Subject:
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Re: Monorail track molds? Factory visits?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Sat, 19 Jan 2002 01:23:02 GMT
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Viewed:
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1390 times
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crunch-o-matic wrote:
>
> You might be right if the molds are rigid.
> It could be done in 2 parts if the mold is flexible like vulcanized rubber
> or silicon (or low-tech like Knox gelatin and anitfreeze, or even hot glue).
> They were injected from the center top, you can see where the sprue is/was
> on a long straight. I dont see any other seams, flashing or other sprue
> nubs. That leads me to believe it was done in a 2 part flexible mold, one
> for top and sides, one for underneath bottom. When it cooled the bottom was
> pulled off and the top twisted like an ice cube tray and they plop on to the
> conveyor belt or whatever takes them away. Fine tooth gearing like the top
> of the track and the side studs would wreak havok on a flexible mold after
> time and it would have to be recast after a "short" x-ammount of postitives
> were made. From my experience with mold casting if you are creating mass
> multiple positives you want the mother mold down to 1 or 2 parts, being
> easier to recast it than spend the extra time in the release and clean up
> (flashing & sprues) phase for all the rest. Seeing the pictures of the
> factory in the DK book, the whole process is automated and might require a
> special machine to deal with a 3 part mold. I put follow-up in .general in
> case anyone wants to add.
> I think my rambling has taken up enough space here in .dear-lego.
>
> Anyone ever visited a Lego factory? Are there tours or anything?
TLC's molds are machined metal (there are pictures in some of the books
and examples at Legoland. The track is also "honeycombed" on the bottom.
Frank
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Monorail track molds? Factory visits?
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| Proof positive that I don't know everything. Frank, in your opinion would you say the "honeycomb" is an inherent part of the molding processing or a way to save on material? Retaining the strength of the unit while using far less ABS? What about (...) (23 years ago, 19-Jan-02, to lugnet.general)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Monorail track molds? Factory visits?
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| You might be right if the molds are rigid. It could be done in 2 parts if the mold is flexible like vulcanized rubber or silicon (or low-tech like Knox gelatin and anitfreeze, or even hot glue). They were injected from the center top, you can see (...) (23 years ago, 18-Jan-02, to lugnet.dear-lego)
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