rosko2

https://vimeo.com/40660012 Great video for tying everything

Anglinarcher, If I'm pouring alumafoam into a two piece vac 50 mold, do I need to use mold release on the mold in order for my part to release, including the lip? If so, is UMR the mold release you'd suggest? Do you suggest the same mold release when actually making a two piece mold out of vac 50 as well? Thanks! Joe

I've found that line tie location can play a role as well when it comes to how a crank runs. I was having a bear of a time getting my first crank to run the way I thought it should until I moved the line tie location. Also, the ones that are running to the left and right may just need tuned? Joe

I've never used the vac-master but I'd like to know the answer to your question too for larger production runs. As far as the foam getting deformed when pouring into a silicone mold, I don't have any issues with that happening as long as I support the mold on both sides with pieces of wood clamped together. I use high strength 2 because it's a little stiffer than rc3 and I made the mold a little bigger to give it more side wall rigidity.

Hi Wayne, I've made silicone molds for musky cranks using both methods....Pour with the lip in place and also pour without the lip in the mold but account for the slot. In my opinion I feel it's easier to pour with the lip in place. I also use wire through construction so it makes more sense for me. My wire runs through the lip for the line tie through two small holes that are drilled and I also drill two small holes in the lip in the area that will fill in with the resin or foam. I lay this lip and wire into the two piece mold and pour. The resin oozes through those two little holes and basically forms two little lip pins that give it a little more support. I use high strength 2 silicone from makelure.com. Speaking of cranks, I switched to using alumafoam instead of resin for more buoyancy and am very pleased with it. It's tough as nails too.