I'm stumped, need help.

[Jigsisme]

I've searched and searched and still I'm coming up stumped! I'm trying to make some molds of some my sculpey proto types and some other baits, and after going through 1 can of water puty and 2 cans of plaster of paris I'm still mold-less! I coated all baits, mixed the "batter", poured, waited 20-30 minutes till the molds were hard so I tried to de-mold them...none of them came out and even destroyed my proto types. All the molds are now in the trash and I'm so discouraged but I don't want to give up...what am I doing wrong? Should I be using resin? I've read so much on how easy this is but being new to the hobby I'm finding out its not that simple...that or I'm just missing something in the equation. One more thing, is a metal pan okay to use? Please all help is appreciated.

[GB GONE]

Jigs:

What are you tyring to make a mold of? Plaster of paris works great for me everytime and yes, metal baking pans are what I use. I've had as much luck glueing the prototype down as I have just pushing the bait into the plaster of paris (flat side up of course).

I usually just use worm oil for a release agent or nothing at all.

Jim

The big advantage to pushing your bait down into the plaster is that when the plaster almost dry but not to hard, you can de-mold your bait easy.

[Jigsisme]

Using a metal pan, placed the proto types in using glue and on the second try I used 2 sided tape. Used the directions on the pale of plaster of paris, 2-1 mixture, seemed to harden very quickly on me. Now I have to start on making the proto types all over again....I need help!!!

[GB GONE]

Jigs:

Just my opinion but I would stay with plaster for now. Its cheaper if things don't work out and the easiest to work with.

Try just putting some plaster in the pan and adding water until its soupy but not runny, then add some worms you have laying around into the plaster and wait until it dries.

Practice with worms once like that so you have an idea of how long to leave them in before removing. If your prototypes are coated with some sort of release agent (worm oil, pam,etc) they should come out of the plaster regardless of how long you leave them in. I made a mold today using a marble and some other things and left it for about 4 hours. Came back, popped everything out and went to baking the mold..

Don't give up..you'll get it!!!

Jim

PS Just think about all your learning You'll be the mold master when this is all over!!

[Travis]

Let me guess your prototypes are baked or "hard" form. These are the worst to demold and often cause problems from my experience. I leave the sculpey unbaked myself. It peels right out easily. Also when it is left unbaked it adhears naturally to the bottom of the pan. When using a hard baked sculpey, I coat it with vasoline. I also before hand drill small holes in the flat side and devcon a couple pieces of skewers for handles and leverage. Of course using this type of prototype has to be pushed down into the paris, puddy, etc....

[GB GONE]

Jigs:

One more thing..if you do bake your prototype of it is a hard bait, coat it with Devcon before you try to mold it again. Without it coated the plaster enters all the little pours and essentially bonds with your prototype.

Looking forward to seeing your baits when they get done!!!!

Jim

[Jigsisme]

I'm gonna try a few things today, soft sculpey is one and do a worm mold to practice. Here goes nothing....Thanks for all the advice, I'm sure to get the hang of it eventually!

[Coley]

Someone on this site posted this, I can't remember who??

Coley

The fiberglass resin is a 2 part mix. Make sure that when you buy the resin it comes with the catalyst (hardner) or buy it seperate.

Make sure you wash the baits that you are going to mold with warm soapy water and rinse thoroughly.

Pat or let air dry until no moisture is left on the bait.

If you are molding a clay or wooden prototype, spray with a release agent before pouring resin. A light coat of vaseline or some Pam cooking spray works good.

If you are planning on making a prototype mold, I recommend trying this process on something that you can replace first.

Inside of a small baking dish (glass or metal) glue baits to the bottom. I use superglue to make sure they don't move when I pour the resin. You can find these type of containers cheap at a dollar store or goodwill.

When the glue is dry, use a measuring cup and add enough water to cover the baits with about 1/4" to 1/2" of excess over the baits. This is the amount (in ounces) of resin you will need.

Empty the container, and again thoroughly dry it.

When mixing the resin, the amount of catalyst you use depends on the room temperature.

CAUTION!!! DO NOT MIX INSIDE THE HOUSE!! VERY STRONG FUMES! THE RESIN IS HEAT ACTIVATED AND MAY CAUSE DAMAGE TO PLASTIC CONTAINERS OR SURFACES!!!

If the temp is below 70* I do not recommend mixing. Temp between 70* and 75* 10-12 drops per ounce of resin, 75*-80* 8-10 drops and above 80* 8 drops per ounce of resin. If you add too much catalyst, the resin will cure too quickly and cause stress cracks and breakage.

Mix slowly!!!!!! The faster you mix, the more air bubbles it will create. I stir each mixture for approximately 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Make sure if you are mixing more than 20 oz of resin at one time, the container is large enough to let it mix well. I mix my resin in plastic paint measuring cups. They are cheap and allow you enough time to mix before the resin begins to cure.

SLOWLY pour the resin over your baits. VERY SLOWLY!!!!

Let the mold sit undisturbed until it is cool to the touch.

Turn the container over and tap out the mold. (This might take a few trys)

Now just clean up the cavities if you have any excess plastic left over in them.

Spray the mold with some type of release agent before you begin to pour. I use garlic Pam. It adds a touch of garlic scent and allows your baits to be easlily removed from the cavity.

Now just pour your melted plastic and it should be ready to demold within 2 minutes (depending on the thickness of the cavity).

If you would like, I can post a pic of some finished molds for you to see before you buy the materials.

[Jigsisme]

Please do, thanks.

[woodsac]

Hey I know that post Coley.

Some of the info may have changed slightly since I wrote that. I wrote a tutorial on the subject that will be a little more detailed.

All of my baits, with the exception of one aluminum mold, come from fiberglass molds.

[Mojo]

I bought a box of stuff from Chirmy on ebay that had some molds, mf colors and a bunch of cool stuff (Thanks Chirmy!!!). Some of the molds were resin. I was impressed by the detail that fiberglass resin picks up! I'll be making some soon. Here's how:

I actually spent $20 on a pint of RTV (ouch!). I use Sculpey to make prototypes and bake them. I bought some 3/16" acrylic cheap to make some mold boxes from. I plan on making an acrylic mold frame and gluing my Sculpey master to the bottom. Then I'll mix enough RTV to make a single cavity mold. After pouring multiple baits from the original mold I'll make a 6 or 8 cavity mold using the poured plastics with resin. That way I can pour enough baits at a time to make it worthwhile.

I thought about it and that seemed the best way to get consistent baits with a multi-cavity resin mold made from Sculpey. All the baits in the resin mold come from the same master RTV mold.

I'll take some digital pics and see if I can make up a tutorial on my progress if anyone is interested.

[vishezfish]

I do the same thing, I don't bake the clay, just pull it out.

Then I pour about 8 t0 16 plastic samples, put them all in

a aluminum container, tape or glue them down and then I pour the

plaster or durhams water putty....

Vf