This week, I made some soap bricks. The soap bricks can be assembled to different geomeries.

How to make it?

1. Modeling and CNC Milling

I modeled the brick geometry in Rhino and I milled the wax mold in N51, and I got a lot of help from Zain and Gil for seting up the file and machine. The process of CNC milling was longer than I thought, and it took about an hour and a half. Generally speaking, the process is relatively smooth, but my mold is designed too deep, so when the top milled the bottom surface, the shoulder of the top was close to the edge of the wax block.

2. Making Mold and Casting Soap

In the process of making the mold, tapping on the bottom of the mold can help air bubbles escape. I decided to use soap as casting material because I have some soap left over from last semester, and the soap casting can be done at home without dust. After the soap is heated in the microwave for about 30 seconds, gently stir to pour it into the mold. In order to speed up the process of soap solidification, I put the mold in the refrigerator and it took about half an hour to cool down. Then I used a knife to trim and refine the edges of the soap bricks.

hw 8