Vacuum Assisted Casting
PU resin selection Polyurathene resin usually available as a two-part liquid set Cured resin can be As soft as rubber As hard as ABS As clear as Acrylic As heat-resistant as PC Filled with copper powder or glass fiber
Colouring of PU resin Natural PU resins are usually black, white, ivory, or transparent White or transparent can be dyed by acrylic paint or model paint All hard PU can be primed and spray painted
Vacuum PU casting machine
Automatic and manual casting Automatic and manual machine work on the same principle Automatic machine can degas, mix, pour, and re-pressurise according to pre- programmed timing
Casting setup
PU Curing Curing temperature Heat can accelerate PU curing, ideally newly cast PU should be transfer to oven set to about 50 deg. C some PU will not even cure in room temperature De-mould time Range from 5 min. to 30 min. Cure time Time to reach optimum strength Range from 30 min. to 12 hr.
Post-processing issues Cut away the runner by saw or cutter Wash in warm water to remove trace of chemical on the surface Hard resin can be machined, filed, and sanded Primed and spray painted like ordinary plastic prototypes