Low Volume / Simple Dust Covers, dip molding?

[vonsteimel]

Greetings,
I work for a small mfg company. We have a small but somewhat irregular shaped electronic controller that we are going to need a cover for. We're looking for a closer fitting rectangular flexible-boot style of cover that would be more pleasing to the eye ball. It would get some UV & weather exposure as well.

We're only talking about 100 units a yr and need to keep the price relatively cheap. The dip molding companies would cost too much at such low volumes but I've seen some example of a DIY dip molding solution.

We can make mandrel(s) or plugs by hand. We do a lot of fiberglassing so we have the ability to make a "fiberglass" style of plug (wood & foam covered with lots of bondo and a gel-coat finish) and have many different release agents as well (if needed)...

We can cure the stuff in oven if required also. I was just looking for input on the best way to do this. What kind of liqued-plastic solutions would work for this? Or any other processes that may produce satisfactory results?

Thanks,

VS

 

[Compositepro]

Find a small dip molder to work with. PVC plastisol should work for you. The biggest cost will be the mold. There is no way to make anything cheaply in very small quantities. You either pay a professional to do it or you hide the true cost by paying your own people to do it. The professional will already have a dip tank full of plastisol and ovens, which are the other major expenses.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Put it between a couple of ping-pong balls in a piece of shrinktube, and shrink the tube.

That was a total WAG, because you gave us no baseline for how ugly or how large the reference design is, and few quantifiable requirements. Throw us a bone.

You could just plastisol- coat the article itself, not a plug, by dipping it in a can of the stuff sold for coating tool handles.





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[vonsteimel]

It looks like the answer is going to be Cast Polyurethane. Make an aluminum pattern, use it to case silicon molds & use the mold to cast Polyurethane parts. Low volume, low cost.
Thanks,

VS