
People Keeping Mold-A-Rama Alive - artsandsci
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/mold-a-rama-archive-retro-plastic-mold-a-matic
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justinph
I grew up collecting these from the Milwaukee County Zoo. I never realized
they were a somewhat regional thing. Neato!

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muttech
Just seeing the picture of the machine brings back the melted plastic smell. I
remember trying to collect each one at the Milwaukee zoo, and inevitably
breaking the head off of them before long.

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hahamrfunnyguy
I've always found these machine fascinating, never seen one in person though.
I am surprised the molds are aluminum instead of steel. Typically aluminum
molds are considered suitable for smaller runs only. If they do 100 parts a
day that's 36.5K cycles per year.

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anfractuosity
Why is aluminium considered suitable for smaller runs only out of interest?

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mcphage
Aluminum is softer than steel, so the mold wears out quicker—the models lose
details.

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anfractuosity
Ah cheers that makes sense. One thing I was wondering would they use stainless
steel for moulds, to prevent them rusting?

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TylerE
Nope, "real" molds are made out of tool steel. Corrosion isn't really a
problem since machines are typically stored indoors.

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mcphage
They have several machines at the Lowry Park Zoo, in Tampa, Florida. I got one
a few years back—the hippopotamus that is shown in the article. I love it, and
if I ever get back there, I'm going to get a few more. It was cool to do!

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the_trapper
They're all over the San Antonio Zoo as well. My kids loved making them.

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zafka
I am actually coveting one of those little plastic toys. I need to think on
this for a while :)

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ChuckMcM
I find myself coveting a Mold-a-rama machine to make molds for it :-).
Injection molding is pretty expensive to do in small quantities, I would like
to have a 'table top' machine where I could trade time for money.

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cr0sh
Combine this:

[https://makezine.com/projects/make-41-tinkering-toys/diy-
inj...](https://makezine.com/projects/make-41-tinkering-toys/diy-injection-
molding/)

With this:

[http://www.instructables.com/id/Home-Plastic-Injection-
Moldi...](http://www.instructables.com/id/Home-Plastic-Injection-Molding-with-
an-Epoxy-Mold/)

Alternatively, you can purchase a hand injection molding machine as mentioned
in the above instructable, if you don't want to build your own:

[http://www.easyplasticmolding.com/model_150/home.html](http://www.easyplasticmolding.com/model_150/home.html)

...for $1800.00. So - if you have more money than time, materials and skill -
well, it's possible.

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ChuckMcM
And they are reasonably close in Scotts Valley. I'm definitely going to have
to get one of those.

EDIT: Interesting that the Makezine article has a pretty big problem. It
doesn't actually show you how to make the 'second half' of the epoxy mold. To
make the second half, you would have to assemble the mold and then pour epoxy
into the assembled mold. Depending on the material you'd probably end up some
how pumping that epoxy in, and you would need to pull a vacuum on it to avoid
bubbles.

Its a nit of course, but worth considering.

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monocasa
Oh wow, I totally forgot I had one of those (the T Rex) growing up.

Ended up being one of my favorite bath toys.

Memories.

