Recently, more actively used silicone for molds, which differs in that it hardens at room temperature, without shrinkage, and forms rubber. For the production of molds in a home environment, a two-component formulation can be used.
Silicone rubbers and compounds are easily converted into molds at home, without requiring additional equipment, because they allow you to carry out an independent manual filling. So, silicone for molds is used for different purposes, you can consider copying a simple product. To begin with, you can cast a part from epoxy resin into a detachable shape, which consists of two parts.
While an inexpensive and very common silicone sealant is well suited for carrying out this operation, it is more convenient and much easier to use a two-component material that is designed specifically to create molds. For casting, epoxy resin is also used . There is a lot of this material on the market, so when choosing it is important to take into account such a requirement as not too short a time of polarization. If a two-component silicone is used for the molds, it may be necessary to use a release agent so that the halves are separated from each other.
At the moment there are a lot of separating products, which are designed specifically for this purpose. They are usually made in the form of aerosols based on waxes, but you can use ordinary melted wax or petroleum jelly.
As the primary building material in this case can serve as clay. Before you start the production of the form, you can check the selected materials for correspondence to each other. In the event that this nuance is missed, you can mess up all the work. You need to make sure that the silicone separates easily from the surface made of the same material as the part you want to copy. If this does not work out, then it will be necessary to cover it with a separating compound. Further it is important to make sure that after hardening the epoxy resin is separated from the silicone and that the physical properties of the material satisfy you after hardening. Only then can use molding silicone.
The manufacturing process begins with the clay on which is applied on a flat surface, into which the copied part should be pressed. If it is a flat part, then it can be pressed up to the border, after which the form will be divided later. If it is sufficiently voluminous, it will be necessary to apply another layer of plasticine along the perimeter. The material should be well pressed down to the part, which will allow forming distinct boundaries.
Before using silicone for molds, it is necessary to make a wall of the future capacity, which is realized by means of the same plasticine. In the bottom of the tank, you can make several depressions, so that the halves can then be docked to each other. Now that everything is ready for casting, it is possible to use liquid silicone for molds. After hardening, you can remove all clay, as a result, only a mold of silicone will remain.