Molded Ski Pole Baskets

Molded Urethane Ski Pole Baskets

I learned to mold custom parts by creating a urethane mold from a 3D printed master. By pouring Freeman epoxies into this cast, I could quickly create many replicas of my desired part with different material properties depending on the epoxy used.

When the project was originally proposed, I spent some time brainstorming to come up with something that was both cool and genuinely useful to its owner. I decided to make custom ski-pole baskets (these go on the end of a ski pole to give the pole a larger surface area, which is especially helpful in deep and soft snow).

I first measured the dimensions of a generic set of pole baskets, then incorporated these dimensions into my custom pole basket design on Solidworks. Once I was finished with the design, a master was 3D printed, which I then used to create a custom urethane mold.

I used the custom urethane mold to create many replicas of pole baskets with epoxies of varying hardness. I found that some epoxies could be mixed to make pole baskets of an intermediate hardness.

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First, I created my desired part in Solidworks. This part was 3D printed on a ProJet printer.	I mixed the Freeman BlueStar V-340 Silicone rubber to pour around the master and create a mold.	This is a picture of our first completed mold.
We mixed Freeman 1080 with red dye, then degassed the mixture to remove bubbles.	The Freeman 1080 urethane was poured into the V-340 rubber mold and left to harden.	We also experimented with Freeman 1035, a much softer polyurethane elastomer.
A picture of the completed Freeman 1080 castings.	The completed Freeman 1035 castings. They were a bit too flexible to be useful as pole baskets.	We also experimented with pouring the V-340 silicone into the mold (after applying a liberal amount of demolding agent). The finished castings were very near to the hardness we desired.
An image of some of the different pole baskets.	I put one of the completed castings on my ski pole and skied around with it.

Molded Urethane Ski Pole Baskets

First, I created my desired part in Solidworks. This part was 3D printed on a ProJet printer.

I mixed the Freeman BlueStar V-340 Silicone rubber to pour around the master and create a mold.

This is a picture of our first completed mold.

We mixed Freeman 1080 with red dye, then degassed the mixture to remove bubbles.

The Freeman 1080 urethane was poured into the V-340 rubber mold and left to harden.

We also experimented with Freeman 1035, a much softer polyurethane elastomer.

A picture of the completed Freeman 1080 castings.

The completed Freeman 1035 castings. They were a bit too flexible to be useful as pole baskets.

We also experimented with pouring the V-340 silicone into the mold (after applying a liberal amount of demolding agent). The finished castings were very near to the hardness we desired.

An image of some of the different pole baskets.

I put one of the completed castings on my ski pole and skied around with it.