mattbrailsford
Hey Guys,
I'm just starting off a new project after I got an Omnibot 2k off ebay. I'll be creating a project page for it soon, but I thought I'd share a little bit of it now.
When I dismantled the bot, and gave it a clean, I noticed that the wheels were pretty degraded. I know josh can create new ones, but being new to this, I really wanted to learn something new, so decided to make my own mould.
What I did then, was to carefully remove one of the existing tyres and then used a sealer to seal all the cracks.
I then setup a box for it, and also attached a kind of funnel to help pore in the ruber (turns out it wasn't that great, but you've gotta try these things
)
I then cast the hole thing in silicone
Finally, I then cast the tire and tada
I think it worked pretty well. The only bad bit is that I don't think I mixed the rubber to cast the tire very well as it's a little sticky. But hey, not bad for my first attempt
Fantastic !
Very nice work. I'm sure your going to have some orders coming in soon ... LOL. Keep up the good work.
Thats sort of how I do it. I use rtv silicon gasket maker and I can make grey red blue black ect
Cool. Mine is meant to be blue, but it's actually translucent so you can't actually tell
I've found they seem to come out a little thinner than the originals for some reason. Maybe the weight of the silicone compressed it during casting, as it is a fair old chunk
Still fit nicely though, and they come out in one piece which I like.
Do you know why they might come out a bit sticky? I think it's just not mixed enough, although I made a second after mixing for longer and that was a bit sticky too (not as bad though).
It may be the properties of your compound. I use a plaster of paris mold to cast new tracks from and ive done several sets for the members. Ive found silicon based compound is the best to use. Its not sticky when cured , stays pliable and does not rot. Also silicon is chemical resistant so cleaners wont turn your tires to mush like the original did. I have currently 3 orders of omnibot tracks im filling this weekend. Its a simple way to earn cash towards your project. That and I would loooooove to have copies (or originals) of omnibot 2000 arms and claw. If you can do that your the man!
im looking for them for my second project bot dusty.
Cool, thanks for the tips. I think I'm gonna give the instant gasket stuff a try. From my calculations, it's only marginally more expensive, but it sounds easier and a bit more reliable.
The next bit I'm tempted to try casting is the rubber on the claws, as they also seem a bit degraded, but who know, if I can nail the process, maybe I'll move on to bigger pieces. I'm enjoying the learning process that's for sure
Thanks again.
Matt
Hi Matt, very good work! I am anxious to see whether youll get to reproduce non-sticking treads! Awesome! Mike
Well I decided to have a go at making a tire with no colouring, just the rubber components, and that one came out way better. After 24 hours it wasn't sticky at all, so I'm wondering whether it's my choice of pigment that is at fault.
I've ordered some instant gasket silicone though, so I'll give those a try next before I dabble with the colouring.
I'm getting closer
You will be happy with the gasket maker silicon. Just let it sit over night or at least 4 to 6 hours to fully cure and it will not be sticky at all if you wait a while before removing it from a mold.