Traveling back in time, couples of centuries ago, artisans have used molds to craft objects from bronze age weaponry to their daily goods. Back then, molds were typically made of metals. Fast forward to today, and the process has evolved. Now, artisans also employ modern techniques like making silicone molds, ensuring a more versatile and efficient method in crafting objects.
Fast forward to the 19th century, with the rise of modern technology, scientists discovered a substance that made molding easier to do.
Silicone was discovered, like airborne, its relevance is spreading across all industries. One such industry is the manufacturing industry. Silicone molds have made replication of an object easier and faster.
Silicone molds can be used to replicate any object you can think of. Majorly, people use them to mold common household items like egg stands. They are also used in industries for reproducing machine parts.
Ever thought of having more of your antique collections but couldn’t get to buy them in the market? In this article, we give a step-by-step guide on how to make your silicone mold and the materials you will need.
What is a Silicone mold?
Silicone molds are used in making prototypes of an object or newly designed ones.They are flexible and of high quality.
Uses of Silicone Molds
Silicone molds are versatile tools used in various creative and practical applications. Here’s how they come in handy:
1.They are used in baking: In the kitchen and bakeries, silicone molds stand strong under high temperatures in the oven. They’re best for making baking cupcakes, muffins, and even complex cake designs.
2.Silicone molds are used for housing hot chocolates and candies till the solid chocolate is formed.
3.Forming ice cubes: You can create fun-shaped ice cubes for your parties or drinks using silicone molds. Ice cubes add a soothing flavor to beverages.
4.In crafting soap: Silicone molds are used to create soap bars. The mold’s flexibility allows you to create a soap that suits your skin needs. These can be combined with herbs to enhance your soap.
5.Candle Creations: The process of molding candles gets exciting. This is because silicone molds enable you to shape your candles in various forms from simple to ornate. You can also add a scent to your candles.
6.Making Resin Art: Silicone molds are excellent for creating resin jewelry, keychains, and decorative items.
7.Solid Concrete and Plaster Crafts: Due to the flexibility of silicone molds, artists and decorators use it to craft concrete planters, plaster ornaments, images and more.
8.Miniature Models: Scale model lovers find silicone molds perfect for creating small details and pa.
9.Clay Creations: Artists use these molds to house polymer clay. These allows them to shape them into intricate designs for jewelry and decorations.
10.Garnishing Cocktails: Spice up your cocktails with fruit or herb molded into appealing shapes.
11.Bath Bombs: You can make spa-worthy bath bombs at home. Silicone mold makes the whole process becomes simple.
12.Used in crafting and sculpting: Sculptors find these molds handy for casting small sculptures or replicating intricate details.
13.In molding educational tools: Teachers needs models for science experiments and demonstrations. Before silicone mold, getting a model is pretty high. Also, they are limited in making different shapes of their model. Silicone molds allow teachers to make any shape of model suitable for their class lessons and experiment.
Types of Silicone suitable for making Molds
There are two basic types of silicone suitable for making silicone molds, we have the Platinum catalyzed and tin catalyzed. Both of them will be discussed below based on their properties and best case use.
Platinum catalyzed Silicone Mold
From its name, it is a type of silicone that is cured with a catalyze called Platinum. Now, curing simply put, is a process of changing a substance from liquid to solid. Catalyze speeds up the reaction process. So in this case Platinum was used to speed up the curing process.
However, the catalyze used in curing contributes to the overall properties of the silicone mold. These properties include the mold’s overall lifespan, stability and heat resistance.
Platinum catalyzed silicone molds are very temperature resistant, stable and durable. Whenever you hear discussions on the heat resistance of silicone molds, how safe for medical and food materials? Be rest assured they are referring to platinum catalyzed silicone mold.
To illustrate, most women in the kitchen store their beef and soup inside the refrigerator with plastic. Yet, whenever they want to warm the content inside the plastic, let say beef, they transfer it to another container, now metal or copper.
With platinum silicone, right from the refrigerator, you can transfer to your microwave or cooker for heating. During heating, the Platinum wouldn’t react with the content nor change the taste. It is very useful.
The cons to platinum is they are more expensive to purchase/make compared to other silicone molds. Also, they take a longer time to mold.
Tin catalyzed Silicone Mold
This is another type of silicone that’s best for making silicone molds. Like we’ve discussed earlier, the liquid silicone is cured with Tin. It is also stable, and heat resistant. However, it is less stable compared with Platinum silicone.
Tin silicone mold is best used by candle makers because it is less expensive than platinum. It is also preferred because it has a short curing time.
So if you are working with a tight budget you know which one to buy. In like manner, if you need quality, platinum catalyzed silicone mold is recommended.
Why make a silicone mold
Do you recall doing paper marche as a kid? The major issue with the process is when the paper marche is dried and you want to remove it from its framework.
In most cases, there are usually cracks or complete breaks if the paper mache.
Unlike paper and clay, silicone is flexible and doesn’t break or crack.
The whys behind the choice of silicone for molds include;
- They are flexible
- They are stable
- They are durable
Flexibility
Molds made with silicone are easy work on. They’re light weighted and you don’t have to worry about your mold breaking or cracking. Silicone mold can withstand any pressure without being deformed.
Stability
They can withstand a temperature range between -65 degrees to 400 degrees. For example, you do not pour hot substance into a glass cup. The glass cup can withstand the temperature for a while. After some minutes it will break. Unlike silicone, it has the ability to withstand hot temperature without reacting with the substance it is holding.
Durability
Silicone molds have a long life span. They can make 40 to 50 mold design before they wear out.
How to make master for Silicone Mold
Master for silicone mold is simply the pattern representing what you want to mold. It’s best to use the object you are replicating as your pattern/master.
To create a master for your silicone mold, you can:
- Carve: This involves making a pattern out of wood. It is joining different wood to get a desirable shape.
- 3D printing: We can make a master by using a 3D printer to print the object we want to reproduce. The object is drawn using a 3D design software like tinkercard and the drawing will be printed out through the 3D printer.
- Sculpting: This entails using clay to create a master. This method is cost effective. All you need is to have clay ready. Once you have mold the master, you can get started with making your silicone mold.
Step-by-step Guide to make Silicone Molds
There are a series of processes involved in making your silicone mold. To make silicone mold the first thing is to have your materials ready. The major materials you will be needing master/pattern liquid silicone such as smooth-on OOMOO3O, a box or non-porous container, mold release for mold housing etc.
The next step is to determine which type of silicone mold you want to create. Basically, there are two types of silicone mold. We have the one-piece and two-piece silicone mold.
One- piece Silicone Mold
The process of making your one piece silicone Mold include
Create your product master
The product master is the object you want to create. In a bakery, the master is the baking pan. It can be as simple as an egg holder, a tray etc.
Construct the mold housing
The mold housing is like an oven used in baking. It holds the liquid silicone till it forms/cures. The basic requirements for a mold housing is that it must be waterproof. The mold housing can be created with plastic, wood etc.
Layout the master inside the mold housing
As the baking pan is out into the oven, lay the object/master into the mold housing. Before you lay lightly spray inside of the mold house with mold release. Mold release prevents the silicone from reacting with the material of the mold housing.
Prepare the silicone
The process of preparing your silicone mold is simple. The basic thing is to follow the instruction on the silicone’s label.
Pour the silicone into the mold housing
After mixing, gently pour the mixed silicone rubber into the mold box using a side till it evenly spread all through the box. Leave the silicone to cure
Peeling the silicone out
The curing process takes one hour to one day to complete depending on the silicone type. If you use a tin catalyzed silicone, you will get your cured silicone mold faster. However, if you used the platinum catalyzed silicone, it will take a longer time to cure.
Two-piece Silicone Mold
The name two-piece doesn’t mean a better silicone than one piece. Two piece silicone molds are used to mold complicated objects. The process of making your two piece silicone mold include;
Making a Two piece Silicone mold
Get your model
You can print your model using a 3D printer or outsource it to a 3D printing company. Also, you can build it physically.
Make the Mold Box
The mold box houses your silicone. There are no special material for making a mold box. For a material to be qualified, it must be strong and waterproof. The material must also be compatible with hot glue for joints.
Common materials used for mold boxes include; Plastic, Plywood, PVC pipe etc. After cutting out the material according to measurements, you should apply hot glue to seal the edges.
Also, you should leave a space of at least half inch on all sides of the mold box except the base/bottom.
Embedding the Model inside the mold box
To embed the model, you need to make a clay bed in the bottom of the mold box. Furthermore, press half of the model into the clay bed, leaving the other half exposed.
Inside the mold box, insert a small acorn nut in the clay. The small acorn nut creates registration keys between the mold half. They serve as a bolt and nut used in joining two metal parts.
Preparing the liquid Silicone
Preparing your liquid silicone or mold star, you will dispersed the liquids in equal amounts in two different parts. The parts are 1A and 1B in equal volume.
Then disperse part A and part B into a mixing container and mix as directed.
After mixing, slowly pour into one corner of the mold box. Ensure you pour at least half inch above the model.
Allow the mold star to cure. After curing, you need to remove the mold box to prepare the second half of the silicone mold.
Making the second half
In producing the second half, assemble the mold box again. Next, you will apply ease release to prevent fresh silicone from sticking to the cured silicone.
Spray light quantity of the ease release and brush over all surfaces. You’re not done with the ease release, apply the spray the second time. Now, the fresh silicone wouldn’t mix with the cured silicone.
Lastly, create a clay funnel on top of the model. After doing all these, repeat the process from preparing the silicone liquid to pouring into the mold box.
Wrapping Up…
Silicone molds has make the art of crafting easy to venture into. They keep the model safe without breaking or cracking when removing them from the mold.
This molds cannot be used to create object that needs a temperature over 400 degrees celsius. For example, silver requires 800 degrees celsius to break into liquid. Silicone molds are not suitable for making silver molds. Also, they are at the mercy of the master/pattern to reproduce your object. If the master is deformed, the silicone mold produced will be deformed.
DIY enthusiast use silicone molds to reproduce object. Silicone molds are stable, you don’t have to worry about stains or crack on your design. They are great choice for making molds.