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This is a mold to test the shape and size of a Medalta Potteries ball pitcher. The shape and orientation of this 3D printed mold has worked better than others done till now for several reasons:
-It puts the printing artifacts where easily mitigated (e.g. centre of the belly). The steep slopes and verticals print smooth thus easing mold release.
-This 3D-printed shape is strong even though the walls are only 1.2mm thick.
-Only one half needed the spout.
-Th approach is conducive to a hybrid plaster and 3D printing approach: Making a case mold for the production of working molds.
Like the others, it retains several advantages intrinsic to this method:
-It is quite large yet each plaster half weighs only 2kg (4 1/2 lb) and dries quickly.
-Embeds were cast into the plaster enabling easy insertion of natches or spacers.
This picture has its own page with more detail, click here to see it.
I have been struggling to recreate a Medalta ball pitcher using the solid modelling tools in Fusion 360. The example on the left shows the issue (it was made by revolving a cross-section sketch and doing a cutout on the top). But I need a spherical body with an oval neck, the CAD design tools don't enable that.
The answer is 3D modelling. I veered away from Fusion 360 and searched and tried some 3D modelling apps. Nothing practical. Then I hired a freelancer who claimed to be able to do it in Fusion 360. He could not. My motivation to prove to him it is possible brought the solution: Revolving a fit point spline outline, in the form modelling workspace, to create a 3D T-Spline model. The points, lines and faces can be freely moved and the lines can be creased. This works really well, and it is going to open up for me the creation of very organic shapes. It took AutoDesk engineers years to get T-Splines working, but they are magic math now.
Buy me a coffee and we can talk