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There is no substitute for firing tests pieces to cone 6 to test the fit for the swing assembly. In Fusion 360 I sliced off the top of the bottle and formed a small box around it to be able to quickly 3D print a test case mold of just the upper neck (I cast two plaster mold halves from them). In the freshly cast leather hard pieces, making a hole in the middle of the lug mounts was easy. Although the wire is 2.8mm dia, testing cycles indicated that an 11/64" (4.3mm) drill bit is required. Simply twisting it to create a hole in the center takes seconds. After two more iterations, I ended up with a pad size at 10x10mm and the flat pad surface at 18mm from center. Of course, your casting body may shrink more or less than mine, so be ready to adjust these values.
The link below links to a step-by-step in Fusion 360 of how to save a temporary copy of the mold drawing and modify it to isolate just the top portion of the neck.

This picture has its own page with more detail, click here to see it.
Early in the process, I needed to predict bottle neck diameter at the holes. I measured the gap on all of the ones I have and got an average to work from. Then I 3D printed several iterations of the neck, fired size, and settled on one that enabled being able to snap on the metal stopper fitting without stretching it too much. That being said, the wire assembly is bendable and can be adjusted for size.
This 3D printed test was designed to determine positioning in 3D space for the mounting holes. The ceramic bottle won't have this exact design; they need a thickened section on each side of the neck for the hole.
| Media |
3D Print a Test of the Beer Bottle Neck
In 4 minutes you will learn how to modify a copy of the existing drawing to print only a narrower part of the top 8cm |
| Projects |
Beer Bottle Master Mold via 3D Printing
A project that took several years of failures and blind allies and is finally coming together - so much simpler than expected! |
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