The artilcle in Rodmaker has a detailed "how to" on this method of creating inserts. I'm intrigued by this "art" but unfortunately I don't have a heavy duty lathe. Anyone have any great ideas on casting in a more "cylindrical form " to make it more of a user friendly method, for those with a standard, limited torque rodbuilding lathe....not a woodturning lathe?

Looking for ways to cast resins in the "round".

Michael; I haven't recieved my copy of RodMaker yet so I'm not up on the article. However, I've been molding Thumb sleeves for bowling balls for years and the process can't be that different. Try taking a piece of PVC tubing with an ID the size you want for your OD and a little longer than the finished piece you want and spray the inside with mold release (you might try Pam or some other "non stick" cooking spray). Bed the tube upright in clay and then fill it with the resin and let it cure. Drive the billet out and go to work. If you want to mold a tube you can do that too by placing another tube inside of the first leaving the desired wall thickness. Just use some spacers to keep the tubes centered. As soon as I get my copy of RodMaker I think I'm going to give this a try.

There is no reason why you couldn't configure a mold closer to the final size and shape of the piece you're after. I spoke to another builder about this end of last week. We may do a follow up with some ideas along those lines.

I don't think these inserts really take much of a lathe, however, as they're not nearly as large or heavy as much of the exotic wood stuff out and around that people use for inserts. Look for an upcoming article on the exact "how-tp" on turning such inserts - tools, speeds, technique, etc.

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Michael, I cast some resin using PVC as Jim describes. You must adjust the drops of catalyst per ounce of resin down due to the decreased surface area, otherwise too much heat is produced. This effect of mold size is described in the article. The decreased surface area also doesn't allow the bubbles to escape as easily. This is not as important if you are making opaque colored parts. With objects embedded in clear resin, you have to be more careful about the bubbles.

I hope to have an article describing the turning process done shortly. I still think it is best to use a lathe with more power to turn the resin.

Still haven't received my Rodmaker magazine and it is driving me crazy to see this article on casting so as to compare it with mine.My method uses individual molds made of Silicone rubber which can be used over and over. Once you pop yhe grip/hozel out of the mold you squqre off the ends and sand it on the lathe with sand screen, put a coat of flexcoat on it and it is ready to go on your rod. I stayed away from casting resin for two reasons, you have to buff the sanding marks out which is time consuming and labor intensive, no big deal if you are doing just a few but I'm doing hundreds a year. Second reason is casting resin will crack if it is hit just right and there is no blending in repair where flexcoat can be made to look new again. Downside, both are heavy, flexcoat will darken over time, I see grips/hozels made back in the mid 90's and while darker than new are not as dark as you would think.The casting resin does not have the air bubble problem flexcoat does but with these little motorized mixers I think that problem is over.I am anxious to see if there is something in this article that I can adapt to my method to make it better. Jesse

Check out the photo page under my name and there is a picture of molds I use to make colored rings.
They can be made in any size, colored to any color.
Easy to drill out and shape with a drill and piece of scrap blank
Email me with questions

When I make a cylinder of 1 1/4 buy 3 Inches I mix epoxy with about 5 CC's less hardner. It still dries but has less heat for the volumn.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2005 11:33AM by bill boettcher.