Looking to make a plastic press

ronaldf said:
Let me restate what I'm trying to do. I have a 17 year old son who is wanting to learn maching. The schools no longer teach maching in this area. I'm putting to getter a small shop of older machines. I want all of them to be from the era were a line shaft was used. WE will restore them and bring them back to life. One of the things I want him to learn is how to make plactic molds. My dad was a master tool and die maker. My uncle Jim Owned a good size plasic injection company in Ohio. Evey time I ask him about plastic, All I hear about how it is not worth it because china . Yes In time I would like to buy some used small plastic press, But any one can plug in a machine and it will work. You learn nothing If you build one you learn how they work . Right now I looking for information about barrel and nozzle design. Ronald
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This is a great idea!

Please post photos of your old equipment as you get them restored and your plastic injection machine when you build it.
 
Lab tubing is the easiest way to go,and it will not shatter from being heated. When I made the surveyor's compass for David Brinkley,I had to make the level vials. No problem at all. The bottoms of those bubble vials might be sealed with window putty,or some kind of putty as it is hard to melt and seal the top of the tube without the liquid boiling(but,then you have air space to make the bubbles). I do not think a plaster mold with glass chips will work at all. Even if it did,the tubes would not be as smooth as lab tubing.

About the JB Weld,you'd HAVE to coat the model with some release agent. The JB sticks like crazy to everything. P.S.: We used mold release spray in a can to help the plastic release from our polished aluminum mold cavities. Spray PAM might be as good.
 
the tubes will be filled with methylene chloride. Some used a light oil in them. I want to be able to produce them at a cost people will be able to afford. I will need a lot of tubes. I looking into ways to mold them. Some how you take a glob of glass and blow it in to a metal mold. That will be the next project. Then I will be able to make the glass Christmas balls all so. It is not as easy as one would think. Then after that I want to be able to do some blow molded plastic, --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have a lot of hobbies, I collect and restore older Christmas lights. I can get the lamps for them. both c6 and c7. WE are setting up to make and sell cermanics. The Christmas will be one of the products we hope to sell. I'm getting back into machineing, And in ho model trains.
 
Are you sure that you can't buy the tubes somewhere? That would likely be cheaper than you could make them. You still have to make the plastic bases,the heaters(I have no idea how they are made),the wires,etc. I really loved those bubble lights as a kid,and even now. I don't think we ever had any of those. Too bad.
 
how the bubble light works is the lamp heats the liquid then it bubbles. The tubes are made in china you have to buy 30,000 at a time. Looking to do it my self. that way I'm sure I have a scourse
 
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