Looking for someone who could make me a mold for weihrauch breech seals. I would like to make 10 at a time. Does this sound like something anyone here can do?
HW/Weihrauch Anybody on here do 3d printing?
- Thread starter zrman27500
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I have several printers. My biggest is a Voron 2.4 350x350mm capacity. That being said, machining the mold is far superior in fit and finish if cost isn't a big concern.
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A lot of issues with mold-making via 3D print. Very precise dimensioning is tough, the surface is’not all that smooth, plus you’re dealing with plastic - it can’t really handle chemical cleaners, or high temps.
That being said, you CAN make a mold, just not a particularly good one. Once you design the mold in a cad program, you can send it off to various places and have an aluminium one machined. Try pcbway.
You CAN print TPU (a rubber) fairly well on a 3D printer. - you could print direct…….
What do they look like, and how many of them do you actually need, and how much precision do yo need? What material does the seal need to be (what were you planning to pt IN the mold?
Matt
That being said, you CAN make a mold, just not a particularly good one. Once you design the mold in a cad program, you can send it off to various places and have an aluminium one machined. Try pcbway.
You CAN print TPU (a rubber) fairly well on a 3D printer. - you could print direct…….
What do they look like, and how many of them do you actually need, and how much precision do yo need? What material does the seal need to be (what were you planning to pt IN the mold?
Matt
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Very interesting! Yeah kind of just a idea at this point, and I need at least 100 of them right now. (Hw seals are $7 each!)
They are basically just squarish shaped round o rings made from polyurethane. They need to be pretty accurately sized and smooth. So basically my plan was to use liquid polyurethane and either pour it in the mold, or injection molding it (not sure what would work best)
They are basically just squarish shaped round o rings made from polyurethane. They need to be pretty accurately sized and smooth. So basically my plan was to use liquid polyurethane and either pour it in the mold, or injection molding it (not sure what would work best)
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Post a picture of one, along with a coin for scale I’ll give you my opinion. Why in the world would you need so many? These things give out every shot?
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I print, but i manual machine too and do 98% of everything that way because i don't 3d render. Have you drawn a print of what you would like yet?
I'm surprised you haven't messed with rtv yet. Which brings me to another direction. You can make a silicone mold off a new breech seal and pour new ones with urethane or other materials. The silicone molds I used to make were even good to low temp metal castings.
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I will post a pic when I get home later today...I need them because I have probably 70 or 80 vintage weihrauch rifles, and the breech seals are all dried out on them.
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The only thing I'm worried about with a silicone mold is in not 100% on what the final material is will use for the seals will be. I know the factory seals are a polyurethane of some type, but I'm thinking it's going to take some experimentation to get the material just right. If I used silicone for the mold, wouldn't I still need 10 new weihrauch seals? I definitely like the idea as it seems simple to make.
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If you go the silicone mold route, as 6gun suggests, you could make a mold with 1, then make 10 castings, them make a 10 seal mold using the 10…..
As an aside - if you call up weirmauch and tell them you need 100, they may cut you a nice quantity discount…..save you a lot of work
Matt
As an aside - if you call up weirmauch and tell them you need 100, they may cut you a nice quantity discount…..save you a lot of work
Matt
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Really appreciate the info, as this is all new to me....I just know I have a ton of rifles with dried up seals, and $700 for o rings is not going to work every couple years. I have asked a few places about buying in bulk, but even with a discount they are still over $5 each. I feel like there is only a few pennies worth of material used to make each seal, and i would also like to experiment with using different materials.heck, if I can get this right....I could sell them to guys on here for VERY cheap, and spread the wealth lol
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I think it's put away in the empire of dirt somewhere, but i learned intricate silicone mold making in highschool and made a mold for a small anatomic skeleton model skull with lower jaw and teeth (which won 1st place in ca state) .
As a gag my buddies and I poured urethane into it relentlessly all year and and made hundreds of 1.5" urethane skulls and a couple metal ones with perfect accuracy replication till somebody put too hot a metal pour in it. There were so many skulls they were still finding them hidden around the school when my brother graduated 8 years after me.
I tell that story to reassure you of the parts accuracy capability and durability of it.
If you can make a basic dimensioned drawing that shows all the features and machine plate size reqts, i might be willing to take a crack at machining some aluminum injection mold halves for you because I enjoy hobby machining if it fits in my 4 jaw chuck.
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Previously, all of East Europe and russia used silicone high quality seals from the Ukrainian company Vado. They are no longer produced, there is now a war where the factory was located, but the remains are still sold on the Internet.
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I started wondering why not oring stock where you cut and glue too. If the breach to energy source is as close as I assume it to be, this could be a viable option with some care and skill in how it's done.
There could be a useable part out there for a different purpose that hasn't been found yet as well. I'm just looking at this like the obsolete factory automation pneumatics I get to keep running.
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You could bump them out if needed with shim like washer. I have used mono and copper strand wire. Flatten if needed.
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They only produced piston seals and Gas springs similar to Theoben springs , I don't know why.
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Still waiting on a picture, dimensions…..with those, I could try modeling it up, try a tpu print.
Matt
Matt
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Sorry for late reply...been working doubles, I don't know if I can give you exact dimensions, as the breech seal is kind of funny shaped, it's not just a standard o ring. You almost have to have one in your hands and then copy it. Let me dig up a picture.
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