Nice. Yeah a few years back I made clear corners, tinted corners, gen1 headlight reflectors clear and tinted, gen2 headlight reflectors clear and tinted. I had some gen2 side skirts without end caps so I borrowed some and made a mold out of them, thats how I got into this mold making replication stuff. Have a lot of other ideas but other projects have kept me busy.
EMBLEMS (custom)
- Thread starter FALECF4
- Start date
Oh, so you were the one supplying all of those! AWESOME! Any reason you didn't make a full LSE kit? Mind you, I have no idea what that would cost to make or what materials would be best. Sounds like you are very knowledgeable and I would love to be able to reach out if I'm having any issues.
Pressure pots picked up today for $25! The one is brand new.
Yeah that was me, great learning experience. Well before I did something that big I wanted to get more experience, an emblem or clear corner mold isn't too expensive if you mess it up but messing up a side skirt mold would hurt my wallet. Also, I think for big parts like that it would be better to vacuum form them, make them out of fiberglass, carbon fiber etc, but one can always try using these pour in resin method, use abs type resin or even get creating amd line the mold with fiberglass or other fillers for extra strength
Telco
Dedicated LVC Member
So you guys can make plastic parts? If you're staying with your LSs I'd suggest picking up a full set of cooling system parts and using them to make molds so you can reproduce them. Might even use the correct plastic for heat cycled plastic exposed to coolant under pressure. When these parts are discontinued, you can make a nice little side business selling complete cooling system setups. Might see about getting some of the interior parts that break a lot too, like the info center button housings and whatnot. There are folks in the Reatta world that do just this sort of thing on the side, and they can ask what they want because there's no other source in the world for these parts but them.
I'd have to look into that to see if the different plastics would be up for that. Alternatively, I also wanted to get into casting metal, mostly aluminum, so that could be an option too. Probably expensive both ways.
I just remembered my idea for turn signals integrated into the side mirrors also.
Telco
Dedicated LVC Member
Aluminum would be better than plastic. Hey, you know, people around here will pay 200-300 bucks for a broken McLaren grill that they have to glue together to install it, wonder what they'd pay for a brand new, freshly minted one, perhaps with a floating Lincoln star in the middle to make it just different enough to avoid lawsuits.
Where were you getting your material? I know tap-on and smooth-on are two of the main suppliers of the rubber, silicone and resins for casting but I just wanted to know if you know of any more cost effective options. I found some cheaper options through searching, just wanted to hear your take since you were basically doing some real production.
FDR
Dedicated LVC Member
Did I get missed by being at the end of page 7? Or is this a silent "no"?
Yup, missed you there at the end of page 7, sorry. Since I tend to ramble I'll just answer your questions directly.
Interesting idea. I'd like to see what you have in mind. So no face? Any particular reason for this as an emblem?
This literally made me laugh out loud. I'm not sure Honest Abe's portrait is going to generate enough interest to cover the cost of the mold, materials and making a profit. BUT if it does I'll happily send you your cut!
Typically you would be starting with something you want to make a copy of since it is the easiest way to start. If you have cad experience and access to a CNC router or something of that nature you could go straight to the negative. Just know that if you are using wood for the negative then the casting resin will pick up any and all details of wood grain, ect. If you got a solid clear coat on the wood that might work but I do not know how the resin and heat generated would affect the process.
Like I said, having the item you physically want to copy is easiest for the methods I am familiar with and that I will be using personally. Here is a rough outline of the process I use. I have an emblem I want to copy and use that to make my mold. The mold is made in 2 halves, front and back. Once the mold is made I have a cavity in the mold that will produce a part exactly like the one the mold was made from. I use a clear casting resin to pour into the mold and let it set. Once the part is removed, along with any flashing (plastic that seeped into the seams or from where it was poured into the mold), I have an exact replica, blemishes and all, ready for paint or whatever.
If you have a negative made then you simply need the material that you would like your new piece to be cast from. There are rubbers, plastic resins from opaque to clear, and even soft or hard foams. There are a few more details to casting like using vacuum and pressure to get perfect castings.
A very good thing to understand especially if you are starting with a negative. Starting with a part that has tricky undercuts and shapes can still be molded/cast fairly easily using the right materials.
FDR
Dedicated LVC Member
There are a lot of people who think they're original in naming their LS "Abe". But no, I don't actually expect it to pan out haha
Thanks for the response. I was feeling left out
I was getting ready to make my emblem with CAD and a laser cutter. At the time, I was just going to make it a flat emblem and a single layer of etching (probably multiple passes for depth, though) to make my emblem. For whatever reason, the cutter would not pick up what to etch, so I just cut a blank oval from plexiglas and went home. Before I had a chance/motivation to try again, I had transferred schools. Apparently it is NOT normal for schools to just leave their shop doors open all day... Everyone else has strict class-requirement restrictions on shop use. While I understand these machines are expensive (laser cutter, 2D water jet, massive 3D CNC, lathes, mills, bomb-proof work tables), having that creative freedom for our own projects made it much easier to learn how to use the tools, if we were interested (I was).
My questions about negatives and positives was me asking what I could make myself and send to you. The wood would be a temporary negative just to make a temporary positive to create a the real negative. Sealed or painted, of course.
To cut to the chase, I want an SR71 in the emblem... because... my LS... is my... Blackbird. Anyway, it'd be cool to have a 3D version, rather than a flat silhouette. But I feel like I'd never want to share it, so maybe I should just pursue it on my own
I'm not going to quote all of that just for the sake of space but I gotcha. I've always wanted to join TechShop just for access to those kinds of tools. I did plan on making a mold of an emblem blank with no recessed Lincoln star so I could add my own items, be they 2D or 3D. So if I sent you a blank you could probably etch it with a laser cutter or small CNC to get your 3D look. I do not know how it would look once painted but it'd be a start. Maybe a side venture there where I produce blanks and you can mill/etch out people's designs for a fee.
My original idea for the blanks was so that I could pour the front half of the emblem, lay down a 2D design and then finish the emblem so the design would be floating inside.
My original idea for the blanks was so that I could pour the front half of the emblem, lay down a 2D design and then finish the emblem so the design would be floating inside.
FDR
Dedicated LVC Member
I don't have access to those tools anymore after transferring. Otherwise, I'd already have my emblem. I meant if I do it myself, I'd cast it in resin
Wood isn't ideal for molds, it will absorb materials if you cast directly on it. You have to prep the wood with some type of sealer, paint, epoxy coating etc. Its pretty straight forward to replica parts, it starts getting tricky once you start wanting to make clear parts with almost no post production finishing needed. Molds will pick up a lot of the detail, too much at times which means if you want your parts to come out great you have to mold a great looking part. Clean up your master copy as best as possible, for emblems which have a clear and smooth surface, polish the heck out of it, once your emblem looks like new and you cast that, you're replicas will come out as nice and smooth if your technique allows for it. One little bubble and the whole part is ruined, but solid colored casting hide that. A pressure pot takes care of that though. You are also limited to just replication unless you have some sort of cnc machine or are good at carving wooden stuff. Having access to a cnc mill, you could easily mock up a design, machine away, make a mold out of it, and start casting your parts.
I'm in the process of moving my "shop" with me to my new job area but I can make your emblem on my cnc mill later on. Its a hobby mill which I've Frankensteined the heck out of it, its a decent mill now, working on improving its precision but its pretty repeatable, so I can help with your emblem design if you'd like. Also working on a larger scale 3D printer to be able to easily make a master part and cast the rest.
FALECF4, a 3D printer will really broaden your capabilities if you're finding great interest in this. You could print one new part out, finish it pretty well, cast the rest.
I'm in the process of moving my "shop" with me to my new job area but I can make your emblem on my cnc mill later on. Its a hobby mill which I've Frankensteined the heck out of it, its a decent mill now, working on improving its precision but its pretty repeatable, so I can help with your emblem design if you'd like. Also working on a larger scale 3D printer to be able to easily make a master part and cast the rest.
FALECF4, a 3D printer will really broaden your capabilities if you're finding great interest in this. You could print one new part out, finish it pretty well, cast the rest.
Also, if using silicone or other flexible mold material, they are pretty forgiving as far as tapered parts, aluminium molds are another story. You'll have to think about how the part will release a whole lot more.
DeviLSh
Dedicated LVC Member
I would be interested in a set of emblems, original/oem design preferred. My rear is aged, and I am looking for a spare or two to keep on hand in the event I ever find a mclaren grill.
Kid_Lyrics
Well-Known LVC Member
I'd be interested as well.
White set
Blue set
White set
Blue set
