Small-Scale Manufacturing for Epoxy Resin Curing

Manufacturing production is limited by three main factors, cost, both overall and on a per unit basis, final product quality, and process repeatability or frequency. Even producing small objects through the casting of epoxy resin, a liquid substance capable of hardening when in contact with a catalyst material presents these same issues. There are three distinct areas of epoxy resin casting influenced by each of these manufacturing factors, the material used to create molds, the air process applied to minimize defects, and resin demold time. This investigation was designed to determine the impact the three factors of manufacturing production have on the casting epoxy resin. Each category had numerous tests conducted to determine the best combination of production in terms of low cost, high quality, and high levels of repeatability. Ultimately, the best combination was the use of a platinum silicone called Mold Star 15, a pressure chamber, and an epoxy resin with a 12-hour cure time, called Amazing Resin. The final cost to create 100 products is $410.85. However, it should be noted for the highest quality dice, the utilization of a pressure chamber is required while the mold materials are interchangeable.