Post #215630 by hmc on Sat, Feb 18, 2006 4:41 PM

I have created the silicon mold & master.

Silicon used in this project is Polytek (a US brand) http://www.polytek.com TINSIL 70-30. It comes in 2 parts as mentioned before.

I measured how much silicon would be needed by displacing water in a container with the master placed inside. I kept a plastic bag around the clay master to protect it from getting wet.

The test showed I would need 650ml. The test was wrong! I needed the whole litre that I had bought. Which not only meant that I needed to mix more in between the pour, but I had to buy more for the actual master.

Getting ready to measure using electronic scales (borrowed!)

24 hours pass and the clay master is ready to pull out of the silicon mold. My guy won’t budge :D I bring him embedded in the silicon back to the place where I bought the products. I stock up on another litre and get some advice on how to remove him. “He should come out real easy, but it seems there’s suction keeping him wedged in there at the base. Try soapy water, if that fails, try making a slit at the base to let the air in. He should just slip out”. Suffice to say, all attempts failed and my guy had to be destroyed. So much for my optimistic outlook (sorry atomictonytiki) :(

Straight out of the pipe, a solid silicon mass.

There he is! Stuck inside :lol:

Note: there are no photos of the destroyed clay master. I understand that it would be quite distressing to some TCers :(

I then add Vaseline (petroleum jelly) to the inside of the silicon mold so that the next silicon pour doesn’t bind to the edges. This time I mix 500ml of silicon and it is an exact measure, phew! 24 hours pass and my silicon guy needs to be removed.

What it looks like inside the silicon mold.

Silicon inside silicon...

My guy Mark II - the silicon master!

He's a flexible boy, you could almost play football with him...

And now I am ready to make a plaster mold.

I am one day behind my schedule (I am being extremely stringent in my plans here) but I think I will have mugs ready to fire by end of week.

MauiTiki: No I don’t have a kiln. I will be going some place where they offer a kiln firing service.

Stay tuned folks.