Week 2: June 21 - June 23

This week, Rafael was gone at a conference, so I worked mostly with Luis and Armando. The next steps for making the calibration mold involved using a vacuum chamber, and the CVFD Lab only has one at WIMR. As a result, I rode the bus back and forth between WIMR and ME numerous times, which was an experience in itself. Luis and Armando offered to help as CVFD's lab at WIMR had the necessary resources for them to also continue to work towards developing a robust method for constructing the metal pieces from their 3D-printed molds.

Working with Silicone

The steps for simply prepping the silicone before I could poor it were far more extensive than I expected. First, it had to be mixed with a curing agent in a particular ratio. However, in order to not waste silicone, I had to make sure I was only composing a solution the was just enough for the amount I needed. I found that the volume of silicone necessary was around 65 mL. Getting this amount was quite tedious as the proper amounts of both parts of the solution had to first be poured into a graduated cylinder and then into a cup, which took a fair amount of time as silicone is quite viscous. I then put the cup into the vacuum chamber to get rid of any bubbles in the silicone. After pouring the silicone into the box with the 3D-printed object, I then put the box into the vacuum chamber to again ensure that no bubbles were in the silicone. At this point, the silicone was ready to cure. If left at room temperature, it takes around 48 hours to cure, but the hotter it is, the less amount of time it takes. At a high temperature like 150 degrees Celsius, it cures in 10 minutes; however, the heat deflection temperature of the 3D-printed object and the plastic which the box was made out of only allowed for it to be heated to 45 degrees Celsius, and the silicone took around 24 hours to cure at this temperature. Once cured, I broke the walls of the box and removed the 3D-printed object from the silicone mold. Unfortunately, there were a few bubbles in the silicone and it was not clear (likely because too much of the curing agent was added to the solution), so I will make a new mold next week.

Lunch!

Because CVFD has two labs in two different locations, I have been able to eat lunch at a variety of places the past two weeks depending on where I am. Rafael, Armando, Luis, and I generally eat lunch together. If we are at ME, we usually go to Union South which has a few options, but I have also gone to Regent St. with Rafael for wings and a Puerto Rican food truck with Armando and Luis. If we are at WIMR, we go WIMR's cafeteria. Contrary to what you might think, WIMR's cafeteria is fantastic and better than Union South in my opinion (especially since it's cheaper). They have a wide range of options such as burgers, burritos, salads, quesadillas, and sandwiches, and the food is really good and quickly made. Also, it's in WIMR, where Union South is about a block away from ME.