Making a small plastic fan

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

I have made progress!

I made a silicone mold based on an original fan, then molded a new fan from the mold…..

Good result I'd say…..the fan pictured requires cleaning up, machining to size and then balancing( another challenge!)

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Looking good John.

What material did you use?

Russell

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

I used polyurethane resin/activator for casting the fan…..

Demold time was around30-40 mins. Allowance made for a bit more time to fully cure/harden. I finished off the fan in the lathe, turned to diameter and thickness…

The fan is now installed in the drill and runs like a good'un….

I'm very pleased/surprised at how well it has turned out, the original fan had the part number TPD6 on its surface, the mold has picked this up and it has actually transferred to the new casting…..

I'm now considering adding some fibreglass to strenghten….any thoughts?

I'd need to be quick whetting it out as the pot life of the resin is minutes!!

[Brian OldfordParticipant @brianoldford70365]

Posted by John Rudd on 03/05/2017 14:42:31:

I used polyurethane resin/activator for casting the fan…..

Demold time was around30-40 mins. Allowance made for a bit more time to fully cure/harden. I finished off the fan in the lathe, turned to diameter and thickness…

The fan is now installed in the drill and runs like a good'un….

I'm very pleased/surprised at how well it has turned out, the original fan had the part number TPD6 on its surface, the mold has picked this up and it has actually transferred to the new casting…..

I'm now considering adding some fibreglass to strenghten….any thoughts?

I'd need to be quick whetting it out as the pot life of the resin is minutes!!

Hi John

I'm glad my suggestion of pulling a silicon mould off an original worked for you. Just out of interest what particular PU resin did you use in the end?

Brian

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

Brian,

I used Mouldcraft A2000L…..

Reason being, I could get a small quantity for minimal outlay so I could see how it was going to work out….

Thanks for the initial advice…

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Well that worked

[Author]

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