Anna Aflalo

Fab Academy 2015 | Wgtn

WEEK 9 | Molding & Casting

How to make wax blocks
- Cook the wax at medium heat,
- Don't stir in order to avoid having bubbles,
- Pour the wax into the mold,
- Wait for few hours before using it.
First Mold - 3D Modeling with Rhino



I used cylinders for my first plugging system but some of them where to close to the edges to be cut by a 1/8'' square endmill.

Download the .stl file here.
Milling the first mold with the Roland MDX-40 machine
How to set up the machine with Roland VPanel

- Draw an X in the middle of the wax block,
- Glue the wax block on the bed,
- Move the endmill until the X-Axis and the Y-Axis are correct and select= "Set X-Y origin",
- Select "Set Z-Axis using a sensor", check if the sensor is clean, put it on the cross and press "Detect".
How to set up SRP Player

1. Model Size & Dimensions
X: 120 mm | Y: 110 mm | Z: 21mm

2. Type of Milling
Better surface finish | Model with many curved surfaces | Block workpiece: Cut top only

3. Create ToolPath
Roughing & Finishing: Set up Partial (Cut Area) in order to have the correct cut area
Select the right endmill: 1/8'' Square
Create ToolPath

4. Preview result
Check your mold how you want it to be

5. Perform cutting
Start Cutting!
I used a craft knife and a heat gun in order to clean my wax mold.
Second Mold - Silicone casting
Elastosil® Vario A/B
Mix ratio: (100:10) by weight
Hardness: Shore 40 A
Viscosity: 10 000 mPa.s
Work time: 150 min
Cure time: 6 hours
Casting - Polyurethane Elastomers
The aim of this casting session was to test the flexibility of polyurethane elastomers. We even try to mix different materials. The next step is to mix silicone with different hardness shore.
Easycast
Mix ratio: (100:100) by volume | Hardness: Shore D 65 | Work time: 2 min | Cure time: 10 min

Flexicast
Mix ratio: (100:100) by weight | Hardness: Shore A 65 | Work time: 25 min | Cure time: 16-24 hours

For the second test, we melted the Easycast product with the Flexicast product (with pigment). We though it would extend our work time. Finally the work time was much shorter and we didn't have the time to mix everything well. Thats why the result broke.