You essentially have made a squish mold, drill in multiple small air vents into the inner half of the brick mold along all high points to allow the air an escape route, otherwise you’re just trapping air when you squish the mold closed. Additionally your results would be significantly better if you cured the resin (in the mold) in a pressure chamber between 40-60psi. Do these two things and you’ll be knocking these out! Although the vents may be enough to do the trick on their own
I always thought that LEGOs had at least a hint of an internal draft angle, did you do that with yours? It’s not too late. Also, although I’ve only had experience paying $35,000 to get plastic injection mold tools made for a water sports blade I used to sell, and no experience actually creating the tool itself, I know that polishing the surface of the tool does a whole lot to help parts not stick. I don’t know if that’s possible with what you’ve created, or if there’s a method for coating your metal with a fine layer of something to smooth out the micro tool marks. You’re doing something I’ve wanted to do for years but haven’t had the time (nor access to a Bridgeport) to take the first step. Good luck.
Hello David, I made my mold as simple as possible which could be translated to single word "crude" :). I think that it is in fact combination of internal draft and subtile ribs. Injection molding is basically a form of art all the way from designing to machining. I honed the inner surface with fine grinding stones. The best available option would be probably surface grinding followed by polishing.
Hello Frian, my plan was to build it structurally sound enough to withstand higher heat as well as pressure. Thus the steel... otherwise it would be nothing but an overkill, that is for sure :). Wood would be a good choice when it comes to machining, but epoxy casting would be a nightmare because it is a very porous material. But I could imagine success with a thorough application of a separator. I prefer to use low viscosity epoxy resin for any casting.
Deffo worth a sub on this. Would you be able to make and design a cast that would be able to do 5 to 10 bricks at the same time? Im looking for a steel or graphite mould that can make effective lego bricks for metal casting (aluminium / pewter) and this is the best design I have seen so far. I got a few projects I want to do involving recycling and art, what you recon? Is it possible?
Hello my friend :) I have little to no plans with the mold, so i can send you the mold and you can provide me with the ideas for improvement if you agree :). It would be a nice cooperation.
150 views?? This video is extremely high quality and it popped up in my suggested video feed. This deserves a huge audience!
Thank you Brian. I truly appreciate your opinion :)
The holes in your brick where caused by the lack of ventilation holes in your mold if you add them it should work alot better. Hope this helps. 👍
Thanks for the tip. I did the modification and the results are indeed better.
You essentially have made a squish mold, drill in multiple small air vents into the inner half of the brick mold along all high points to allow the air an escape route, otherwise you’re just trapping air when you squish the mold closed. Additionally your results would be significantly better if you cured the resin (in the mold) in a pressure chamber between 40-60psi. Do these two things and you’ll be knocking these out! Although the vents may be enough to do the trick on their own
Thank you for the advice 🙂 I mabe give it a try
Hey man, I have a small injection molder.
If you want we can try to make it out of plastic.
So cool!
Thank you 🙂
I always thought that LEGOs had at least a hint of an internal draft angle, did you do that with yours? It’s not too late. Also, although I’ve only had experience paying $35,000 to get plastic injection mold tools made for a water sports blade I used to sell, and no experience actually creating the tool itself, I know that polishing the surface of the tool does a whole lot to help parts not stick. I don’t know if that’s possible with what you’ve created, or if there’s a method for coating your metal with a fine layer of something to smooth out the micro tool marks. You’re doing something I’ve wanted to do for years but haven’t had the time (nor access to a Bridgeport) to take the first step. Good luck.
Hello David, I made my mold as simple as possible which could be translated to single word "crude" :). I think that it is in fact combination of internal draft and subtile ribs. Injection molding is basically a form of art all the way from designing to machining. I honed the inner surface with fine grinding stones. The best available option would be probably surface grinding followed by polishing.
Do u sell them because I need 1
Silicone mold works far better you should give that a try they come out looking much better and far less failure rate compared to what this was.🙂👍✌
Thank you for the tip! I have so far no experience with silicone molds, but I'll definitely give it a try :)
Sorry for my ignorance, what is the tool at @3:34 doing/used for?
Edge finder, It is simple yet effective and tool which helps to set zero coordinates for milling drilling etc.
why dident you make the mold out of wood? or any other materia other than that what casting do you recommend
Hello Frian, my plan was to build it structurally sound enough to withstand higher heat as well as pressure. Thus the steel... otherwise it would be nothing but an overkill, that is for sure :). Wood would be a good choice when it comes to machining, but epoxy casting would be a nightmare because it is a very porous material. But I could imagine success with a thorough application of a separator. I prefer to use low viscosity epoxy resin for any casting.
Can I get the drawing please ..
Can you provide the Fusion 360 file? I would love to make this with my CNC machine using Graphite mold for metal casting the lego.
Hi, I'll try to dig it out and send it to you, but I am not 100 % sure if I still have it.
spray silicon before molding
Fascinating!
Thank you 🙂
Deffo worth a sub on this. Would you be able to make and design a cast that would be able to do 5 to 10 bricks at the same time? Im looking for a steel or graphite mould that can make effective lego bricks for metal casting (aluminium / pewter) and this is the best design I have seen so far. I got a few projects I want to do involving recycling and art, what you recon? Is it possible?
Hello my friend :) I have little to no plans with the mold, so i can send you the mold and you can provide me with the ideas for improvement if you agree :). It would be a nice cooperation.
try abs plastic next time it will be a replica
Good idea