Quoted from jwilson:Yes, the small object in question is the part of the mould he needs that needs to be metal. The rest of the ramp could be wood and body filler.
Not the whole ramp.
If some sort of hybrid mold could be made the, metal pieces needed to stand up to the process would still need to be reverse engineered from the mold which is not something I am capable of nor interested in doing for what will probably be a short to modest production run.
At this point what I see is the only avenue to get this done would involve a bit of redesigning. Instead of forming this as one single ramp in a female mold (note female molds are done with an upright mold and the plastic is pulled down into the mold and thins and thus weakens as it goes down) what I see is to cut the ramp into two separate ramps...an inner and outer ramp that fit nicely together. Doing it this way I could very likely form these as male molds. Male molds yield the thickest plastic at the bottom of the ramp, generally where it is needed. Separate ramps would also allow the installation of sidewall protectors on both sides of each entrance lane where they are now only on the outside of each lane.
I also see a potential redesign of the inner ramp to end in more of a vortex (Like the WH20 Whirlpool ramp).
I'm not saying this is the only way it could be done, but having studied this ramps many times, I think it is safe to say that I would not reproduce it exactly like it is.
One other note, pertaining to the orange piece that is glued onto the bottom of the ramp. That was most likely installed to add strength to that area which has the thinnest plastic. Forming it in an inverted male mold would yield the thickest plastic at the bottom.
St. Louis, MO
Überherrn
Toronto, ON
