Geoffrey Makes Anything

# Week 10 ## Moulding and Casting ### Group Assignment > Review the safety data sheets for each of your molding and casting materials, then make and compare test casts with each of them. #### Two part Silicone Rubber | ![Two Part Silicone information sheet](images/251112-scilicone-instructions.jpg) | |:---------:| | *Two Part Silicone information sheet* | The Silicone rubber is useful to make negative molds from because of its Useful temperature range which is as high as 400 degrees fahrenheit. This is great because some tin/pewter alloys melt at 300 degrees fahrenheit, so it can be used to cast some metals. > Compare mold making processes #### Pewter/Tin Alloy Casting As a group I saw the process of casting in objects in a Pewter/Tin Alloy. | ![Create a Silicone Rubber cast](images/251112-Casting-Tutorial-2.jpg) | ![Add Corn Starch to help remove the mold](images/251112-Casting-Tutorial-1.jpg) | |:---------:| | *Create a Silicone Rubber cast* | *Add Corn Starch to help remove the mold* |
| ![Heat a small toaster oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit](images/251112-Casting-Tutorial-4.jpg) | ![It helps for to heat up Silicone before on top of oven esp. 2 part molds](images/251112-Casting-Tutorial-3.jpg) | |:---------:| | *Heat a small toaster oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit* | *It helps to heat up Silicone before on top of oven esp. 2 part molds* |
| ![Once the Alloy is hot enough, pour it using gloves](images/251112-Casting-Tutorial-6.jpg) | ![It helps for to heat up Silicone before on top of oven esp. 2 part molds](images/251112-Casting-Tutorial-5.jpg) | |:---------:| | *Once the Alloy is hot enough, pour it using gloves* | *Tap the mold to remove bubbles. Notice strong surface tention* | The metal cools relatively quickly, and the casts are ready in under 30 minutes to be removed from the silicone mold. ### Individual Assignment > design a mold around the process you'll be using, produce it with a smooth surface finish that does not show the production process toolpath, and use it to cast parts #### Sculpting in clay I want to make knobs for my final project musical device. First I tried sculpting in a very soft clay that I found. It was a bit to soft to be stable so not as nice to work with. | ![The soft non-drying clay](images/251112-Clay-Molding-Process-2.jpg) | ![a first attempt using the soft clay](images/251112-Clay-Molding-Process-4.jpg) | |:---------:| | *The soft non-drying clay* | *a first attempt using the soft clay* | Then I tried sculpting in earth pottery clay. This required keeping things wet and was harder to work with, but it dries and keeps its shape. I had to make some tools out of popsicle sticks to add more details. | ![Homemade tools for sculpting the clay](images/251112-Clay-Molding-Process-6.jpg) | ![A design for a potentiometer knob](images/251112-Clay-Molding-Process-1.jpg) | |:---------:| | *Homemade tools for sculpting the clay* | *A design for a potentiometer knob* | | ![The molds for casting](images/251117-Casting-Mold.jpg) | ![It helps for to heat up Silicone before on top of oven esp. 2 part molds](images/251117-Casting-Mold-Bird.jpg) | |:---------:| | *The first mold for casting* | *The second mold for casting* | | ![A cast of a hand sculpted turtle/dinosaur](images/251117-HTMAA-Casting-Test-Turtle.jpg) | |:---------:| | *A cast of a hand sculpted turtle/dinosaur* | | ![A cast of a ram](images/251117-HTMAA-Casting-Test-Ram.jpg) | ![A cast of a bird](images/251117-HTMAA-Casting-Test-Bird.jpg) | |:---------:| | *A cast of a ram* | *A cast of a bird* | ## Acknowledgments Thank you to Gert and Jen for helping with the casting process.