Back in the shop - The saga continues

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Russianwolf

Russianwolf

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Joined
Jul 13, 2007
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5,690
Location
Martinsburg, WV, USA.
Cast the first batch of the year last night. Curious to see if the changes I made to my setup will make any difference.

I started casting vertically in clear tubes last year following an example by gentlemen much more versed than myself. The only change I made was instead of a turned to fit delrin stopper on the bottom, I used a custom silicon plug that I made. I had some leaks with my plug. They don't effect the cast as I just top it up on the next batch to finish it off. But I'm trying to find a way to stop the leaks so I don't waste the resin.

1st up is making a reusable outer cover by dipping a couple in Plastidip.
2nd up will be warming a small pot of wax and dipping the ends for each casting.
3rd will be plane old packing tape.

I'm hoping the plastidip works as it'll be quick and reusable. If not, I'm hoping the wax works as it is cheap and quick.

any other ideas floating around out there?

Side note, this batch has two experimental blanks in it. First is a new take on the Dichro (using crinckled/rippled Dichro which has given me problems in the past) and the other... well lets just say that I'm shooting for the whole spectrum. :biggrin:
 
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I typically use blue packing tape if I need a casting seal but I still get some drips out of it if it is not tight.
 
I bought a sheet of UHMW poly. I drill holes in the UHMW to match the diameter of my vertical casting tubes (7/8" acetal rod that I drill/ream out to the dimension I want).

The tubes fit snugly in the holes in the UHMW. A stand and an end seal all in one. Resin won't stick to UHMW. No leaks. No Muss. No Fuss.

Ed
 
First cast is out of the pot. With no changes to the set up I had four that needed to be topped off. The worst one needed about half an inch, and one may have been okay, but I topped it off to be safe.

Prepping for batch two:

okay, the plastidip ain't going to work. It bonds to the tubing too well so you can't remove it. And takes too long to dry to do it every time as you go.

Moved on to number 3 - Packing tape - one piece across the bottom and then one around the diameter. this is the cheap packing tape that wiffey bought about 10 years ago and we STILL have three rolls of since she won't use it.

I'll go back to number two when I have a chance to set up for it this weekend, and I'm out of resin until my fresh shipment comes in to boot.
 
Batch two - packing tape - is out and had no leaks. I'm still going to try a quick wax dip as it will be faster than applying the tape, but this worked well. Also going to try the latex glove and rubber bands.
 
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