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RE: <SPAM> RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] acrylic viewport thickness



Also, I forgot to mention, that when you work with large castings on acrylic, the molds have to be flexible due to the shrinkage effect in the acrylic as it cures... which means that you have to calculate the shrinkage factor to make sure you build the mold to the right size so you don't under-size your viewport....
 
That was the biggest problem to casting the spheres in two hemispheres and that's why the original spheres were pentagonal sections bonded together.... not that it was easier, but that the technology was not there yet at the time to make it easier to manufacture...
 
Hugo
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What about the sub that was made by bonding curved pentagonal sections of acrylic together? Wouldn't it be more economical to make a few dozen smaller identical sections that assemble into a sphere or dome? If you mess something up, you're out one fairly small piece instead of an entire unit.
 
Also, wouldn't vacuum-forming over a mold be more consistent? A good mold of fired ceramic or perhaps carbon fiber could be made with the desired curve and a few small vent holes drilled into it. Set a square of acrylic into a box, set the mold over the acrylic and seal it to the box. Heat the acrylic and when everything reaches the desired temp, apply vacuum above the mold to pull the acrylic to shape.
 
Then set the curved sheet of acrylic onto a second mold with an identical curve, but with the sides cut to a pentagonal shape. Cut the acrylic to match that mold, then anneal it.
 
Repeat.
 
What epoxy will bond acrylic together though, and is there a special bonding method required?

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