Process for replicating new 500E Headlight Lenses in plastic resin

[quantumorbit]

This looks like a plausible method for fabricating the scarce headlight lens for the 500E. They come out exactly the same, the details are impressive. They mention in the video even a fingerprint will come out on the reproduction if its on the original.

Aluminite Water Clear

Mold

 

[gsxr]

I'm curious what the total cost is... and the durability... and the optics of the plastic reproduction.

Neat concept though. I've seen this video before, but had forgotten about it!

 

[quantumorbit]

I'm curious what the total cost is... and the durability... and the optics of the plastic reproduction.

Neat concept though. I've seen this video before, but had forgotten about it!

I included links for the consumables. As for equipment, a vacuum chamber is required which can be easily made using an AC vacuum pump.

 

[Glen]

Really cool. Once you have the mold, you can make spares so durability is less of an issue. I suspect the lenses can be polished like any modern plastic lens too.

 

[Glen]

It's interesting, with many parts going out of production and prices skyrocketing, we live in a time where it's possible to reproduce many if not most things ourselves. With CAD software and a 3D printer, almost any plastic item is relatively easy to make. For metal, there are companies that can take a CAD drawing and make it in metal for you. I imaging within a decade, metal printing 3D printers will be affordable to hobbyists too.

 

[LWB250]

I have an Anker M5C 3D printer, which is the second 3D printer I've owned. I've printed a number of things with it, mostly odds and ends for various things around the house, like a custom wall holder for my Milwaukee leaf blower, for example. To buy the same on Amazon is around $10 on average. I would ecourage anyone here who is interested in starting in 3D printing to buy an Anker M5C - you can get one for $200 these days, and probably with some deals on filament. Figure filament costs you around $25/spool, unless it's something other than PLA.

I don't scan things for 3D modeling, but that's getting cheaper and easier to do as well. While a lot of the stuff I've made has essentially been tchotchkes, there are a lot of things out there you can download for free to print that are quite unique and innovative. Look at Thingverse and other 3D sites to get an idea of what's out there.

This is a great opportunity for headlight lens replacement, especially if the cost is realistic.

Dan

 

[Glen]

Totally agree, Dan. I recently bought a printer (early Black Friday deal) and have been playing with Autodesk Fusion. Really powerful software.
I needed custom bezels for my (home made) center console in my project car and modelled them in Fusion. I printed in ABS with great results. Check it out:

 

[quantumorbit]

Someone should give this a try and organize a group purchase. I would certainly be interested. Save the expensive originals and drive the car with these.

 

[gsxr]

Note that you need the plastic lens frame also... old/used lenses would need to be provided as frame donors for the new plastic replica clear lens.

Definitely would be an interesting experiment.

 

[500AMM]

I've seen that YT video earlier and it appears promising! I read a little bit about using epoxy resin for headlight lenses and it is a couple of things to be aware of. They will not be as strongs as glass lenses, but the strength also depends on the thickness. They will have lower scratch resistance, but they can undergo a surface hardening process with silicon dioxide. I don't know what that includes and I couldn't see anything about that in the video, but LaminX could be a good alternative for that. Epoxy resin has different refraction compared to glass, which means the emmitted beam will deviate from glass lenses. It's hard to say how or how much, and the refraction depends on the light frequency (wave length). My immediate thought was when using LED bulbs in a regular headlight giving a quite different beam pattern, but in this case the light source (bulbs) is kept unchanged. However, I guess these factors could be easy to live with.

If we have some luminary experts here, please chime in!

 

[AS Design]

I've casted multiple small parts with Alumlite. Great stuff. But, I was also going to cast my headlight lenses as well untill I realized they won't fit in my pressure chamber. You need a minimum of a 15-20 gallon pressure chamber to be able to get a part that's air-pocket free. Its tought. I've casted at least 20 pieces the size of corner lights and they still get some voids. Clear parts are tough. I was going to have them made of real glass. Just the tooling gets a bit expensive. Good luck.

Ps. BjB and Smooth-on make great clears as well. Be careful because most of these don't do too well under the sun, even though they say UV clear. I always spray automotive clear over them.