Another cheap arse mold making article.

 Hi! You might remember (or may someday read) my previous articles on experimental methods of recylcling silicone rubber (and sometimes even resin). I try to recycle as much as I can. All the little things you do to save pennies in the meantime really add up, and no one could pretend that silicone mold making and pressure casting are cheap enough interests to simply flirt with.

Anyway, the other day I fluffed (ruined) my Critter mold. No probs, I got 30 pulls out of that, i'll make another. Damn, I forgot to mix one of the resins, that's ruined after three pulls. I'll make another after work before I work out. Ah, I rushed it and forgot to put mold release in because I was in a rush and fuzed the two parts together. I surely did throw stuff around the room and grind my teeth.

I found a way to recycle most of the old molds and use about 100grams in total on each new version!
The bit of the mold that matters is where the model touches. The rest also needs to be bubble free in case a thin layer on the inside of the mold has a bubble on the other side (totally invisible) which the resin will be sucked into - imagine a human penis going into a femidom -  it's the reason some of my early molds which I put in a pressure pot yield figures phallic growths coming out of their backs and faces.

 But if I need to re-make the mold and it's only the middle that's no good, that's a lot of housing that might go to waste if I just re-do the whole thing.

So I cut it out with scissors (see picture) and put it in the mold box to see where the chopped out shape touches the model. Then I cut again to make sure there are no points of contact. We want fresh wet silicone covering all of the model.

I pour in the fresh silicone first, bang the bottom, and blow all the bubbles off the surface. I then jam in the old silicone, making sure it's touching the box walls on all sides, and push down until it's gone as far as it can.

I've already made a 100% successful Critter mold this way and am working on a second to meet demand for all the orders we're getting quicker.

:)