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Post by james211 on Mar 5, 2019 9:30:13 GMT -5
i’ve never done any casting or molding so forgive my ignorance with this subject matter.
I want to create a specialized grip, the grip would be printed on my markforged onyx one, but I want to figure out how to create a nice rubberized exterior. I can print the mold on my printer as well I’m just not even sure where to begin.
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Post by notoes on Mar 6, 2019 13:34:01 GMT -5
As someone who's been working with some 3D prints recently and has one 3D printed mold on-hand that I need to convert to a casting, I have some experience with this.
If you just want a rubberized exterior to go over the 3D printed grip, then printing a mold would be good - be sure to print the cavity at least 1/4" to almost 1/2" larger around than the grip size or you won't get the right cushioning that you want. For this I'd suggest using either HS (High Strength) 2 or 3 as the silicone grip as you'll need something that can withstand a lot of use. Now not knowing the shape of the grip, I'm assuming there is some spot on the grip itself that you'll want to attach to something so be sure to make your mold in a way to accommodate the silicone not covering that area. When you are covering an object with silicone, you'll need to "embed" the object in the silicone so that the silicone wraps all the way around the object. If you don't do this then the silicone won't stay on - it needs some way to "grip" the object as silicone doesn't stick to much else except silicone.
What I would do is :
1) Pour a small layer of silicone into the mold first. If you made your mold 1/4" bigger than the grip then pour this layer 1/4" thick. Let this cure.
2) Place the grip where you want it to be and pour the rest of the silicone over top of it, making sure the grip doesn't move. Pour slowly and it shouldn't move. Once this is poured just be sure to not move it for an hour or the grip might move and then you've got it off center which will give you too much on one side and too little on another.
3) Once the first hour is up, you can move the mold if you really need to but if you don't then just let it hit full cure and then demold.
I hope this helps and I for one would love to see how it turns out if you wouldn't mind sharing pictures later on.
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Post by mark07 on Oct 3, 2021 10:12:29 GMT -5
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Post by notoes on Oct 5, 2021 7:03:29 GMT -5
mark07, are you asking if you can use silicone in that printer or if the silicone can be used on a 3D printed object?
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