Need advices for mold and foam

[yoonjung]

Hi, I am working in mechanical engineering lab in UC Berkeley, and have to make the mold and foam for knee adaptor which is in the picture with solidworks file. The mold is pretty big so it's too expensive to use FDM, and could be either hollow or solid. And I want foam to be made with some material which can really support the adaptor.

Could you give me some advices for making them or I can pay if someone can make it for me.



ps. there is some error with uploading solidworks file so i attatched jpg files instead. I can send solidworks file individually so please let me know!

[One of Many]

I would get a better idea of the types of foam that are moldable and fit into your characteristic expectations. There are soft urethanes and latex compounds that may work well, if not at least wear better than foams.

Here is a site that has some very decent mold making videos and liquid compounds to make the mold direct from your prototype. With a little molding ingenuity, you can mold this part directly on to your apparatus as the core. Which looks to be prosthetic?

Freeman Supply

That is an interesting project.



Doing a search for foam* + molding, I found this.

DC

[awerby]

but appearances can be deceiving. Does it have an internal volume that has to fit that brace? Is it supposed to adhere to something? Is this something that can be replicated many times (one size fits all) or is each one custom fitted to a user?

There are some castable foam products; the urethanes are best, if not the cheapest. Try BJB Enterprises as a source. The nice thing about casting flexible materials is that they remove easily from rigid molds. So you can probably mill it into a solid block of plastic in two parts (Acetal works pretty well) close up the mold, pour in the castable foam, and cap it with a third piece of plastic to keep the foam from expanding out of the mold, which also helps it achieve a higher density.

Let me know if you need more help than that...

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

[dpryor]

How many parts are you looking to make? Are you having problems with making the mold or finding a material to mold with?

[yoonjung]

I need one. and I have problem with making a mold for brace and material for foam. After making a mold, I am thinking about using carbonfiber sheet and vacuumbag.

[yoonjung]

I'm thinking about using carbonfiber sheet/vacuumbag for making actual brace with the mold. So it's going to be one size and use cushion and straps for adjusting size to each user. thanks for the advise. I'm not sure if I can do that by myself in the lab tho..