MOULD MAKING IN 2023 – A BASIC GUIDE
MOULD MAKING IS A TOUGH THING TO LEARN, FROM ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES AND BRANDS OF SILICONE RUBBERS, TO ALL THE STYLES AND SHAPES, IT’S A NIGHTMARE! WE’VE WRITTEN A SIMPLE EASY GUIDE HERE FOR HOW TO GET STARTED AND HOW TO NAVIGATE THE DIFFICULT WORLD OF MOULD MAKING IN 2023.
ARE YOU LOOKING TO HAVE YOUR MOULD MADE PROFFESSIONALLY? REACH OUT TO US AND WE CAN SEND YOU A PRICE QUOTE AND SET UP A CONSULTATION
IF YOU WANT TO SEE OUR PROFESSIONAL MOULD MAKING IN ACTION CHECK OUT OUR SOCIAL MEDIA
WHAT EVEN IS A MOULD?
A MOULD IS A REUSABLE FORM TAKEN FROM A OBJECT SO THAT THE OBJECT MAY BE REPEATED AND REMADE. THINK OF A PHYSICAL ‘COPY AND PASTE’ TECHNIQUE. THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF MOULDS AND THEY ALL DIFFER DEPENDING ON THE OBJECT YOU’RE REPEATING AND IN WHAT MATERIAL YOU WANT TO REMAKE IT IN. HERE IS A SMALL LIST OF THE MOST COMMON TYPES OF MOULDS
- ONE PIECE MOULDS – THESE ARE MOULDS THAT HAVE NO SEAMS OR SEPARATIONS. THEY ARE OFTEN REFERRED TO AS ‘BLOCK MOULDS’
- PIECE MOULDS – A PIECE MOULD IS A MOULD THAT SPLITS INTO DIFFERENT PARTS, THIS IS DONE SO THAT THE REMADE OBJECT CAN BE TAKEN OUT WITHOUT BEING BROKEN.
- WASTE MOULDS – WASTE MOULDS HAVE THE USE RIGHT IN THE NAME, THESE ARE ONE TIME USE MOULDS THAT ARE OFTEN DELIBERATELY DESTROYED WHEN TAKING THE ORIGINAL OBJECT OUT
- CERAMIC MOULDS – MADE IN PLASTER THESE MOULDS ARE FOR CREATING REPEAT CLAY REPRODUCTIONS FOR CERAMICS
- MATRIX MOULDS- THE MOST COMPLICATED OF ALL, THE MATRIX MOULD CONTAINS AN INTERNAL STRUCTURE SO OBJECTS CAN ALWAYS BE CAST IN THE SAME THICKNESS
WHAT TYPE OF RUBBER SILICONE SHOULD I USE?
THIS WILL VARY DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU’RE TAKING YOUR MOULD FROM, AND WHAT YOU PLAN TO CAST IN. THERE ARE MANY EASILY AVAILABLE BRANDS TO CHOOSE FROM AND MULTIPLE REASONS TO PICK EACH ONE. AS THIS IS A ROUGH GUIDE WE WILL GO OVER THE BASICS OF EACH;
- CONDENSATION CURE/ TIN CURE: THIS IS THE INDUSTRY STANDARD SILICONE RUBBER. THIS IS WHAT YOU’LL SEE BEING USED IN LARGE QUANTITIES IN FINE ART FABRICATION, FILM SETS AND BIG INDUSTRY. CONDENSATION CURE HAS A SLIGHT SHRINKAGE AND CAN BE PRONE TO TEARING WITH HEAVY USE
- PLATINUM CURE/ ADDITION CURE: PLATINUM IS THE MORE EXPENSIVE OF THE TWO AND IS MORE OFTEN USED FOR FOOD SAFE, BODY SAFE AND FILM PROSTHETIC PIECES. IT HAS VIRTUALLY NO SHRINKAGE BUT IS FAR MORE VOLATILE AND LIKELY TO REACT TO OTHER MATERIALS.
IF YOU’RE CONFUSED ABOUT THE SPECIFICS OF A CERTAIN RUBBER YOU’RE LOOKING TO BUY; CHECK OUT BENTLEY CHEMICALS
DOES YOUR PIECE HAVE VERY COMPLICATED INTERNAL ELEMENTS? IT MIGHT BE BEST TO CONSIDER SPLITTING IT INTO SEGMENTS WITH “WALLS”. WALLS CAN BE MADE OF PLASTIC SHIM, RIVER & WAX CLAY OR ANY FLAT FIRM NARROW OBJECT. WE RECOMMEND REALLY TAKING YOUR TIME HERE, THIS IS A MAKE OR BREAK STEP!
JACKETS AND EXOSKELETONS
MOULD JACKETS ACT AS AN EXOSKELETON TO THE RUBBER SILICONE, NOT EVERY MOULD HAS TO HAVE ONE, BUT MOST DO. WITHOUT ONE A JACKET AND THE RUBBER MAY JUST FLAP ABOUT USELESSLY WITHOUT ANY SUPPORT. OVER THE YEARS PEOPLE HAVE MADE JACKETS IN VARIOUS MATERIALS SUCH AS FIBERGLASS, PLASTER, JESMONITE AND VINAMOULD. THEY ALL HAVE PROS AND CONS WHICH WE WILL BRIEFLY GO OVER HERE
- FIBERGLASS- THE STRONGEST AND LONGEST LASTING OPTION, IT’S ALSO THE MOST TOXIC. STAY AWAY FROM THIS OPTION IF YOU’RE NEW TO MOULD MAKING, YOU CAN GET HURT WITHOUT THE CORRECT VENTILATION AND PPE
- PLASTER- WEAK AND PRONE TO BREAKING, HOWEVER IT’S A SAFE AND BEGINNER FRIENDLY MATERIAL
- JESMONITE- THE NEWEST, SAFEST, ECO FRIENDLY OPTION WITH THE BENEFIT OF BEING STRONG AND RELIABLE. THIS IS THE CURRENT INDUSTRY STANDARD IN THE U.K.
- VINAMOULD – AN EXCELLENT OPTION IF YOU’RE PLANNING ON BURNING DOWN YOUR UNIVERSITY ART ROOM. VINAMOULD IS AN OLD FASHIONED MATERIAL THAT HAS TO BE MELTED DOWN AND THEN COOLED TO HARDEN. IT CAN HOWEVER BE REUSED SO THAT’S A PLUS
OK, SO HOW DO I ACTUALLY MAKE A MOULD?
THIS IS WERE IT GETS REALLY TRICKY. DEPENDING ON YOUR ORIGINAL OBJECT, THE MATERIAL YOU WANT TO REPRODUCE IT IN AND THE SIZE OF THE PROJECT IT’LL ALL CHANGE HOW YOU WANT TO ACTUALLY MAKE THE THING. IS THE ITEM SOFT? IS IT ORGANIC? IS IT FLAT? ALL OF THOSE FACTORS WILL COMPLETELY CHANGE YOUR DESIRED COURSE OF ACTION, BUT HERE ARE SOME QUICK FIRE RULES:
- SEAMS: BEFORE YOU EVEN THINK OF STARTING THE MOULD CONSIDER WHERE THE SEAMS WILL BE, TRY AND AVOID KEY PLACES LIKE A FACE OR OTHERWISE DELICATE FEATURE!
- MATERIAL CHOICE: MAKE SURE YOU’VE PICKED A TYPE OF SILICONE THAT WON’T REACT TO YOUR ORIGINAL OBJECT, YOU MAY JUST DESTROY THE ORIGINAL!
- CHECK THOSE MIXING RATIOS! DON’T MAKE A CLASSIC MISTAKE AND FORGET TO READ EXACTLY HOW MUCH CATALYST TO RUBBER RATIO YOU NEED FOR YOUR CHOSEN SILICONE, IT MAY NEVER GO OFF OR, EVEN WORSE, GO OFF IN THE MIXING CONTAINER!
- FUNCTION OVER BEAUTY: IT’S EASY TO GET INSPIRED BY THE IMMACULATE MOULDS YOU’LL SEE ON INSTAGRAM, BUT IF YOU’RE JUST STARTING OUT, STAY AWAY FROM FANCY COLOUR MIXING AND FOCUS ON MAKING A FUNCTIONAL MOULD
WE REALISE THAT THIS IS ALL VERY CONFUSING, IT’S ALSO VERY DIFFICULT TO GIVE INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO MAKE A MOULD ON AN OBJECT WE CAN’T SEE IN PERSON AT THE HOXTON BRONZE CASTING FOUNDRY. IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO HAVE YOUR MOULD PROFESSIONALLY MADE BY US, SEND US A EMAIL:
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