Cast Resin Juicer

[nicotime]

This is my first experiment in casting a JB with urethane resin and my first touch switch build. I also incorporated the wickless feed system. Nothing really special but it was interesting none the less.

This is the two brands of silicone molding putty I used...the yellow Amazing Putty cures faster and is tougher. The pink putty from Sugarcraft Inc. is a slower curing silicone and is more flexible. Either one would work but I just had both so I used them both.

I first did a test of the Casting Craft resin available at Michaels craft store which is a Polyester resin. It cured crystal clear with no air bubbles but it smells exactly like Bondo body filler for cars even after it cures. They show on the can that you can make fake ice cubes with it but I dont think I would want that smelly stuff in my drink. The resin I finally used was the Polyurethane resin from Alumilite Corp.
They have several types so I tried the crystal clear resin. You really need a vacuum or pressure chamber to degas this type or you will end up with air bubbles like I did. Also needed is a digital scale as the two parts need to be exactly equal by weight not volume. You will see some of the parts of the mod will look white due to the air bubbles. That is because I didnt get the mix right as I have a cheapo scale. It still hardens but its really a harden foam basically. Get the type resin you dont need to degas is your best bet if trying this.

What I did was took a rectangle chunk of blue modeling clay(also from Alumilite) and squeeze and shaped it to fit my hand perfectly. Then I formed the silicone putty around the clay and made a mold.

I used an aluminum tube a little bigger than a 18650 battery and molded two silicone cylinders to use for the internal cavity for the battery and 8ml juice bottle. First I made a shell inside the mold by pouring enough resin to make about a 1/16" floor and walls in 5 seperate pours as shown here.

Then I put the cylinders inside and poured the final casting of the main body.

This is what I ended up with...in the mold and removed.

Next I sanded and shaped the opening for the bottle, the surface that the cover mates to and smoothed out the inside somewhat. At that point I decided to make a wall on the cover that butts against the middle partition because I didnt want the bottle when pressed popping the cover off. Thats why it looks like it has a fin on the cover.

Next step I replaced the cylinders in the body after the modification for the fin, put the body back in the main mold and sprayed it with a release spray so the urethane would not fuse to the main body. Then I poured the resin to make the cover as
shown. The cover I must have got just right as it turned out clear with very few bubbles.

I removed it from the mold and while still together shaped the cover to match the body.

Then I removed the cylinder again and shaped and smooth the whole thing inside and out, drilled for the connector, LED and switch...and mounted the guide pins and magnets for the cover.

This is with all the internal components mounted. I
painted the outside with a paint for plastics but the
bubbles caused a bit of a problem with the paint...but since this is just an experiment I am not concerned with it.

For the contact points I made like two staple shaped contacts out of 13 AWG nichrome wire and embedded them in the body with resin.You can see it in the upper right corner.

This is a one way valve like a reed valve I made with the silicone putty. You press the bottle and the flaps close pushing the juice out the teflon tube to the cart...when you let go air will come in through the flaps to replace the juice used.

In the cart I drilled a hole for the tubing and made a silicone plug with a 1mm glass tube to the coil and removed the bridge of the atty just like I used for my "Saving the wickless atty" mod. The glass tube drips right on to the coil no matter what angle your holding the mod.

The nice thing about the resin is that if you mess up you can just mix up some more and fix it because the resin bonds to itself and you cant even see where the two meet...ie..you could pour 5 layers 5 separate days apart and it would look like one solid piece. To prevent that you just spray it with release spray.

It was a learning experience for sure and I think it would be easier just to pour a rough solid and shape it afterward...but hey...it was fun!!

OK...laugh away!!

 

[LowThudd]

Very cool man! Very nice(especially for a first attempt). You going to be marketing them soon? I would like to suggest putting some fiberglass in both sides when you pour to reinforce it. With some glass in there you would have a hard time breaking it, even when dropped hard.

 

[LowThudd]

Also, to get rid of air bubbles in the surface, you can relaminate it with some resin(a thin mix), then sand it with like 800grit wet paper. I used to do surfboard repair, and I have relamed a board that was sanded down to the glass in some places. Not to hard.

 

[geeker]

Wow! Looks great! Nice job

 

[IMWylde]

Fantastic. Forever gone are the days of having to leave components out because they don't fit.

 

[nicotime]

Thanks guys...Thanks for the advice Thudd..when I do larger quantities it comes out ok..its the small batches that my scale has problems with. I'll try that on my next one...like I said...this was more to see what to expect as I have never worked with casting resin before. The camera makes it look worse than it is too.

Exactly IM...built to specs!!

 

[Sci]

Lookes great, Nico! Well done, I don't care what you say. How's that touch switch working? You going to post the schematic & parts list?
Was that hard to paint?

 

[nicotime]

Lookes great, Nico! Well done, I don't care what you say. How's that touch switch working? You going to post the schematic & parts list?
Was that hard to paint?

Switch works great...I used the one Dan posted on that one thread and used the higher value resistors recommended by Caesar...dang...I should have noted that too. I tried twice to do a video but I am horrible at it so I gave up! I'll see what else I can do with it...I didnt really take it that seriously this time around. Painting was easy but the air pockets from the bubbles transferred to the paint so I might redo it with Thudds advise. I didnt really sand it down much either. I am finding already though that having it ambidextrous would be better too...can still do it but not comfortably..

Thanks Sci...did you get your stuff yet?

 

[Sci]

Couldn't you take the one you made & sand off/add on & make it ambidextrous? Can you add resin over a painted area?
Also, one video I saw they were using some pigment? dust & dusting the inside of the mold with it. While casting, the resin picked it up & there was no need to paint.
How many separate casts did you do on this? What's the drying time per cast?

You mean that plastic stuff? I got it, I like it. I'm off tomorrow & am going to have time to really mess with it. What I like about it is that if you don't like something, drop it in hot water & reshape it. No waste. It does get hard as a rock when it cools. I'm going to make something simple that can be vaped & see how it holds up.

I don't care what you say, Nico. What you've done looks good & has got a lot of potential!

 

[USinchains]

Awesome, reminds me of when I used to cast resin parts for models. Molding and casting is fun even if it's not totally necessary, definitely helpful if you want more than one of something, though.

Question about the button magnets, if you drop the box on the ground do you think they'll hold? I've got my current mod where it'll clip itself shut, but am still using a rubber band while out n about.

 

[LowThudd]

You mean that plastic stuff? I got it, I like it. I'm off tomorrow & am going to have time to really mess with it. What I like about it is that if you don't like something, drop it in hot water & reshape it. No waste. It does get hard as a rock when it cools. I'm going to make something simple that can be vaped & see how it holds up.

I don't care what you say, Nico. What you've done looks good & has got a lot of potential!

I've had a splint made out of that stuff. The problem is it is never high temp stable. Even after is sets, you still need to keep it cool.

 

[USinchains]

Also, one video I saw they were using some pigment? dust & dusting the inside of the mold with it. While casting, the resin picked it up & there was no need to paint.

I've got lots of that stuff, a bunch of uses there, you can even mix it into paint for a metallic effect. http://www.violtan.com/rupaint/esho...ion=ShowBrand&selBrand=EMTP&Init=0#SKU=PSTW30

I would call what Nico did a rough prototype, all it really needs is more attention to paint prepping and he could be a thousand times happier with the outcome.

 

[CloudBurst]

Nice looking mod !

 

[IMWylde]

Am I wrong thinking you could assemble the wiring and component position it so that it was encased in the Acrylic?

 

[nicotime]

Couldn't you take the one you made & sand off/add on & make it ambidextrous? Can you add resin over a painted area? Yep..could do that!
Also, one video I saw they were using some pigment? dust & dusting the inside of the mold with it. While casting, the resin picked it up & there was no need to paint.
How many separate casts did you do on this? What's the drying time per cast? Supposedly you can even paint the mold and when you pour the resin it fuses to the casting.

You mean that plastic stuff? I got it, I like it. I'm off tomorrow & am going to have time to really mess with it. What I like about it is that if you don't like something, drop it in hot water & reshape it. No waste. It does get hard as a rock when it cools. I'm going to make something simple that can be vaped & see how it holds up. Lets us know!!

I don't care what you say, Nico. What you've done looks good & has got a lot of potential!

Awesome, reminds me of when I used to cast resin parts for models. Molding and casting is fun even if it's not totally necessary, definitely helpful if you want more than one of something, though.

Question about the button magnets, if you drop the box on the ground do you think they'll hold? I've got my current mod where it'll clip itself shut, but am still using a rubber band while out n about.

The magnets are very strong but I thing it would break loose like about any box mod would...I have dropped it on the carpeted floor and it stayed together.

I've got lots of that stuff, a bunch of uses there, you can even mix it into paint for a metallic effect. Art Colors & Brushes from Russia

I would call what Nico did a rough prototype, all it really needs is more attention to paint prepping and he could be a thousand times happier with the outcome.

Your right...I was testing the materials more than anything.. I got the crystal clear resin because I had no intention of painting it anyway.

Nice looking mod !

Thanks Stormy!!

Am I wrong thinking you could assemble the wiring and component position it so that it was encased in the Acrylic?

Yep..I did that with some of the wiring like the bottom wire that goes up the center ridge to the switch.

 

[doots]

Pretty amazing... I like the look of them.. good luck with it..

 

[nicotime]

Here is the wiring diagram..thanks to Dan and Caesars input also. I made one switch with the IRLU3114ZPBF too...it works fine but that mosfet is so damn tiny I'll stick with the one I used here. The whole unit for the switch components is only like 1/4" cubed all around so space is not an issue for sure. The rest of the stuff is your basic box mod items except for the cart mod stuff.



Here is the cart mod pic too...

 

[nicotime]

Pretty amazing... I like the look of them.. good luck with it..

Thanks doots...I think I will sand it back off and spend a little more time getting it right...or make another now that I know what to expect! I have got to get a good scale though!!

 

[Connman]

Very Sweet nicotime. That would look sweet in my hand.

So when is this party when you drink to much and my mod collection gets bigger?

Just kidding of course.

 

[nicotime]

Very Sweet nicotime. That would look sweet in my hand.

So when is this party when you drink to much and my mod collection gets bigger?

Just kidding of course.

Oh...didnt I mention the circuitry I built in that increases the voltage to the touch switch contacts to 50000 volts if your hand doesnt fit perfectly?? Besides...I dont drink anymore but knowing a certain sister in your family I'm sure a ball peen would be handy to knock me out!!

Thanks Cman