I was gong to try casting some small objects using epoxy (of which I have a
bucketful). I was thinking possibly knife handles etc. in future.
I thought I would try a rubber mould. Being cheap, I bought a couple of
tubes of silicone caulking from Home Depot (rather than 2 lb minimum of
the
proper stuff that sculptors use). I read somewhere that silicone does not
need any release compound. I had a couple of small flat objects with
various
patterns made of steel; I thought I would try those. I slathered both
liberally with silicone caulking, one kind on each and let it cure for 24
hours.
I actually picked the silicone which was meant to have "inferior adhesive
properties". Not true! I could not get the silicone off the two objects.
Even cutting it with a knife and trying to scrape it would not remove the
silicone coating off them or from the plastic tray I had the whole
experiment in. I had to scrap all three.
I made another model this time with clay, sealed it with shellac after
drying, used dishwa****ng liquid with water as a release compound and this
time it worked - sort of. The mould was kind of uneven with some holes. I
did not bother with trying to make a "mother" mould of plaster as I did
not
think it would be great for casting.
So here are the questions:
1) Has anyone here tried making knife handles (or other things for that
matter) from epoxy?
2) Has anyone got experience with making rubber moulds of things? What did
you use?
And one comment"
1) The silicone caulking adherence to metal was rather surprising. I filed
it away for future reference - a bi-metal joint of considerable strength
which might require some "give" could be achieved this way.
--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC
