Ongoing Work in 2019

January 29th - BC-348 Handles

For some time, the handles on the BC-348 receiver in the Jeep have been broken and re-glued several times. They are in a bit of a vulnerable position, especially the front one. They were carved and sanded from a block of modelling polyurethane resin, which while easy to shape, it was also brittle. They could really do with being cast from aluminium, but for now, I'm looking at a quicker option. One of the original handles was glued back together and the cracks filled and sanded. I then built a styrene box around the handle to pour a silicone rubber mould. 
 

 
Once the silicone mould was cured, polyurethane casting resin was poured into the mould, but with a number of carbon fibre tows laid into the mould to add strength to the resin. They need drilling for the mounting screws, then painting and fitting. Hopefully they will be a little more sturdy, but if all else fails, aluminium casting is the next step. I've done home casting of aluminium before, but it's far more effort than resin casting, hence trying this first.
 

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