>>34492 Made a note linking this and a few ideas in the structures thread here, >34493

>>34494 Forgot a sign it's >>34493

I have a Shapoko XXL CNC that I have procrastinated assembling for literally years now. At this point I was thinking of just hiring someone to finish it for me, but having people in my apartment makes me uncomfortable.

I linked this on another thread but it might be good here, This guy here has a huge number of fiberglass videos. It's for boats but fiberglass is fiberglass. It covers a wide range of techniques, coatings, and all sorts of stuff for boats but like I said, it all much the same. https://www.youtube.com/@FishBumpTV/videos

>>37324 Thanks, Grommet. Good thinking!

>>37774 Naicu! Thanks for the efforts at unifying our researches here, OP. I hope that perhaps you'll expand your OP text out in the future as thoughts about it's function ITT (general guidance, specific insights, etc.) occur to you afterwards. Cheers, Anon. Let's all keep moving forward!! :^)

So I hear foam polyurethane is used for cheaper dolls, but are some alternatives? How do foam latex and foam polyethylene compare in feel and durability?

>>38500 >So I hear foam polyurethane is used for cheaper dolls, but are some alternatives? I wish I knew, Anon. Maybe some of our more-informed Anons here can help out? >How do foam latex and foam polyethylene compare in feel and durability? <durability One thing I'm planning on doing is having a kind of 'bodysuit' that covers over the squooshy bits of the robowaifu's shell. These fabric (so-called 'satin', maybe?) covers can be removed/replaced & (importantly) washed. The protective nature of their low-friction surfaces should increase the lifetimes of the underlying foam components significantly, I'd imagine. Let us find out! Cheers, Anon. :^)

>>38520 I know there are polyurethane foam that can be cast. Build parts of your skeleton and then cast the foam over them and finally cast silicone over that or simply use a suit. The more I think about it the better the "fursuit in a wheelchair" idea seems. All of the padding and skeleton could be hidden inside the fursuit and maintenance would be a lot easier.

>>38523 is the idea to pay $15,000 for tesla bot and try to cheap out on the skin now?

>>38524 No. More of a minimum viable waifu here. It wouldn't even be bipedal.

Excellent tutorial on how to make a mold and using that mold to produce a large low density part with a silicone skin. Using cotton balls as a binder for silicone and foam is a clever idea. I'd use an acrylic plate with vent holes to build back pressure for smooth surface finish on the foam personally. Back pressure would also benefit adhesion to the cotton. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1cJpUtndOI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP-Keoyi_EI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kxWhbq0ThU

>>39004 It's good for more than just lines, you know. :^) UHMWPE hollow tubing & rods >vendor sauces: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/uhmw-polyethylene-hollow-rods/ https://www.mcmaster.com/products/uhmw-polyethylene-rods/?s=uhmw-polyethylene-rods https://www.professionalplastics.com/UHMW-Tube_HollowBar https://www.emcoplastics.com/uhmw-polyethylene/ https://www.pedredgepipe.com/resources/uhmwpe-material-tubing-rods-and-sheets.html https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=156532 https://www.kmac-uhmw.com/

>>39010 BTW cheap not so good plastics with around 1/2% graphene in them are stunningly strong. Major mind bending strong. So here's a video where they have a simple dog bone test particle of plastic and graphene. "...1:48 actually sent to the University of 1:49 Limerick in Ireland and they tested this 1:52 for us and they in other words it was 1:54 unbreakable and what they actually meant 1:56 was their machines failed before our 1:58 plastic did ..." 1943 Unbreakable Plastic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoGPRXjCwwA Now he does not say what kind of plastic because it's a contract he did. I suspect, very strongly from watching likely most all of his videos it was casein. Made from milk. If you want to see other videos he talks about you can search "Robert Murray-Smith" and "what ever number reference or subject" on YouTube and get links. Here's another video of plastic, likely the same casein, and some notes I made from it and various videos on the subject. Title "How To Make A Bulletproof Vest Using Graphene-strengthened plastic" Notes "...Puck at 1/2% graphene test 6mm thick snapped at 300kg equivalent steel snap at 500kg (assuming thickness 6mm also)" "3mm thick snapped at 450kg, weighs 19 grams, equivalent steel 90 grams the steel at 90 grams would break at 250kg twice as strong per volume as steel weight for weight it is 10 times stronger than steel" WOW! And interesting thought. He used dry Masterbatching to mix. This means using specialty mixers to mix things. Not so DIY friendly. Could you melt cheap plastic like LDPE(Low-density polyethylene) (cheap plastic bags and most films of plastic) or HDPE(High-density polyethylene)(gallon milk jugs, five gallon buckets, lots of stuff). Could you melt these "then" add the graphene in by stirring??? Maybe. Even if your crappy DIY stirred graphene plastic was 1/5 as good as his super "masterbatched" stuff it's still 2X times the strength of steel and it's made out of trash.

>>39041 My friend told me that he heard somewhere that black filament is stronger because of the carbon, and I think I've noticed a slight increase in strength.

>>39041 Super-intredasting stuff, Grommet. Thanks! I just wonder how feasible it will be for Anons to be melting/moulding plastics & whatnot there within his smol flat? Seems like it might be better for a smol company to use these ideas and sell the parts to Anons afterwards? Regardless, very cool to hear of strong & lightweight & cheap materials production! Cheers. :^)

>>39041 >>39052 >>39055 It is not cheap. The low cost Amazon stuff is largely a scam.

>>39075 Thanks for pointing that out, Anon. Cheers. :^)

>>39075 >It is not cheap You have to make it yourself. Look at Robert Murray-Smith's videos. Also the the picture you posted is graphene oxide. A different thing altogether.

So I am currently investigating mycomaterials. I doubt these will be immediately useful but I do want to brag because as far as I know I'm the first person to produce aerial mycelium of this quantity in a home setting. I basically just followed a recipe done by a Cambridge researcher and placed a pair of jeans I sterilized using a pressure cooker over the substrate. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/research-directions-biotechnology-design/article/growing-mycelium-leather-a-paste-substrate-approach-with-posttreatments/8B0BAD4C1481BDE26583408B4FAA9D13 Currently I am processing it into leather.

>>39730 Congrats, Ribose! I think good uses can be found for this material. I am currently needing a new leather belt. I wonder if this stuff is tough enough to serve in such a capacity? Regardless, GG Anon. Please keep us all up to date with your progress with this research. Cheers! :^)

>>39738 I think it could if you produced enough of it. I was worried that I didn't press it down hard enough and baked my mycelium too long but after examining it in the glycerol, citric acid, magnesium sulfate bath I might actually have enough to play around with a bit. In the future I will use a proper heat press instead of two cookie sheets and my fat ass.

>>39743 Neat! I wonder what the tradeoffs would be for manufacturing such substances as you have here, or simply purchasing them. I'm thinking of robowaifu needs (materials, shell materials, clothing, etc.)

>>39730 >>39738 >>39749 What are the material properties of this material, including once processed to leather? Can it be washed? What are the advantages and disadvantages compared to regular synthetic leather. Could it make good synthetic skin?

>>39751 The paper has the properties listed for various treatments. This is a first attempt and I just removed it from the plasticizer bath and placed it in nutan so I will have something to show tomorrow or the day after. According to the paper their mycelium leather was comparable to process leather in strength. It can be washed but it requires a gentle brush and soap. No detergents. I don't have a good answer for you on skin yet. As of now probably not, but that is part of what this investigation will be looking at. Current disadvantage of mycelium leather over real leather is that it does not last as long but the major advantage is that it can be grown in a homesetting and there is a lot you can do to change the physical and chemical properties of the material. I might make a dedicated thread for this when I repeat these results and have something worth showing. Very much in the learning phase right now. As I said I haven't seen anyone else get to the aerial mycelium step so I am in uncharted territory.

>>39751 And I would also like to point out that the material properties will depend on the species of mushroom used, the plasticizers, the crosslinking agents, additives, fillers, ect.

So most of my mycelium leather was lost do to poor harvesting and processing, but I have some actual leather to show. It is leather like, but a little soft. A long ways to go, but definitely a starting point. I am running an additional experiment where I am weatherproofing it with linseed oil and pine tar.

Interesting video about so-called Invisible Mending. Not too sure how useful it might be to us here -- but perhaps. Seems a meticulous (tedious even), hand-done technique for sewing in patches to expensive suits. I'm pretty sure this is a pricey, almost-artisan-tier approach that would be expensive to purchase from this woman. Regardless, the end result is quite impressive. https://trashchan.xyz/comfy/thread/623.html#14333

>>39868 Neat! I'm intredasted to hear how this further goes as you apply your learning to the process, Anon. Cheers.

>>39941 I'm currently trying to reformulate without using whole wheat flour. I am using a microwave for sterilization and there are spores in the flour that would be difficult to kill off even with a proper autoclave. The current expirement with woodflour is failing, I will call it on the weekend, but it looks like I will need to add water and something to help it retain water.

>>39953 Was the flour enriched? >but it looks like I will need to add water and something to help it retain water. How about cornstarch powder?

>>39954 >Was the flour enriched? No, although that may lighten foreign contamination. Still I like the idea of using a waste product like sawdust. >How about cornstarch powder? I was thinking coir. Again it is a waste product and the manufacturing process reduces microbial contamination.

>>39953 Good luck, Anon. Please keep us here posted with your progress. Cheers. :^)

>>39963 Had some success with one of the pieces of mycelium leather. It got stronger with the pine tar and linseed oil. Running a weather proof test right now. Sorry I have been inactive. I had some IRL stuff come up and a couple of health scares. Should start making progress again by the end of next week. Again sorry for delays.

>>40195 >>40199 >and a couple of health scares. Oh no! Please take good care of yourself, Ribose. We all rely on your inputs here. --- Glad to hear about the progress with the mycelium leather! It must feel good to make progress with such a goal. Cheers, Anon. :^)

>>40229 >about the same mechanical properties as balsa wood That's really neat. I've actually done some design research using Balsa. It's great stuff to keep thrown mass low in the extremities.

For the skin you can just lay a piece of spandex flat on a wooden panel and pour the silicone rubber. afterwards you mend it like fabric. Theres also the option of just slicing a sex doll. Youll want to use a hot wire tool or is what id use instead of a scapel. The sex doll already has a skeleton.

>>40340 >For the skin you can just lay a piece of spandex flat on a wooden panel and pour the silicone rubber. This seems a good idea, AFAICT. How do you cure it so its a) not sticky afterwards, and b) workable just like fabric afterwards?

>>40361 You could add something like sawdust or sand to the mixture to help it cure.

One of the easiest ways to cover up a robot would be a foam shell covered in a jumpsuit like Handmade Doll did. Much easier than silcone: no need to pour, easy to clean, repair and replace. If you're especially fancy you could probably airbrush texture onto the cloth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWEWhxX5x9I

>>40361 Just let if dry should work. Make sure to also use releasing agent.

>>40366 Thanks, Anon.

>>40364 I wonder if you could also use mycelium mixed in and place it around a carbon fiber cloth and have it act as a synthetic nervous system.

>>40364 I wonder how hard/expensive it would be to obtain something superfine to mix in -- so fine it wouldn't feel abrasive, but silky smooth. But still durable, unlike say, cornstarch. Also, would there be any health risks associated with such use? >>40374 Really interesting idea, Anon.

>>40365 Great idea Anon. It's been my intent to use a full-body, zippered, jumpsuit for years now. I'm still thinking of 'skin' for the face/hands/etc. in addition however.

This is how I made mushroom spawn. I took the base of the mushroom and sandwiched it in between pasteurized cardboard and placed it all I'm a Tupperware container with holes in the lid.

If youre thinking of ecoflex well then yes thsts prohibetly expensive but if you get say 10 kg from alibaba then itd be like $100 something including shipping which is nothing.

>>40399 How much sawdust/sand could you add and still keep the desired final mechanical properties? Could you add them to cheaper material to get the desired properties?

>>40405 Theres also tin cured silicone rubber but i havent looked much into it. I also came up with a receipe fir hardware silicon caulk. Thin the silicon with acetone snd then add a spoonful of silicon oil. However youd still be better iff buying it from alibaba maybe. Btw the ill be just making typos cause correcting on the iphone sucks. https://youtu.be/xoFGHcsb1_Q

>>40412 Well i suppose there is also the option of buying silicon caulk in bulk. Theres also windshield motors at the junkyard that amight even be geared if you're a stingy thirdie. I say thst cause none of this stuff is expensive even for a thirdie.