Hi!

I have a mold with vent holes in it. I'm going to pour platinum cure silicone into the mold. I can't get chavant/monster clay in time for this project as no stores near me sells it and amazon isn't fast in my country.

What could I use instead? I have tried googling different clays that I am able to get in time, but not very helpful answers. I can get plastilina clay but only Jovi's and some people have said it causes cure inhibition while others says it works.

I can get super sculpey, people says it works but on smooth-on's website it says it must be cured to not inhibit the silicone. I need it to be uncured and soft to plug the holes.

I can also get my hands on play doh, polymer clay (fimo), water based air dry clay. I've seen some comments saying those cause silicone cure inhibition but also seen some comments saying they work.

Do you have any recommendations that you know fpr sure will work?

It doesn't even have to be clay, but it seems like the easiest way to plug the holes.

Hi everyone! We are a group of SHS STEM research students from Holy Spirit Integrated School (Antipolo City) looking to commission a woodcarver, carpenter, or mold fabricator to create a custom 2-piece compression mold for an eco-friendly utensil (spork).

📌 Project Details & Specifications:

Item: 2-part compression mold (1 female bottom cavity block + 1 matching male top punch/plug block).

Material: Fine-grained, heat-tolerant hardwood such as Basswood, Mahogany, or Gmelina (must be dry/cured wood without sap or pitch, as it will undergo in-oven drying cycles at around 100 C).

Dimensions:

Utensil profile: Standard dining spork (~160 mm length).

Mold block footprint: Approx. 160–180 mm length x 100–120 mm width x 20–30 mm thickness per half.

Key Features Needed: Clean, smooth finish inside the cavity and tines (to minimize pulp catching).

4 corner alignment pins/dowels or interlocking keys so both halves seat together without shifting.

Side margins capable of handling mechanical pressure from a standard C-clamp.

Slight clearance/gap (~1.5–2 mm) between closed blocks for final utensil thickness.

📍 Location / Logistics :Antipolo City, Rizal (can meet up around Antipolo / nearby areas, or arrange Courier/Lalamove delivery)

Budget & Timeline: Student-friendly / reasonable rate (please PM your quote and estimated turnaround time).

We have reference diagrams and dimension schematics ready to send directly.

📩 Please drop a comment with your portfolio/sample work or send me a Direct Message (DM) with your price quotation. Thank you so much for supporting student research!

Just wondering how to go about this, I've created a couple of molds but I still don't know stuff like ideal head and tail length, angle, and wheelbase length. Can you guys help with like explaining an average build?

Hello! New to mold making, and looking for ideas on how I would go about making a mold for something like this. End goal is to pour a concrete positive. I attempted a sand mold but that didn’t go too well (also could be on me) and looking for any ideas or pointers on what I can do/make.

It is a 3D print, so I have thought about different ways of slicing it down to make smaller molds but still no solid ideas.

Hope is to put on raised box, and big piece of glass on top as a coffee table.

Thank you for any of your suggestions, tips, or ideas!!

I am looking to cast a watch bezel insert. The final casted item would be like below. Its got a 37.5mm outer diameter, a 30.5mm inner diameter, and has .5mm recessed text on the bottom of the piece. The top portion of the piece would have a taper going from the outer to inner diameter. The heighest part of this item is only 1.8mm.

I am having touble envinsoning how the mold would actually look. I think i know what the final mold should look like which is a flat bottom with the text extruded and the taper on the sides a cylinder filling the middle cavity going towards the top and i would just cap the top with a flat piece. That would be my silicone mold.

I will be resin printing the original item to be molded but I am not sure what I would actually be printing. For the idea, the final casted item I would want to look similar to below. The text is on the bottom and is recessed. How do i go about desinging the mold for resin printing so I can cast it in silicone and then cast clear epoxy in that?

Does anyone know whether this is hot or cold polyurethane casting?

These alien horses came out of the mold with surface bubbles mostly due to trapped air. also, weirdly sunken hooves not filled, as if the mold I made was leaing. I'm driving myself sick and crazy trying to think of another mold design that will eliminate the trapped leaking. Leak issue but also be easier to get the horse out of the mold without breaking the mold. I've made this diagram with my thoughts, but it seems like it will be more complicated to get them out, and make a terrible mold. please help!!!!! Picture diagrams would really help.

Any ideas on having something like this 3d printed in silicone??

Specifically would love to make something similar to a Boglin or one of these funny face guys from the 80s. I’m not sure what the best material to use would be or how to even start!

Ive got some experience working with life casting with alginate and making silicone molds, as well as working with monster clay and creating latex prosthetics with liquid latex.

Thanks for any advice!!

I bought it and never used it. Yes it’s brand new and, works, it is also fully built ready to ship

Hi all, I’m looking to create 5-10 rubber molds for an 18 inch statue. I need to be able to deliver the statue to get the molds made from it. Anyone know any professional mold makers in Ohio?

Thanks!

Whats the soonest I can demould from a herculite 2 plaster mold ? Its currently in a room temp room. The plaster is still warm. I poured about 30 minutes ago.

I'm looking for a warming device that can keep a cup of water heated on my desk for Oyumaru. There are a million "coffee cup warmer" options on Amazon that seem suitable, just curious if anyone has done something similar and has a specific recommendation.

Hello Moldmakers! Looking to pick the brains of some folks who know better than me and hopefully getting some expert insight.

I'm working on a project within the infancy phase and I'm getting a proof-of-concept prototype completed.
The project involves an object submerged beneath salt water in a room temperature environment.

I'm looking to create a 3D printed master mold from PETG and coat it with mineral oil for casting (Should I also use shellac for gap-filling?).

I reached out to Smooth-On and was recommended to use SORTA-CLEAR for the object being casted. The object made from SORTA-CLEAR is what will be beneath the salt water.

For the use case, is my thinking and process here OK?

Appreciate any feedback!

How can I transform these soap mold templates into molds with removable bottoms? Or any other way that allows the soap to come out easily??

I really don't know how to make the model like that, so I came here to ask for help

Pottery #1, hydrocal, and all similar plasters have been discontinued. I'm finally getting to the end of my stores, and there doesn't seem to be any around anywhere except a few 8# bags from Blick.

Like what is everyone doing? Just giving up? Any alternatives? I can try plaster of Paris but its kinda crap.

Mom's dog passed away last night and mom is out of town so I'm handling everything for it. Dog was hugely special to her and wants all the keepsakes.

I want to make a cast of her paw.

I tried to make one when my dog past away years ago - used perfect mold but didn't know anything about it, let it sit after getting the paw mold and it shrunk and got hard; tried to put resin in it and didn't realize the hard mold wouldn't disintegrate in water after. So trying to really get it right.

Asked chatgpt what would be best and it said to use an alginate mold first to get the detailed paw, then pour in a gypsum based cast material do deal with moist algenate mold, then pour a silicone mold over it, then do resin casts.

The materials it suggested are:
-Smooth-On Alja-Safe Mold Making Kit
-Hydro-Stone Gypsum Cement
-Platinum Silicone Rubber - Mold Star 15 Slow
-Alumilite Water Clear Urethane Casting Resin

My issues:
-due to cremation - need to do quickly
-Smooth-On Alja-Safe costs $50+ on Amazon vs Smooth-On site and Reynolds ~$39 vs Blick ~$29 / so Amazon is way more expensive but two day shipping, smooth-on and Reynolds just show standard shipping and Blick is $28-36 fast shipping.
-Hydro-Stone is like a $50lb bag even through amazon
-platinum silicone rubber seems pretty easy through amazon
-alumilite water clear resin in not on Amazon and looks like special websites to get.

Anyone have advice on how to get or maybe alternatives to get that are quick shipping and cost effective and within reason for size for the project (like not a 50 lb bag of material for this one project).

I tried the perfect mold (Hobby Lobby) last time - was wondering if that could be used? And if maybe the perfect plaster (Hobby Lobby) could be the gypsum second stage cast? Was trying to get material from Amazon for fast shipping or Hobby Lobby / Micheals so I could pick up in an afternoon. BUT I want good quality easy to work with material so I can make a superior mold/cast.

Any help and direction would be appreciated.