It’s not always fun…

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JohnU

JohnU

Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
5,150
Location
Ottawa, Illinois
I often have people tell me how nice it would be to be able to make all the blanks they want. Most don't realize or think about the loss of time and money for material when they don't turn out. This month has been one to try my patience. Between the weather and trying new materials, I've thrown away close to 100 tubes.
Today was something different…
After spending a week building (painting, gluing, sealing, drying) tubes to be cast, I thought I was ready to cast. Everything was done as usual and the resin was poured. The problem…. Apparently the compressor motor decided it didn't want to work anymore, and as the clock was ticking… to get the poured blanks under pressure, nothing I did was going to solve that problem.

The end results… 30 blanks I get to demold, throw away and rebuild again.

The lesson… always check to make sure the compressor is working before you mix and pour the resin.

At least I have a nice picture to show why Alumilite Clear Urethane resin needs to be cured under pressure.
 

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What resin did you use? Never mind I just read it. Thanks. Been down that road but not that many throw aways.
 
Ouch... we're lucky enough to have 2 air compressors but even that doesn't shield us from every failure. In my shop my employee usually mixes the colors in part A during the day and then I come in the evening and add part B and pour the multi-color stuff. The colors are in sealed buckets (supposedly) so we don't have to worry about moisture. Last week I went to pour one I'd neglected for a while only to find out one of the colors was apparently not sealed and moisture had gotten into the mix. Ended up with 1 color out of 3 foaming up on an 80oz pour. Oooops!
 
Yea I've learned over the years that stuff happens, and it's gotten easier to accept. Lol
I wish I had a video of my actions for this one. I quickly tore into my cabinet to get my smaller portable compressor, throwing other things out of the way and making a bit of a mess, only to plug it in and hear it hiss from the side and watch a pressure gauge not move. Then I grabbed the tank and ran out of the shop, across the snow covered yard to the in-laws house next door, and into the garage where I plugged in the old compressor in the back of the garage.. and ….nothing. It didn't start either. I haven't used that compressor in 5 years but had high hopes at the time. Lol. At that time I knew my short window to get the blanks under pressure was more than a little passed. I had to have looked like a mad man running around in all of that.
Well the new compressor is ordered and I'm down until it arrives so I guess I have some time to remake the blanks. Lol
 
Reminds me of the time I had everything mixed to do a huge batch and then realized "oh crap... all my molds are currently filled" I had to get the molds out of the oven they were curing in, demold in record time, hope like hell there wasn't any crap in the molds and then pour as fast as I possibly could. I DID manage to pull it off but it was getting REALLLLLY dicey by the end lol
 
Thanks for sharing John. As Hank mentioned "If it can happen to the very best, it can and does happen to the rest of us!"

Sorry you had to toss the 30 blanks. On the bright side, you're getting a new compressor, so this problem will not recur (at least for a very long time).
 
McKenzie Penworks said:
Reminds me of the time I had everything mixed to do a huge batch and then realized "oh crap... all my molds are currently filled" I had to get the molds out of the oven they were curing in, demold in record time, hope like hell there wasn't any crap in the molds and then pour as fast as I possibly could. I DID manage to pull it off but it was getting REALLLLLY dicey by the end lol
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That's funny! Glad it worked out for you. Lol.
I've definitely had my fill of "oh crap" moments. I guess that's how we learn to laugh at them. I think my most surprising moment was when I had measured out 3 different sets of pours and somehow mixed up two of the cups … one being Clear urethane and the other being Alumilite white. Needless to say, when I got to those cups, I had about 5 seconds of them mixed before it all flashed off in a large block of frosty resin like a magic show. I was standing there holding a stirring stick stuck in a block of solid resin before I even knew what happened. I decided at that moment to just work with one type of resin at a time.
 
KMCloonan said:
Thanks for sharing John. As Hank mentioned "If it can happen to the very best, it can and does happen to the rest of us!"

Sorry you had to toss the 30 blanks. On the bright side, you're getting a new compressor, so this problem will not recur (at least for a very long time).
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Thanks Kevin, let's hope not. I think I'm going to get my small Brad nailer compressor out as a backup up just in case. Lol
 
John

thansk for sharing and making us all feel a bit better about our multiple mess ups. Somehow finding you're not alone does help .

Hope the new compressor solves all your issues. Here's to a successful 2023 for one and all
 
Somehow before your story ended I though of you with a little bicycle pump frantically pumping your heart out.

The failure rate mathematically increases with the last blank pour of a special order.
 
Curly said:
Somehow before your story ended I though of you with a little bicycle pump frantically pumping your heart out.

The failure rate mathematically increases with the last blank pour of a special order.
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Ha ha, if I had a way to connect its hose to my tank I would have done it. I have an electric portable one that plugs in the wall or car for inflating tires. I grabbed it from the basement shelf only to realize it wouldn't connect. The pie in the face was having to clean up all the messes I made, in the shop, basement and next door garage, in my frantic moment.
 
JohnU said:
Ha ha, if I had a way to connect its hose to my tank I would have done it. I have an electric portable one that plugs in the wall or car for inflating tires. I grabbed it from the basement shelf only to realize it wouldn't connect. The pie in the face was having to clean up all the messes I made, in the shop, basement and next door garage, in my frantic moment.
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Make an adaptor so you can use a car tyre or similar in an emergency ?
 
JohnU said:
Yea I've learned over the years that stuff happens, and it's gotten easier to accept. Lol
I wish I had a video of my actions for this one. I quickly tore into my cabinet to get my smaller portable compressor, throwing other things out of the way and making a bit of a mess, only to plug it in and hear it hiss from the side and watch a pressure gauge not move. Then I grabbed the tank and ran out of the shop, across the snow covered yard to the in-laws house next door, and into the garage where I plugged in the old compressor in the back of the garage.. and ….nothing. It didn't start either. I haven't used that compressor in 5 years but had high hopes at the time. Lol. At that time I knew my short window to get the blanks under pressure was more than a little passed. I had to have looked like a mad man running around in all of that.
Well the new compressor is ordered and I'm down until it arrives so I guess I have some time to remake the blanks. Lol
Click to expand...
Ah compressors. This summer my compressor had a leak somewhere so I decided to take it apart and find it. Well long story short it still sitting on the bench and had to buy a new one for some air nailing projects I had. Now I am not sure I remember how to put the old one back together even If I do find the leak. I do have a couple standbys though. Will need the compressor because have quite afew casting blanks to make this winter.
 
Thanks for sharing John. Not that it makes us feel better about your troubles I think it's a misery loves company thing. We all make mistakes and/or have issues at times. It's how we handle or correct them that lets people know what kind of a person you are. I this case I guess that makes you human. Ha Ha. Not laughing at you but with you. I've found in some cases if you don't laugh you end up crying.
 
I totally agree with all of you guys. I've had so many issues over the years that I've learned to laugh at them. Maybe not in the specific moment but always after. It's just the nature of the beast…. They don't all turn out and…. I do enjoy the company. Lol
 
Ouch! That's a lot of time and work. Can imagine the desperate scrambling for an alternative.

My usual is, "I've used materials like this lots of times, no need to test this new stuff. I'll just go ahead and do a full pot of 36 blanks, it'll be so much quicker."
 
thewishman said:
Ouch! That's a lot of time and work. Can imagine the desperate scrambling for an alternative.

My usual is, "I've used materials like this lots of times, no need to test this new stuff. I'll just go ahead and do a full pot of 36 blanks, it'll be so much quicker."
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Yep, me too. Lol. I finally decided to set up a pressure tank and rack just for testing so my others are free for actually getting other blanks done. This time might not have bothered me as much if it weren't the third time I had made some of them. Lol
 
Just had the same thing almost happen. Almost new California Air Tools compressor crapped out. I usually bring the compressor up before mixing resin. The only thing that saved me. Fall back to my old noisy Husky pancake.
 
I got home from the holiday family visit about the same time my new compressor was delivered. It's always nice to use tools that work. Lol. Now I can get back to casting. The 4th time was the charm. 😅
 

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