resin casting supplies

Woody... I havn't used the molds i've made more than a couple of times so far so I don't know how it will hold up in the long run.. the por-a-mold i'm using is the medium which the book says is "intended for molding objects with moderate undercuts..

compairing it side by side with some of the micro-mark molds i made earlier I can't tell any real difference.. even the color matchs fairly close..

there is also a light version the book says is "soft and supple and excellent for modeling deep undercuts... ect ect.."

and a harder version the book says "intended for object with light to moderate undercuts .

I've just started using this product and so far i'm happy with it.. the one thing though i've discovered is that its best to use a mold box make of lock blocks as its hard to get it out of a 1 peice mold box....... with the lock blocks its easy to just disassemble the box without distorting the mold.

Two part rubber being expensive, I tried good old GE white silicone window and door trim sealant. Great for the smaller pieces, regular mold release works great on it, makes great molds that capture the detail. Seems to dry throughout up to 1/2 in thick areas of silicone. No special requirements for molds, except working with the silicone can be messy when you put it in mold and smooth it out.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Delbert just to clear up a bit of confusion.. micro marks 1 to 1 #82083 comes in 2 16 ounce bottles which equals 32 ounces of material which is 1 quart.. the por a mold stuff i was talking about comes in 2 32 ounce cans which equals 2 quarts of material. and by weight the por-a-mold are aprox 4.6 pounds.. which seem to make it a better bargin than the micro mark stuff.. don't get me wrong the micro mark 1 to 1 rubber is great stuff, just a bit more pricy.

That does sound like a good deal! Is Por-a-Mold stronger than Micro-Mark? My only complaint about Micro-Mark's product is that fine details in the mold can fail after only a few castings.

I don't know about that epoxy resin.. it might be different from castin resin.. you want something thin enough it flows into the molds without traping air pockets..

as for Mold Builder (if thats the brushable one you have ) i'm sure its good for something but I just didnt' have the patiace for that stuff. You brush a thin coat of it onto your item you want to dupe.. let it dry .. another coat and so on.. think it said up to 10 to 12 coats needed.. I made 2 molds with it.. didnt' like em.. seemed a bit flimsy.. and had to fix it so that it stayed level when I poured the resin.. not like the 1 to 1 silicone molds where you glue your parts into a box and pour the stuff over it into a nice little block.. at least you have no prob's keeping the blocks level when using them... tried to make a block with the mold builder but it never dried..only dries in thin coats.. so I'll wish you better luck with that stuff than I had.. :>

you can expect a 12 to 24 hours for each coat to dry....

Alright I just took a trip to Home Depot. They had this stuff called marine epoxy resin (made by Bondo) or something like that that is two parts and it can be used to patch boats such. It is liquid, though, so I think it will work. Plz let me know if it won't so I don't go wasting $22. Also I went to Michaels and bought "Mold Builder" by Castin Craft. The jar says it's good for making molds to produce resin and other material, but once again I want to know if anyone know for sure if they work. thx

just to clear up a bit of confusion.. micro marks 1 to 1 #82083 comes in 2 16 ounce bottles which equals 32 ounces of material which is 1 quart..

the por a mold stuff i was talking about comes in 2 32 ounce cans which equals 2 quarts of material. and by weight the por-a-mold are aprox 4.6 pounds.. which seem to make it a better bargin than the micro mark stuff.. don't get me wrong the micro mark 1 to 1 rubber is great stuff, just a bit more pricy.

Micro-Mark's 2-quart silicone mold is only $30.85. Their 10-to-1 is $35.95 though.

Dick Blicks carries a product called por-a-mold which is a 2 part silicon rubber 1 to 1 ratio that comes in 2 quart cans for about $35.. much better bargin than micromark.. also they sell mold release in a spray for about $9.. they also carry a casting resin.. and sometimes smooth-on...

the silicon rubber comes in 3 hardness.. i'm using the medium right now to make a few molds and it seems to work ok.. but I think next time I might try the harder one..

I'm thinking of trying this resin. I'm using the Micro-Mark brand but this is much cheaper.

Each chunk of the whole array of stuff can also be found at Dick Blick. Maybe Michael's too.

http://www.alumilite.com/default.cfm

problem solved