Week 7: Molding and Casting

Assignment

Design and create a mold, then cast parts from it

Group Project

I worked with Alex and Anthony to test various Silicone-based materials. We created small test molds to understand how different materials would look and feel. This was really helpful for learning proper mixing techniques!

Individual Project: Clammy Logo

For my individual project, I decided to create a mold of Clammy - the logo of a startup I've been working with. I chose to focus on the eyes because they have such fun details, and it would be a good challenge for molding.

Process

The steps involved were:

• Creating the 3D design in Fusion 360 (this took over an hour and a half to get the ridges right)
• 3D printing the mold on the Prusa
• Casting with Sorta-Clear 37 silicone rubber (10-minute pot life, 4-hour cure time)
• Painting the details since I only had purple silicone available

The 3D design process in Fusion 360 - getting the right curvature took many iterations!

Getting there... this was a couple hours of work with lots of help from Joe/Jeff at the SEC!

Printing the mold on the Prusa MK4

The final mold (had some small holes but still usable)

The cast model in purple silicone

Adding the white and black details with paint

The completed Clammy logo!

Challenges

• Initially tried using an image-to-3D website but it didn't capture the details well
• Had to learn how to create proper ridges in Fusion 360
• The mold had some small holes that affected the final cast
• Painting tiny details required a steady hand (and we didn't have black so did some colour mixing)

Files

• STL File for 3D Printing

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