Dometo - Interlocking Building Material (Re-make)

Especially the composite version, is still one of my favorite construction toys.
With the composite set, both the door & door frame is broken, time for a creating a new one...

The original frame is some kind of granular cement. The original parts are created with some kind of moulding techniques, parting lines & draft angles are still visible.

1st attempt..

Start simple & fail quickly...

1. Printed PLA mould,
2. Fill with leveling cement.
   (That was laying in the garage.)

Results:

• Although the structure of the leveling cement is close, it's just a bit less granular.
• The doorframe is still stuck in the mould:
  • The cement is quite sticking on the PLA.
    (Need to add some release spray?)
  • Due to shrinkage, it's impossible to get this thing out.

2nd attempt..

Now using a flexible silicon mould. Also acquire some Anker-Stone bricks, for comparing quality. (See movie about making of Anker-Stones.)

Steps:

• Create resin door frame.
  (Having higher tolerances then FDM print.)
• Create a silicone mould (v2)...
  This one did not cure, maybe the resin part was not cured enough...
• After a couple of months, create a silicone mould (v3), using the same resin printed door frame.
• Again fill mould with same leveling cement.

Results:

• The mould was still to stiff. Although it was possible to create the door frame in one piece, it broke when trying to get it out.
• Somehow this results is quite different appearance:
  • The cement structure is a bit pale colored.
  • The details (edges of corners) are completely lost!
• Dometo bricks versus Anker-Stones:
  • The older Anker-Stones seem to be similar, although Dometo is more 'bricky'.
  • The newer Anker-Stones are way to smooth.

3th attempt..

Oct. 2024, I got in contact with someone who created Dometo (wood version) in Jesmonite moulding material.
It's actually quite nice material, so I gave this project a 3th try too. Jesmonite is a little more smooth, like the newer Anker-Stones. It's also relative strong.
And ofcourse the color is way too white, but coloring was not (yet) the goal.

Now with a bit more focus on smarter mould making. Next to the door frame, I also wanted to try a window brick.
The moulds are now relative thin silicon moulds, which are encapsulated into PLA housings during pouring, keeping dimensions right.

Steps:

1. Create window-frame 'dummy' (PLA).
2. Print all 'housings' (PLA).
3. Create 3 cavities (PLA):
   • First create the large silicone mould, using also the PLA square block
   • For the window create a second silicon mould (square block)
4. Assemble mould (use silicone square block) & pour the Jesmonite
5. Remove the housing parts.
6. Gently remove the silicon parts.

Final results:

• This seems to be a workable way, including reusable silicone moulds!
• The window does have a small issue at the corner in the mold.
  (Due to trapped air bubble, during the silicon pouring.)
• The fragile door frame is finally a successful reproduced.
  (So other parts could be created in this way too.)
• ToDo: The door is still missing a mold...

Conclusion:

• Great project, although a bit time consuming, learned a lot (again). 🙂

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