My apologies if this has been touched upon before. I did a quick search and didn't see this topic.
Has anyone attempted making any parts for their cars with silicone molds? I'm having difficulty finding some parts and began looking into how you could mold your own. See the following video for what I'm referring to.
You can make a lot of parts with resin. The issue is that the resin is brittle when poured in thin layers. The Alumilite product is more for lenses than parts. If you notice they say "cosmetic" or "theatrical props" for the final product. What are you trying to make?
Initially, I was thinking of making interior bezels with it. (like all the flat pieces held in with 4 screws in the dash console). Mine have a few with the dreaded cracks around the screw holes. Figured I could make some custom ones, and they would be simple enough to get something nice out of it. Also would need to do them all, and not just the ones with issues, so that they all match. Could also be done if anyone was wanting to make custom coloured copies of any switches, knobs, levers, etc. Would be hard pressed to do anything very complicated that has a lot of parts, but I'd think it would be possible given enough time and cleanup.
[This message has been edited by K_Belmont (edited 03-04-2018).]
I used alumilite for few years. Its a good product. It is going to be more brittle then abs, so you have to be carefu l on this pieces or pies with pressure on them. I used to use SEM color coat spray paint to paint the mold. I'd pour the alumilite and it would then harden/cure to the paint and come out really nice. Molds would give me about 20- 30 pulls before the chemicals caused the silicones to start to crack,tear, weaken.. It wont be cheap to create the molds though. It takes more silicone then you expect.
I've used Alumilite to make small parts for model trains. Its a neat product and it can be sanded, filed, glued or painted just like plastic. I never advanced to the point of using a 2-part mold, so my parts always had a "plain" surface on the back side. Occasionally, there can be small air bubbles but they can be filled easily using your favorite body putty (or thick CA-glue). On a large and flat surface like a gauge surround I think a bigger concern might be warping but I have no experience with anything that large.
The shelf life of the opened bottles of resin is not terribly long, so plan on using it up within a month or so after opening the bottles. When it goes bad, it gets kind of foamy and full of bubbles.
