Meka Posted August 2, 2022 Report Share Posted August 2, 2022 Can you please tell me if it is possible to use Styrofoam as the intended shaped mold to create a reusable silicone mold? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Min Posted August 5, 2022 Report Share Posted August 5, 2022 Hi Meka and welcome to the forum. Giving this thread a bump, hopefully someone will chime in that has more knowledge of silicone mold making than I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterH Posted August 5, 2022 Report Share Posted August 5, 2022 Any help? https://davidneat.wordpress.com/tag/preparing-styrofoam-for-silicone-rubber-covering/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bam2015 Posted August 5, 2022 Report Share Posted August 5, 2022 Here's a thought, if the styrofoam isn't smooth then the roughness might show up in the mold. But I've only made a few plaster molds, so I'm just guessing. Betty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Longtin Posted August 16, 2022 Report Share Posted August 16, 2022 Hello Meka, when you say "intended shaped mold" what are you referring to? Do you want to use it as the mold box, and pour silicone into it, or are you intending to actually carve a form out of styrofoam? I've not used silicone but have used urethane rubber. As long as I coat non-porous objects with silicone spray I've had no problem with sticking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyn Patty Posted August 23, 2022 Report Share Posted August 23, 2022 I think there are good questions posted here already that need to be answered before we can really help you. BUT if you mean to use the styrofoam as a secondary shell (mother mold) around your silicone 'skin' then yes, IF it's firm enough and not too bendy you can do that. You'll need however to shape it very carefully to fit up against your silicone firmly with as few gaps as possible and strap or tape it. I normally use a plaster mother mold over my silicone brush on waste molds for my original oil clay sculptures and then go on to cast a resin waste piece to do final clean up and detailing. That then can be /block/ molded using pourable silicone or urethane to make my master mold pieces - which are then used for pouring my production plaster molds for slip casting. Or as said if you want to use a styrofoam cooler or suchlike to POUR silicone into as a block mold you can do that too. But do a small test first to make sure the rubber of your choice doesn't have a chemical or heat reaction with that kind of foam . Once silicone is set up it'll be fine but the curing process can melt some kinds of foam and not all 'stryofoams' are the same. A proper reusable mold box, sized and shaped for each project is safer. If it melts or eats your foam there could be poisonous gases produced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyn Patty Posted August 23, 2022 Report Share Posted August 23, 2022 On 8/5/2022 at 11:56 AM, PeterH said: Any help? https://davidneat.wordpress.com/tag/preparing-styrofoam-for-silicone-rubber-covering/ Nice link! Interesting read - I hadn't used styrofoam with mold making quite like that. Always more to learn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.