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| Custom
Fan Grills How To |
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| Molding
and Casting Defined |
| In simple terms, molding and casting is a process
where you take your own custom ideas, make them out of materials that
are easy to work with such as clay or a soft wood, and then reproduce
them in detail with durable materials like plastics, clear acrylics,
or even low temp metals such as pewter. I will note here that there
are numerous materials for making models, and many different manufacturers
of molding and casting materials available. For our purposes we will
start with a model made from Sculpey clay. Then we will make a mold
of it in a good quality Dow Corning silicone. And lastly we will pour
a liquid plastic called Alumilite into the mold to make the finished
pieces.
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| Materials |
| (Note: All these materials may not be absolutely
necessary for your particular project. However, this is a list of
the items I used and found helpful in completing the project along
with where I bought them) |
| A. For making the model |
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1. An acrylic clay rolling pin (Michaels)
2. A thin metal drawing tool (Michaels)
3. A razor blade or an Exacto knife (Home Depot)
4. A needle file set (Harbor Freight)
5. Pack of various curved wood carving chisels (Michaels)
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6. A flat glass plate or glass cooking tray
(Walmart)
7. Sand paper, 100 to 300 grit (Home Depot)
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| B. For making the mold |
1. Foam board or plastic board (Hobby Lobby)
2. Elmer’s glue the elem. school kind that comes in
a stick (Walmart)
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3. Dow Corning HSII silicone (www.alumilite.com)
4. A fairly accurate weighing scale (www.alumilite.com)
5. Popsicle sticks for stirring (Walmart)
6. Low Temp Hot glue gun
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| C. For pouring the cast |
1. Paper Towels (Walmart)
2. Baby Powder (Walmart)
3. A watch or timer with a second hand (hopefully you own
one)
4. Alumilite casting plastic (www.Alumilite.com)
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| D. Finishing touches |
1. Primer and paint (any good lacquer or
enamel paint will do)
2. Maxi Cure Cyanoacrylate glue (http://www.barringercues.com/maxcyan.html)
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