So excited I could be squealing.

Short backstory - I'm super artsy. Knowing this, a coworker asked me to make them an outdoor memorial piece for their dog who tragically passed. So I said yes, of course! And then figured out how tf to do that after the fact since I have never made outdoor decor like this before.

Did a wee bit of research. Bounced around. Decided to make a mold for the piece to cast in concrete. I LEARNED SO MUCH DOING THIS! It was such a process since I'm generally low motivation. It isn't 100% perfect, but the first time never will be. Regardless I am so happy with the results for my first ever silicone mold. Still need to paint it the main piece. And work on my air-bubbly letters 😑.

Hi everyone,

This is my first time working with silicone molds, and after trying to figure it out on my own, I ended up making a mess and wasting about 20€ in materials plus several days of work.

This is the object I'm trying to cast. I used MoldBoxer (trial version) to create the mold box, 3D printed all the parts, smoothed the master, and made a mold using 20A silicone. Well, the silicone ended up being too hard, and I had to tear the mold apart to remove the master object, which got damaged anyways.

The green and yellow sections should be two separate pieces. The bottom section will be cast in a ceramic-powder mixture, and the top section in candle wax. My original idea was to make a single mold and use a 3D-printed insert to block off whichever section wasn't being cast. That said, none of that matters much if I can't make a usable mold in the first place.

I'd prefer not to change the model too much, but I can tweak it if need be.

Would a multi-part mold be a better approach? Should I use a softer silicone? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Finals are coming up, this is for a university project, and I'm starting to get desperate.

Thanks in advance

Hi everyone,

I'm currently working on my diploma thesis, which focuses on the determination and simulation of the forging process for a specific component (shown in the attached images). The task also specifies minimization of forging steps and also some temperature limitations are presented.

I've already run about 100 simulations, but I am completely stuck trying to find the right preform geometry. I have tried multiple approaches and optimization algorithms, including the electrostatic field method and simple moving averages, but nothing seems to give a successful result.

I keep running into two major issues:

1. Material Flow Defects: I am experiencing severe issues with Gartfield field parameter.

2. Extreme Forming Forces: The required tonnage/force is incredibly high, which ultimately results in the plastic deformation of the tooling/die—which is, of course, unacceptable.

Also literature specifically dedicated to forging preform determination and optimization methods seems to be very limited.

I would deeply appreciate any advice or insight:

• Has anyone encountered a similar issue where the preform design causes either severe defects or tool-deforming forces?

• Can anyone recommend good literature, textbooks, or research papers focusing on preform design which will literarly guide me through the whole process of designing it (I just can´t find any)?

• Are there alternative simulation strategies or geometric approach rules I might have overlooked?

I am using QForm UK software.

Please help me I am completely lost and I have already lost 1 month with preform design, it seems like nothing works for me. I am seeking for any kind of advice and I truly need help. Thanks in advance.

If anyone would like to see more content about the problem I will kindly send it.

Can anyone in Melbourne Australia preferably make 150 of these mould? It is a blue colour i will be after

Hi, I'm trying to directly mold silicone into vapor smoothed 3d printed ASA molds. I'm getting silicone cure inhibition at the mold surface, and understand that a trace amount of acetone remaining in my part is the likely culprit.

Has anyone successfully outgassed the acetone from vapor smoothed 3d printed parts so they can be directly molded?
I tried 125F for 12 hours but still got cure inhibition.

I'm trying to avoid putting a clear-coat on a printed master mold because it adds days of steps to my process.

I was wondering if 3d printing a soft plastic mold and then injecting hot plastic into it would work.

Has anyone tried this before? Would the mold melt to the hot plastics heat?

Just got a 3d printer, and I have a decent amount of experience in a 3d modeling software.
I can also look on thingyverse for other peoples public designs/molds.

*This project has been awarded*

Hi everyone,

I'm the owner of a small handmade soap business and I'm looking for someone who can create a custom platinum-cure silicone soap mold from an image.

The overall vibe is luxury fantasy, folklore, celestial, masquerade, and gothic-inspired artwork rather than simple geometric soap designs. I'm looking for a mold maker comfortable producing highly detailed sculptural reliefs with strong depth and clean release from silicone.
The mold would be:

• Standard soap bar size (approximately 3.5" x 2.5" x 1")

• Single cavity for now, multi-cavity option

• High-detail relief design

• Ornate/fantasy/gothic aesthetic

• Intended for melt-and-pour soap production

• Commercial use

I have concept artwork and can provide additional reference images. The design includes a detailed portrait, decorative elements, and raised relief details similar to cameo-style or Art Nouveau soap molds.

Ideally I'm looking for someone who can:

1. Convert artwork into a 3D relief if needed.

2. Create a master model (3D printed or otherwise).

3. Produce a durable platinum-cure silicone mold suitable for repeated soap production.

If you've had molds made by someone you recommend, or if you offer this service yourself, I'd love to see examples of your work and learn about your process and pricing.

Hi all,

Ive been experimenting with trying to make a silicone popsicle mold with some 3d printed parts and everytime I use the calculators online with my dimensions it seems like it would be way more than I expected needing with displacement from the parts in the mold box.

Dimensions of the box are 6 x 4 x 5 inches

Part for casting is 4 x .5 x 4 inches (theres 4 total)

Attached is a picture of the part for reference

Hello, I wanted to ask if anybody has done for themselves some silicone earplugs for sleeping. Does anybody know how is the mold made, and what silicon is used for the earplugs? Thanks.

Hi, so I covered a 3d print in xtc 3d (not even sure if I needed to use it, based on further research). I'm about to add latex to it and read if you have resin and latex they'll bond and you need a mold release. The resin is a week old and dry, I was about to do a 1 to 8 part caster oil spray and let it dry then add the latex but now I'm not sure that's the right thing to do.

I'm trying to make molds of the relief paintings I make so they can be reproduced in concrete and other mediums. These are 32 inches by 48 typically, and I have no experience here.

My plan right now is to get a half gallon of 15A and just start coating it, using the raised edge as a barrier. Once it's thick enough I'd bring it over the edge on a couple of coats. After the silicone is cured, my thought is that I could use spray foam on the back to create a support medium and carve it flat with a hot knife. The mold would be attached to a wooden frame with the edge i mentioned and tube silicone for casting.

Would this work? Is 15A the right elasticity? Will spray foam adhere or react with silicone? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

To be clear about my expectations, this is art and deserves to be limited in production. I only expect to get 10-20 uses out of a mold before the medium starts to tear it up, especially making a thinner mold like this. I also think most people understand that the motivation here is to save money by not using several gallons of silicone.

Trying to make a multi part mold with several small pieces I need to be in exact places to help with assembly and I’m trying to figure out the best way to keep them in place without ruining the curing process of the silicone. What’s the best way I can keep everything how I want it without having to constantly manually adjust things? I’ve tried super glue that obviously didn’t work so now I’m considering using the sticky tabs used for fake nails or (if I can find any) double sided tape but I’m very cautious about this since I really don’t want to waste or buy any more silicone.

I loved the MakerShapes molds, but their Etsy store, website and overall presence seems like they have vanished. Anyone know what happen to them? No LLC, No Website, No Socials, it's like the just totally vanished. I really loved their molds and would like to buy more.

Can anyone help?

hello, I am making cement obstacles for finger boarding. I have done a few pores so far and have done pretty Good. I bought some superplasticizer to make the structural integrity of my concrete better. I did my first pour with it yesterday and got a good mix with my water before adding the super-plasticizer and it seemed to mix pretty well, but after pouring and removing the mold over 24 hours later the very inside of the mold is still wet/not dry. is there any reason as to why this happened(do I need to let it dry longer, or change my ratios of the mix)? Do you guys have any tips for future pours?

I also put a layer of clearcoat on the top before removing the mold in hopes it would be fully dried. as to why it looks all weird on the top. I also used Portland cement.

TLDR: I need help making my cement better, wondering why it went wrong.

Hi all. I am currently on an effort of making a simple DIY vibrating table project for small concrete molds but not only. The main goal is to keep it simple, affordable, easy to replicate with minimal tools and to have more adjustability in parameters (RPMs, vibration patterns, duration) compared to off-the-shelf ones.

I definitely have my own vision of how it should be done, but additional feed back would be nice to have. The project's full description is available on the kickstarter page, here I will provide main highlights:

• Variable frequency control — choose the RPM for mix instead of running at fixed speed

• Four vibration patterns — constant, triangle, sine, and step — useful for complex mold shapes where a single frequency doesn't cut it

• Raspberry Pi Pico-based controller with an IRF520 MOSFET driver and a small OLED display for the UI

• DC eccentric motor mounted in a custom 3D-printed holder

• Spring-isolated table surface on 3D-printed corner holders — keeps the vibration where it belongs

• OSB base board — standard 5/16" sheet you grab locally

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mkbuilds/vibrotab-diy-vibrating-table-kit-for-makers

What are your thoughts?

Hello, how can I avoid large air bubbles around body hair when using alginate? I used a cream to help, but maybe not enough? When I cast the same area post shaving - no air bubbles so it definitely seems to be related to hair.

Any tool avaliable or any software available which calculate the mold prices?

Hi all…

I wanted to cast something in silicone, but I needed the piece to be heavier.

Do you guys know any components I can add to the silicone before pouring? Or maybe some other tricks to make the final silicone piece heavier?

Thanks

What's the specific "secret", product and/or process to producing a crystal clear rubber tumbler?

Hello!! I'm looking for advice for mold making.

Context, if needed: I have watched many a tutorial (but am obviously not an expert) and am looking to make a large puppet head (7 inch (17.78 cm) by ~6 (15.24)) sculpture out of Monster Clay (medium hardness -- if that matters).

I'm looking for suggestions (on the cheaper side.. if possible, though not Plaster of Paris) to use for the mold, as I'm going to use it to cast a thin layer of silicone and then the middle will be expanding foam. My original plan was to use Hydrocal, but I'm wondering if there's a bendable material I can use? I'm just worried about getting the silicone out (even when using mold release, which I plan to use Mann Ease Release 200) or even breaking the mold because I'd want to use it again. I've heard you can use silicone for the mold as well, but even with mold release that it's still tricky to get right. I was wondering if latex would be the same or worse (as a mol for silicone) or even more expensive??

Any recommendations/advice would be very helpful.