OK, OK, I'll do a run of them as it looks like I can get orders for around 10: at least 5 + the 2 I owe Dmaury & ALUMINUMYELLOW328. The price will be $49.85 = $45/cap + $4.85 S&I. I'm sorry these are going to be so pricey: The mold will make only 1 part at a time & the process is labor intensive: the 2 polyurethane parts have to be measured to within 0.1grams, thoroughly hand mixed, vacuum de-aired, then the mold cured under pressure for 18-24 hours! At best I'll only be able to turn out 1 cap/day due to the very long curing time this polyurethane requires. To order, send PayPal to: [email protected] SUBJ: ORDER: 328 Windshield Washer Cap
I've had a couple of people who wrote asking if my inoperative CNC mill would prevent me from/or significantly delay my making this mold. The answer is NO, I don't need the CNC mill for this mold. I'm using the same master pattern based mold making process I've been using all along to make molds, it doesn't require CNC machining. The CNC mill is to let me begin making high pressure injection molded parts using machined metal molds. Injection molding will greatly expand my materials options and productivity.
As of noon today the mold is half made. I expect to finish it this week & begin production early next week.
Just finished the mold. Will pour the 1st part tomorrow AM. Since this stuff takes 12+ hours to cure, I'll try to post a picture of it Friday.
I've had to scrap the 1st mold: 1) It produced excessive flash around the outside of the cap's bottom. Could not find a way to cleanly trim the flash w/o leaving a very visable area around the mold. 2)Also when I molded the 2nd half, some of the silicone crept into the edges between the pattern & the 1st mold half producing a couple of flaws that left very noticable blemishes on the cap's sides. I spent too much time trying to save the mold. Finally realized I should just start over. Good news is that the 1st mold produced quite usable parts, just they had cosmetic problems. The redesigned mold is half done, should be finished Tuesday.
Guys and Gals, To those looking for a replacement cap for your windshield washers for the later model 328's, this is the real deal. I was the one that lent Verell the cap the molds were made from, I just got back my cap with a spare one and I cannot tell the difference. So those of you that need one, put your order in. Cheers, Rhett
