Question about home made tooling

[ckielcave]

Hi all ..

So as a machinist.. fabricate tooling is just a piece of fun to me ... Today i made a marble thingy (not sure what you call it ) and i was wondering what seize is the most common for diameter ?

With some extra scrap graphite .. i went with 1 inch ... and found a nice little plate.. heres the result

[shawnette]

It's called a marble mold and they come in many sizes. 1" is a good size.

[ckielcave]

Great tank you for the info ... As a mold machinist ... i was kinda shy to call that a mold hehe since my mold are way much more complicated ... But yeah i can understand the terminology.. it shape a odd molten material to a given shape result

One day i might post some of the mold i do.. i need special permission since they are secret to public in the most case.

I could share this one right away (but its not a mold) ... its a co-worker face that have been polish by hand

[shawnette]

Originally Posted by ckielcave

Great tank you for the info ... As a mold machinist ... i was kinda shy to call that a mold hehe since my mold are way much more complicated ... But yeah i can understand the terminology.. it shape a odd molten material to a given shape result

One day i might post some of the mold i do.. i need special permission since they are secret to public in the most case.

I could share this one right away (but its not a mold) ... its a co-worker face that have been polish by hand

Nice! Can you do that in graphite? About an inch tall? And/or woman's face?

[Mesnik]

Just a suggestion...

You might want to face the top of that marble mold before cutting the hole. You are supposed to use the rim of the mold to round the marble.

In other words, your final marble will be larger than your mold.


Good job though!!!

[Speedslug]

Aye and I use just about every surface of every tool I own at one time or another so facing all six sides with attention to the corners and edges would be my suggestion.

[ckielcave]

This face is made of Stanless Steel (ramax) and weight about 50 pound ! It is real scale.. It have been programmed through a CAD software.. and than a blank of steel been putted into a CNC 5 axes machine (took about 8 hrs of machining)

I know it might sound like chinese to you.. but everything is possible .. Yes it could be done in a graphite blank (reversed so when you mold it.. it show correct) Thing is.. at my work they would not let me use the CNC machine to make this kind of project.. Also i would need a programmer to wright all the tool path to make it..

So from me.. i would say impossible (i wish i could because i would do some for me)

On a other hand .. you could call my company or any other machining place ..and ask to make it.. Problem would be the price.. probably 200 - 500 $ (depend if you need a programmer ) If no programmer needed ( because we can get the file of woman face on the internet ... so if you already have the program and the material .. i guess around 50$ ) than it would be easier.

Also.. the kind of graphite we use .. is not the same as regular one.. a blank 8 inches by 6 by 2 is about 300$ and they dont sell smaller blank...

Finally .. from me.. it would be impossible .. For that kind of project...

BUT.. as a machinist i still can make easier shape from scrap piece of graphite ... small left over block of about 1 x 1 x 2 .. some time bigger and many more smaller ... just have to keep in mind my ability to machine by hand your design .. some one who is good to carve stuff with a dremel could also do it ... but you need some one with a ton of practice to shape graphite since its really fragile.

Example : A flower ... issssh not easy ... a dog ... ish not easy to ... A circular shape .. pretty easy ... a square shape ... easy to ... a star .. not that easy but i think i could do it ... where it become really hard when you machine by hand .. its to make curve pattern .. or plunging in the material or a slope or angle ... because you need to manipulate 2 to 3 handles ( XYZ axis ) to create those curves..

Heres a video of how a piece of metal (or graphite) would be machined by hand .. we call this conventional machining .. (witch im aloud to do at work) ... i also have lathe .. that mean i can do cylindrical stuff ... let say a chair leg or table leg ... or just a cone or pencil shape ...

(i think this video should give you a idea of how i can shape a piece with a hand milling machine...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn0YRgvxF6c

[ckielcave]

Originally Posted by Mesnik

Just a suggestion...

You might want to face the top of that marble mold before cutting the hole. You are supposed to use the rim of the mold to round the marble.

In other words, your final marble will be larger than your mold.


Good job though!!!

hummm sorry i dont get it all here... yes i understand to face the top ... so it become all smooth ... easy to do ... i taught the marble just needed to be spin in the cavity .... where i lost you is at : use the rim of the mold (sorry im french and dint figure out what you trying to say

Originally Posted by Speedslug

Aye and I use just about every surface of every tool I own at one time or another so facing all six sides with attention to the corners and edges would be my suggestion.

Yes i taught about squaring all good .. but than i taught i would only use the inside of the cavity ... i seen some marble mole round with not much wall on each side of the diameter ... so i dint see the need of it ... i think im not understanding right or .. i just dont have the good idea of how to create those marble ( well i dont.. never melted glass yet )

[Speedslug]

If I were making a bead I would wrap the glass around the mandrel and then push if against the inside edge of the hole mold you made. In this case the bead size would be smaller than the hole.

If I were making a marble I would melt the glass into a mushroom shape and push the to into the hold mold you made to shape it the way I wanted it. In this case the marble would be larger than the hole mold.


Try looking up the phrase "infinite rim" mold and that may get you to some images of the glass being shaped in the mold.

As for my comment about surfacing all six sides I tend to grab what ever is at
hand and this tool not having flat surfaces and smooth corners means I would only be able to use it for shaping when the glass fits into the hole and even then I would have to be careful of the outside edge of the hole because it is not flat and uniformly smooth.

[ckielcave]

Originally Posted by Speedslug

If I were making a bead I would wrap....

Ok i get the idea a little bit better.. it is true that if i could transform my marble mold to a multi task tool in only one piece.. it would be easier to do many operation from the same piece and this way use as less possible part to make many stuff ...

So yes its a good idea to smooth all my pieces.. Now i have dozen of other shape and or forming tool to create

Should i make a slot on one side of the mold... where the rod could fit in.. so i can shape more on a side way ???

[menty666]

Originally Posted by shawnette

Nice! Can you do that in graphite? About an inch tall? And/or woman's face?

Have you seen these? If they don't have it, they can probably make it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tribal-Face-...item5ad970b9f8

There's these guys too:

https://www.facebook.com/GraphiteCustoms?fref=ts

[ckielcave]

nice these are all cnc made i can see the tool path in there ... that is part of my work.. make these tool path disappear.. with some little diamond file

But see.. i was in the price range .. around 40$ a pieces ... i wish i still have my cnc milling router it would have been enough strong to machine some graphite.. Maybe i should build a other one ...

Hummmm.. but for now i will keep my energy and concentration on melting glass.. maybe later.. will see

Tanks for all your answer or opinions .. it will come handy when ill be ready

[losthelm]

You cnc machine may work if you take smaller passes.

It can help to watch how the tools are used.
Often pratice does not always match with design.