March of last year
Robert, back in March if you remember, there was a college student that started a thread on Imperial and was asking for soft or plastic parts to reproduce in a college lab/class. I ended up talking to him a few times and agreed to send him a '62 Frigidaire cap, lint and circulator rings which I did. For months he kept telling me he was working on them and finally admitted he was too busy with school to complete the project. So I had him send me my samples back. Thank goodness he did! Since I was in the middle of 2 Frigidaire washer restorations and all of my rubber parts look terrible, I was hoping he would actually make the molds and start offering replacement parts of these items. I alone could use 3 sets, and every picture I have ever seen of these parts are always discolored and in "fair" shape at best. The yellow ring color in every picture I've ever seen is always faded and the cap likes to turn darker and get rock hard over time.
But anyways, since I need these parts I have no alternative but to learn how to reproduce plastic and rubber parts. However I was in luck because it turns out the guy that scanned, photo-shopped and silk-screened the replacement control panel for me, his brother is an engineer that has worked in the plastics industry for a very long time. I got in touch with him and we got together and he showed me the products, tools and method(s) of making and casting hard and soft rubber parts on a small scale. He also had the device to measure the ShoreA hardness of the original neoprene cap and rings so as to measure the proper firmness/density so they will feel like the original. After me spending several hundred dollars on the tools alone, I'm totally committed at this point to repro these parts and finish my Frigidaire projects.
For starters, I did the hard clear dial knob above to get the mold making method down and since it did not require any color matching, it was my first attempt (which went extremely well if I may say). He also had the device to measure the ShoreA hardness of the original neoprene cap and rings so as to measure the proper firmness/density so they will look and feel like the original. Like I said before, matching the colors will be the challenge since I won't be making big batches of parts at a time. I'll be doing just one part at a time and mixing just enough resins for a single part, which will require a way of measuring tiny amounts of colorants. But I think I have a way to do it to get consistent colors. I did a couple of test mixtures to get the color and correct texture of the cap and finally nailed it. I was worried since the original cap was made of neoprene and required a heat process to cure, reproducing the cap in a newer hi-tech product (urethane) would not achieve the same look and feel. Well this is not the case. I can get the same color, sheen, and firmness as the original. The only thing I am not sure of is if my original cap when we measured the ShoreA value .... if my cap was still of the same softness as when it was originally manufactured 55 years ago. Two of the 3 caps that I have are slightly harder than the one I used to take the measurement... thinking the softer one is most accurate in firmness. (BTW, DOES ANYONE HAVE A NOS CAP THAT I COULD "BORROW" TO MEASURE THE ShoreA VALUE? I PROMISE TO RETURN IT UNHARMED!!) Since I am this deep into this project I want to make sure my work is not in vain and make a rubber part too hard or too soft. I could also use a good example of the lower Circulator ring since the only one I have has surface cracks and will require a lot more work to make a good mold. Anyone that supplies me with a good cap or lower ring I promise to return in the same shape as received! My email address is in my user profile.
So Robert, in a nutshell this is the answer to your question. Any future successes I'll post as I go along.
BTW, I made a perfect mold of the '62 washer and dryer knob .... if anyone needs a copy to put the finishing touch on their restoration project, let me know. These knobs were notorious to crack from the center, outward for no apparent reason.
Bud, Atlanta
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