barry Hague of Super Scale and that the J.B. Lids I am doing are not any particular scale item being stand off scale at best. I think they will look good rolling by from sixty feet away.

I started with various photos and drawings I found on the internet and from friends who were nice enough to mail to me.

These I put into a CAD model. Primary sizing was done to fit the Journal boxes I am working with.

The lettering is the first time I have tried this on a printed part. While there is substantially a lot more wording on the prototype lids, I did not know how it would print display on the printed part or the final white metal casting. For that reason I simply with the large lettering

[Pipescs]

Having spoken to Stephen on the phone of the molding requirements on Spin Casting, I modified the drawing to meet his needs.

The primary change of path was that I had to have the original pattern printed in metal instead of plastic.

This is needed as the master is used to make a vulcanized rubber mold that is then used to produce white metal proofs (one at a time) that are used to make the round spin mold which may have around 8 to 10 cavities for casting. (Watch YouTube on how this is done)

I use the company Shapeways for my printing.

It is a simple mater of uploading your file, select your material and hit upload. In a few minutes you can place the item in a cart and order it. eleven days later the Master was at my door step.

[Pipescs]

Once I had this in hand I mailed it to Dispatch Railroad Products.

The first copies have been made and he will now be making the spin molds.

One place where I did make an error is in how thin the metal in the box area is.

While the print process can take the thin sections, the white metal casting process needs a little thicker area for the metal to flow in.

He is correcting this by trimming the rubber in the cavity area to make a thicker section.

[Pipescs]

The look I was going for.

[BClemens]

Charlie,

I happen to have a set of journal boxes that have no lids so I would be interested in a few of these. The journal boxes are 2 1/2" scale and the lids are similar to your photos - dimensions will be provided....

BC

[Pipescs]

I will not be offering these for sale but have told Steven at Dispatch Railroad that I have no problem with him selling them to help his business.

You can find him on the internet.

[Pipescs]

The proof arrived today.

[Glenn Brooks]

Charlie, how is the lid secured to the journal?

Glenn

[Pipescs]

Hey Glenn

The plan is to drill each lid and then use them as a drill guide into the journal box (Lug for lack of knowing its proper name)

[Bill C]

Hi Charlie,

That is really a cool project, I appreciate you taking the time to document it and share it with us!

Semper Fi,

Bill C.