My update for today is short (photo wise) as I worked and I gotta work tomorrow so not much time, but in between naps I managed to do the first pouring of the calve thruster and it came out perfect! Well the surface it tacky but I did an experiment and poured another older mold next to it with the same resin in the same conditions at the same time with the same batch of mixed resin and that part came out dry and cured so the problem causing the cure inhibition has to be in the mold I just made. I think the problem is the excess amount of mold release I used in making the mold to keep the silicone from sticking to the master and to itself. (or it could just be the silicone isn't completely finished curing yet. I dunno.) I did wash the mold out with soapy water though and I will try casting again tomorrow to get a non sticky part. The good news is that he mold fills in perfectly and makes a wonderful part. The stickiness is an issue I've been working through and I thought I was done with, but it was hard to pinpoint the issue deductively as multiple factors vary everyday I cast, but I'm really thinking the excess mold release is the issue. I will fill you guys in on that as i progress. (I'm really thinking that's it though as with my test I poured the same resin into two molds at the same time in the same pressure pot for the same cure duration and they were roughly the same size, so the only variable is the mold or whatever is on the surface of the mold i.e. mold release. the other mold didn't have mold release on it.)
Wow that was a bit longer than I wanted. Well here is my plan for adding slanted gear teeth to the stablizer turbine.
Here are my quick photos of the casted calve thruster. Forgive me I didn't trim the pour sprues yet or the flash, I may just replace this one with a non tacky version once the mold is clean enough to make one. hehe.
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