Vinyl casting
Hello Stew:
I have not activated my idea as yet to cast some vinyl. I am quite confident it will work well and the technique I am going to use will not likely be too dangerous. Here are the ideas so far.
I have a larger propane burner that will work just fine for heating. I will be outside n the shed. I am going to use an oil bath just like a deep fryer set up. I will keep the oil temp down to approx 400'f to reduce the risks of flames. I will be using a stainless steal bucket as a crucible in the oil bath. I will cut the records up into small bits and melt away. I am going to make a plywood mould that will be 3/4 inch bigger diameter than the finished size. The casting will be + - 3 inches thick and 13inches in diameter. I will screw mount a face plate and begin the turning.
I may make a small casting as a test before I do the larger casting.
I may have to wait till the weather cleans up a bit. It has been rather stormy here for the last few weeks so I am not real keen to go play arround in the shed right now.
Thoughts or ideas?
Hello Stew:
I have not activated my idea as yet to cast some vinyl. I am quite confident it will work well and the technique I am going to use will not likely be too dangerous. Here are the ideas so far.
I have a larger propane burner that will work just fine for heating. I will be outside n the shed. I am going to use an oil bath just like a deep fryer set up. I will keep the oil temp down to approx 400'f to reduce the risks of flames. I will be using a stainless steal bucket as a crucible in the oil bath. I will cut the records up into small bits and melt away. I am going to make a plywood mould that will be 3/4 inch bigger diameter than the finished size. The casting will be + - 3 inches thick and 13inches in diameter. I will screw mount a face plate and begin the turning.
I may make a small casting as a test before I do the larger casting.
I may have to wait till the weather cleans up a bit. It has been rather stormy here for the last few weeks so I am not real keen to go play arround in the shed right now.
Thoughts or ideas?
ideas...
er, I still wouldn't do this in a shed , because of the possible volatile fumes attaining a ratio for combustion fairly quickly.
Please do it outside, even if it is fairly cold. Your burner element will throw off a fair bit of heat. You can easily do as the S.A.S handbook suggests, build a small reflector of logs or stones or brick to direct some of the heat toward you. No spirits to warm you up either
, until after the pour is completed and the burner is turned off...
If need be you can put up a tarp on the windward side of the "fire" to reduce the breeze past the burner.
stew
er, I still wouldn't do this in a shed , because of the possible volatile fumes attaining a ratio for combustion fairly quickly.
Please do it outside, even if it is fairly cold. Your burner element will throw off a fair bit of heat. You can easily do as the S.A.S handbook suggests, build a small reflector of logs or stones or brick to direct some of the heat toward you. No spirits to warm you up either
, until after the pour is completed and the burner is turned off...If need be you can put up a tarp on the windward side of the "fire" to reduce the breeze past the burner.
stew
I have to say that your plan to melt down and cast vinyl is very foolish. The risk of personal injury far outweighs the gain especially when one can purchase a 24"x48"x1" sheet of PVC for about $230 USD. You can easily laminate 3 cutouts to get a 3" platter.
I suggest you have a look at this website before you procede.
http://www.besafenet.com/pvc/about.htm
I am not posting this to belittle you. I am just very concearned that what you are trying to do may have consequences that you have not considered.
I suggest you have a look at this website before you procede.
http://www.besafenet.com/pvc/about.htm
I am not posting this to belittle you. I am just very concearned that what you are trying to do may have consequences that you have not considered.
Waterjets will cut plexi nicely but there are a few problems. On our Flow waterjet it uses a low pressure pierce mode but this will still blow out the backside of the material when piercing. So you need to use a longer lead-in and on smaller holes it just isn't a good fit. Omax has a pneumatic drill attachment for pre-drilling the start points on each cut, so if you can find a waterjet fitted with this smaller holes maybe more doable. The edge looks rough sanded since that is basically what is used. In our case an 80 grit garnet for a cutting media so that is the finish achieved. Lasers can give you a polished edge and will most likely cost less because of the speed it can cut at, but you are restricted in the thickness of material you can cut, your local shop can tell you what their limits are. Lasers are very common now and with the slower economy their prices should be competitive.
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