This weekend we focused on casting in paraffin wax and in silicone, and created successful casts for both.
Silicone
We cast a prototype for the bistable connection. The cast came out nicely, but we still need to test it with the plastic nozzle to make sure it works properly. If it doesn’t we’ll need to assess whether the issue is a result of the design of the silicone component, the plastic bit, or both.
Wax
We cast the internal pieces of one of our inflatable components from paraffin wax. After a bit of experimentation, we produced a successful cast of high enough quality that we can use it for a silicone mold.
This cast was produced in two parts, a base piece and an auxiliary piece, connected to each other by an 1/8in dowel. The base piece cast beautifully on the first attempt. Our first attempt of the other part failed the first try, as some bits of the piece’s geometry broke off when we removed it from the mold. In our second attempt, we coated the plastic mold in a release agent before pouring the wax. With the release agent, we were able to easily separate the wax cast from the mold after hardening. We will attempt to use this wax piece to make a silicone cast this week.