and was told they were proprietary, unless you buy the system.
Ah-HAH! So can we now finally agree that there is a top-down
CONSPIRACY to guard the trade secrets of metal molds ??
Oh Jeez. Lighten up. We’ve got enough consipracy freaks running
around these days, some claiming 911 was government planned, to those
who are sure that jet contrails are masked chemical spraying for some
evil secret purpose.
This isn’t some great conspiracy. It’s just SHOR having figured out
some improved method of doing metal molds using Castaldo’s adjustable
mold frame instead of the older style round frames. If they’ve
figured out some improvement on the method, what’s so unreasonable
that they use it to try and market the mold frames? Why in heck
should they give it away, given that non of the componants, from the
frame on down, are all that unique. It’s their choice to do this if
they wish. I know I’ve seen the method for metal molds published
here and there over the years. I just don’t recall exactly where, or
I’d have mentioned it here. Keep looking. The literature is out there.
Just because Google doesn’t instantly find it is no reason to stop
looking.
And, in another post you slam metal molds as being archaic. I beg to
disagree. They’re an intermediate type of mold between a rubber mold
and the industrial level machined or cad/cam mold These latter are
better for plastic injection, to be sure, in part because they last
longer and withstand higher temps. But they’re also not easy to
make, nor cheap to have made. Four and five figure prices are the
norm if you take a technical drawing to a tool and die shop and want
an industrial level injection mold machined. Metal molds, by
contrast, though more trouble to make than a rubber mold, can by made
by most jewelers with a standard vulcanizer and some experience doing
it. Cost to do it yourself is minimal, just time and a bit of plaster
and pewter or similar low melting metal, once you’ve got the other
tools. That makes the molds suited to lower volume production. For
many years, class ring manufacturers did this type of mold, since
most of their designs were pretty custom, low volume or even one of a
kind, customized to suit the client. The metal molds allow wax to be
injected at high pressures, but at a lower temp, in an almost slushy
pasty state, rather than fully molten. The result is no real
shrinkage, and high definition fully filled details. Anyone who’s
tried to get a good mold on a class ring with rubber will understand
that it can be quite tricky to get all the letters and details to
fully fill right up into all the corners, and still without mold
marks. metal molds are good at exactly that, for models that don’t
have complex undercuts that require mold flexibility to remove the
wax.
Now, I don’t know if those class ring manufacturers are still doing
their rings this way. I’d expect that now the waxes are done directly,
without a mold, via CAD/CAM methods. Makes sense to me, and is likely
cheaper for them. But it wouldn’t surprise me if some of those firms
still have all their old molds available, just in case, even if
that’s not how they’re making the models any more.
Are they archaic signs of our industries decline? Not at all. They’re
just another tool, available still even if current technology has
given us other tools that may sometimes be better. But it just
depends on what you’re making, and which of the available
technologies is best suited. We have, in our shop, CAD/CAM technology
available, and we mill some very nice precise models with it. But we
also hand make some things that could have been milled, simply
because the hand fabricated product will be better in some ways than
the cast CAD/CAM version. Having both available is great, giving us
more flexibility as a manufacturer. The same with molds. Along with
the choice of many different casting waxes, more or less
sophisticated wax injection technologies, and many types of mold
rubber, the option for me to learn to make metal molds also offers
some possible solutions for us, and with the detailed models the CAD
mill is now giving us, frankly it may be something I explore, since
some of our new designs are giving us the same problems as those
class rings offer. And if the easiest way to do that is to buy the
mold frame from SHOR (especially if their price is not totally out of
line with other sellers), then I’ll be happy to do so in trade for
getting their little instruction sheet. I do NOT think of this as
conspiracy. Just business. In their shoes, I might do the same. Or
maybe not. I’m pretty good at giving away info for free. Some others
sometimes like to sell it. That’s their option.
Peter