A completely new design will be used for the second approach. Instead of having
the electrode cavities located underneath the wire channels, the cavity holes
will be drilled adjacent to the channels. This will prevent silicone from
entering the electrode cavities. There will be less of a chance for the
electrode balls to come in contact with the silicone while it settles in the
mold and cures. Figure 5 shows a sketch of the design.
Channel Containing Side Divots - Second Design
Approach.
Unfortunately, this design is
extremely difficult to fabricate using CNC machining, so hand fabrication
techniques must be used to manufacture the mold. In order to drill two
identical plates of the mold with electrode cavities adjacent to the channels,
five half spheres need to be drilled on each plate. The channels for the wires
will then have to be milled precisely so they “touch” the edge of the electrode
cavities. This will allow the electrode ball to be placed in the cavity with
the connecting lead wire trailing into the silicone injection channel. Although
this design has few advantages over its alternatives, it was ultimately decided
by the team that this would be the last alternative due to its inherent
complexity.
