I've been entertaining the idea of casting replacement door clips after
finding a source for "Castolite". The package is a two-part
acrylic-polyester resin/hardener kit(epoxy-like)that uses a flexible plastic
mold. My thoughts are that the solid base portion of the clip could be
molded (preferably sans spring clip - because the final acrylic product
would not have the necessary spring characteristics). The spring clip would
have to be added secondarily...after the main body of the clip is cast. I
have a few ideas for adding the spring, but this would require a few trials
before finding a suitable solution, I believe.
----
/ \ --spring clip \
xxxxxxxx \__ single piece molded clip
xxxxxxxx /
xxxxxxxx --solid base /
xxxxxxxx
I have a couple of questions first, and I hope Mark Ross (our resident
plastics/polymer expert) and others might critically respond to this idea.
Will acrylic-polyester prove durable enough to make such a project worth the
effort? Or will it fail in short order? If opinions on the resin support
moving forward on such a project, does anyone have a broken or spare clip
(or two) that can be loaned to me for a trial-run? I wouldn't want to use my
(or anyone else's) clips from a perfectly good Newt. I would prefer to
experiment with clip(s) that are lying around someone's parts bin/table,
etc., and that may be with or without the original molded plastic spring
element intact.
The process of casting the mold should be non-destructive to the "clip(s) on
loan", with the disclaimer that this attempted project could be a total
failure at the expense of the donated clip. If successful, I would replace
donated clips with fully working casts, and offer future casts to list
members at a reasonable cost.
Comments?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anthony Velasco, USFWS-Ecologist/ecotoxicologist
ecotone_at_mac.com
This Newt's trekking through cactusland and lov'n it!
Managing Sales and Licensing for Newton Software at:
http://www.tactile.com - Tactile Systems, Inc.
Contact me via the above E-mail for more information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-----Original Message-----
Does anyone know the part number for the MP2100 door clips?
-James
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