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As the title says, I am trying to sell a pair of SioCast machines that were previously owned and operated by Wargames Delivered, an online distributor who briefly tried to set up a production facility. The machines are in fine working order and were only used minimally over several months. There is a SioPress vulcanizing machine and a SioForm1 injection machine. I have a large amount of SioRes (injection material) and some blank molds, as well as some tools and mold making accessories.

I know that SioCast is a divisive topic and that many people have strong opinions on it, but that's neither here nor there, really. I have a full production facility hanging out in my garage and I would like to sell it at a reasonable price to someone who will use it. Personally, I think it's a fine system. We got good results out of it that I was proud to sell. However, the company has downsized, the production manager has found other employment and I don't have the money and time to invest in putting these machines to work.

Here is a more complete list of what I have:

-SiOform1 - injection machine
-SiOpress - vulcanizing machine
-SiOFRAME A5plus - metal mold frame
-12.5 x 15 kg buckets of SiOres 64D (softer injection material)
-2 x 15 kg buckets of Sioplast 56D (harder injection material)
-7 x 3 kg buckets of MB Grey D10B60 (coloring agent)

Additionally:
-1 bucket Industrial Talc (partially used)
-8 boxes of molds in various sizes (partially used)
-1 box high tear strength silicone (partially used)
-various tools for maintenance and mold making

I have reached out to a large number of mini companies, both those that already use SioCast and those that don't and have not had much luck. I wonder if anyone on this forum has any connections that might be interested in this setup. It is only lightly used, well maintained, and can be had for a bargain. Any advice or help would be much aprecaited!

I take it these are bulky items. Where in California are you?


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Asking for a friend, how difficult is it to get a SioCast machine running? Are there instructional videos that can give a good idea what is involved? Similarly, how difficult would it be to make molds for SioCast machines? And you are selling existing molds that can be used for learning/training?

The machines could be described as bulky, though they have a pretty modest footprint. The SioPress has a roughly 3x3' footprint, 5' tall and 600 lbs. The SioForm1 is 2x2', 6' tall and 700 lbs, roughly. So they are quite heavy, but they really don't take up much space, though they should have a bit more room around them for operation. I am in Ventura, California, about an hour and a half north of LA.

To get the machines running you would need an air compressor capable of at least 6 bar and specialized power outlets installed by an electrician (the power requirements are a little weird because the Spanish manufacturer did not change them for the US). I believe each machine needs 15 amps dedicated to it. Not impossible to do in a home setup, if you have extra space on your main panel.

There are no instructional videos, but there is a lot of documentation and SioCast offers training courses that I believe they charge for. There are other US companies that have the machines that might be willing to mentor, I don't know. Making the molds is easy to learn, hard to master. It's similar to sculpting, in a way. What we were doing was 3D printing a mini and pressing that into the mold, then building up the mold all around it to make a perfect seal before placing the other half of the mold on top of the mini. You then bake the whole thing in the SioForm (the technical term is "Vulcanizing") and you have a finished mold. Getting something wrong with the mold before vulcanizing it is what results in layer lines. Then you need to put the finished mold in the injection machine and dial in the pressure and temperature settings to make it shoot just the right amount of material at just the right temp. It's a fiddly process, and getting it wrong results in flashing. As you can probably tell, there is a lot of trial and error involved. There are companies with SioCast machines that will make molds for you, and they might even dial in the settings and tell you what they are, but obviously that costs money.

I will pass this along, thanks.

I forgot to mention that one of the machines is on casters and the other on a dolly, making them pretty easy to move around on flat ground. I used an engine hoist from Harbor Freight to get them on pallets where they were secured in place. I hired a moving company to truck them to me from the original production facility. All that was needed was a pallet jack and a truck with a lift gate.