Your Guide to Processing High Performance Polyurethane Casting Resins
Urethane casting || Polyurethane casting
Polyurethane casting is not, by any means, a simple procedure. There are a lot of things that you need to keep in mind, and each consideration is crucial. This article lists a few of these, and aims to provide you with a comprehensive guide to processing the resins used during this complicated procedure. First of all, safety is the most important thing, as everyone knows. This is why you should make sure the entire process takes place in an area which is as well-ventilated as you can make it. You should go for dynamic ventilation when it comes to urethane casting, specifically that which uses some kind of overhead hooded fans. Make sure that anyone who comes into contact with the material is wearing protective clothing, including goggles, long sleeves and gloves. Anyone who is handling the heated materials directly should also be wearing a half-face respirator. What should you do if even a drop of the chemicals comes into direct contact with your eyes and skin? It needs to be washed off immediately with soap and water, so make sure that there is some easily available washing facility close by. While these chemicals are fairly safe, they may cause a certain degree of skin irritation. Make sure that you have all the materials that you need for urethane casting, including mixing containers, a scale, gloves and protection, a stir stick, some mold release, an industrial oven, cleaning solvent, vacuum equipment, nitrogen gas, paper towels and a thermometer. You should also keep a log book handy; this is for noting down the parameters and specifics of every batch for the express purpose of quality control. During the procedure, every material and tool should be kept at this temperature: 180 degrees Fahrenheit. After the materials have been heated, the mold is prepared by applying mold release lightly over it. The solvent should also be dried at this point, after which the materials are measured and poured. Containers should be closed immediately after to avoid contamination by moisture and protect the raw materials quality. During this time, you must keep careful track of the temperatures, and then mix the materials using the stir stick or an electric mixer at a low speed. After this, the container can be placed in a vacuum chamber, but this is optional. Then, it is poured inside the mold. It is then that the curing process can begin, which is the phase in which the constituents of polyurethane react and subsequently harden. From its original liquid state, it will solidify first into a gel-like state and finally into state which is hard enough to de-mold. This should take anywhere between half an hour and forty minutes. Finally, you are ready to de-mold the mixture, after judging how strong the material is at this point (this is referred to as green strength). After de-molding, you place the mixture inside an oven for the post-cure phase, which will last around sixteen hours. Finally, you should use hand-tools at low speed for the finishing touches. We hope this article has given you an informative overview of the polyurethane casting process.
About the Author
Kavin kimble is a prolific writer. He has been writing articles for the last 4 years with internet marketing experience exceeding 2 decades.
Tell others about
this page:
Comments? Questions? Email Here