Wow! I got bogged down in work, and when I came back the thread had a bunch of replies, that is great! I want to try to make sure I address some of the questions and suggestions.
1) I've made bucks before, but I don't have a vacuum former, that may be a bit outside my area of expertise. It does sound like we have some members who have those skills, so that is awesome
2) I'm open to another location for casting. The whole idea here is to have a fun community day, meet folks, and learn some skills. We may also be able to use a more central "Maker Space" Looking online both Seattle and Tacoma have Maker Spaces and community Centers
3) I'm open to making this as interactive as possible. Once we close voting, and decide on a helmet, I'll throw it on the printer we have two options for printing:
a. SLA Resin - I can print the helmet in 2 parts and use a large format resin printer. Pros: Less finishinshing and greater details are retained. Cons: It's messy, and there is a longer time from print to mold as the Isopropyl used in cleaning/curing the resin inhibits platinum based silicon, the work around is to use a tin based Silicone or wait and use the Platinum
b: FDM/Plastic Printing: I can likely get the helmet done in one shot. Pros: One piece and about 1/4 the cost of resin printing Cons: So much sanding and prep work
4) The fun does not have to start with casting, if folks want to help finish the mold or have a small molding session, we can go through how to make a mold for the helmet
a: Idea: I can talk to the folks at RAM and see if they are open to hosting a Molding Workshop. They have one scheduled for July and another in October, but I think it is something they run as a class and there is a fee
5) Time frame is a bit fuzzy right now. I know some folks wanted to aim for ECCC. We can set that as a goal, but I need to balance some other things like prepping for a move, selling my current home, and making sure my wife does not divorce me for making molds in the kitchen (AGAIN)
6) If we are going to list cheeses I have one rule "If it does not smell like feet, I will not eat" Stinky Cheese FTW!
This is OUR community, and OUR Regiment, I'm just throwing out ideas, but I want to make sure we are as inclusive and welcoming as possible. Please share your thoughts, ideas, comments and concerns.
--HotPockets