Today's post will show you the second mold making option you have with Environmental Technology Inc. This time we will work with a liquid (yesterday I showed you the putty) that you mix to make your molds. To start, you need a few containers to hold the liquid silicone rubber. Yogurt containers are my favorite and all my molds are the exact same size. I cut the bottoms off and use the containers with the lid as the new bottom. Then you need to gather the items you want to make molds of.
These vintage items are too heavy to wear on a necklace or use on a paper project. If I make a mold of them I can use resin to make my duplicates which will be much lighter. You need to secure the object you are molding to the bottom of the container with hot glue or a temporary clay. This will stop the item from moving when the liquid silicone rubber is poured over them.
This is the liquid mold maker! EasyMold Silicone Rubber is:
- Brushable/Pourable
- 45 Minute to 1 hour working time, 24 hour cure. Cure rate can be adjusted by applying heat.
- Produces extremely fine detail from original, no shrinkage.
- Self releasing, no mold release agent required for most applications.
- High heat range, up to 400ยบ F.
- Strong flexible re-useable molds.
- No vacuum equipment required.
This is a two part system. You mix equal amounts of Part "A" and "B."
Then you pour the liquid rubber into the containers. I let this cure for 24 hours before I go peaking to see how my mold turned out. This is when working on the yogurt lid comes in handy. You pop off the lid and push out your new mold.
Here is one of the cured molds. As always, I pour some Envirotex Lite into the mold to test it and clean it before I start with a new project. Tomorrow, I'll be able to show you some results!
What happens to the original? Does the paint come off? What if it had a patina, or was covered with a thin metal? In other words am I going to ruin an antique?
ReplyDeleteSo far my originals have come out of the mold as nice as they went in...but I have not molded anything super fragile...or expensive. If you work with something that is already solid (like a brass piece) or a plastic object you shouldn't have any issues. Deciding what to make a mold of is something I couldn't advise unless I had the object right in front of me.
ReplyDeleteThis is super kewl Carmi ~ thanks so much!!
ReplyDeletehi! this is an awesome blog! a question though, what would happen if you covered the top with double sticky tape and stuck a few small items like gems or coins... would they stay put? would the stickyness of the exposed tape ruin the mold itself? thanks!!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure how to answer your question...I have not tried doing that, so it would have to be an experiment you could do with a small test batch.
DeleteI would like to copy a concrete stepping stone and make copies with colored concrete. Would it work?
DeleteI would call our customer service line for help.
DeleteThey can help you with specific questions.
Contact
Environmental Technology, Inc.
PO Box 365 South Bay Depot Rd.,
Fields Landing, California.
95537-0365
Ph: (707) 443-9323
Fax: (707) 443-7962
http://www.eti-usa.com