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ok need new advice on metal or material choice for molds.
im trying to come up with a way to make molds with what i have available that will work with resin casting that will produce resin items that demold with a high shine....im currently milling acrylic masters, polishing those masters to a high shine, making a mold with silicone from these masters and casting my resin...the problem is that the acrylic is not easy to get to a high shine and even when i do, for some reason the silicone mold is not able to transfer this shine to my resin pieces...i just cant seem to understand what im missing...i have seen plastic molds sold online that allow people to cast resin that demolds with a high shine but i just cant seem to find a way to make them....im wondering if my problem is with the use of acrylic as my master or perhaps my choice of mold making material.
im thinking of trying metal to mill my master from, i will likely be able to achieve a better finish on this but my mill is limited to what it can cut and i can only use soft metals...i have a mdx40a mill....what metal should i use thats easy to cut and achieves a high shine?
this is a problem i have been trying to find a solution for and noone can seem to offer me any reasonable solution...i just dont understand whats wrong...i cant hand polish every resin piece i make so i need a way to demold with a reasonably good looking finish...maybe the problem is not my master, not my silicone but rather my choice of resin???
i have tried both crystal clear 202 and smooth cast 325 from smooth on...im at the end of my rope and i know someone here knows what im doing wrong ...please help!!
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Re: ok need new advice on metal or material choice for molds.
Have you tried tin?
[FONT=Verdana]Andrew Werby[/FONT]
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Re: ok need new advice on metal or material choice for molds.
I made some lenses from Crystal Clear and Smooth On silicone with great results. My masters were factory made lenses that already had a good finish. I did not have to use any mold release. What silicone are you using for your molds? I seem to recall that I used Oomoo 30. Have you tried calling SmoothOn? They have good tech support.
Also, have you tried flame polishing your acrylic? Works great, but sometimes distorts shape a bit. Not sure if that is an issue for you or not. I wonder if it also might give you good results if you machined the masters then coated them with something self smoothing like a varnish.
Are you vacuum degassing your silicone and your resin? It makes a big difference, especially if you want no bubbles in a clear resin. When I did the lenses I just sucked the resin up in a syringe, held my finger on the bottom, then pulled the syringe further to make a vacuum and let all the foam and bubbles rise to the top and pop. Worked great. Made a vacuum jar out of a ball canning jar with air fitting epoxied on a lit for bigger stuff, but on smaller volumes try the syringe. Good luck.
Is this for two-material molding?
