Metal Casting Zone Info Blog

Posts Tagged ‘rubber mold’

Just a short informational video showing me cast some metal miniatures. Plastic miniatures are nice but metal, in my opinion, are the best. I am experimenting with making metal minis inexpensivey and quickly. I show you some of the process.

This tutorial shows you the fast and easy way to create a rubber mold and cast a miniature in it. I show you how I make the mold then how I cast the miniature treasure chests. this is a one part mold using rubber as the mold and plastic as the molded part.
I also have a complete tutorial with pictures, resources, more information and where to buy the materials on my website here:

http://www.stormthecastle.com/miniatu…

I show you the complete process for casting duplicates of a miniature figure. How to make the rubber mold in two parts and how to cast the miniature duplicate. A two part mold is the kind of rubber mold you make for complex minis like figures, warriors, wizards, dwarves etc. This is part 2 of 2 videos.
Ltts more miniature stuff on my website, sculpting, casting, painting, dioramas and more.

What really happens here that a rubber mold the size of a disc is spun around its central axis at very high speeds. The casting material is most often thermoset plastic which is in liquid form or its molten metal. This liquid material is poured into the mold through its opening which is in the center of the mold. So in order for solidification of the metal or the setting of the plastic as it’s called the filled mold is spun. This is essentially the spin casting process in short.

Usually the mold making substrate in spin casting is organic rubber or its vulcanized silicone. The rubber vulcanizes usually in the middle of the mold making process. Once the vulcanization process has been completed the venting and the gating process must be undertaken by the mold. This requires that the channels be carved in so in order to ensure the proper flow of material and air during the process of casting. The above two processes is carried out with the help of a tool such as a knife or a scalpel. The complexity of the mold is proportional to the time it takes to implement the gating and venting of the mold.

Spin casting machines

There are two types of commercial spin casting machines. Once type is known as a front loading machine and the second is a top loading machine. Now because of the bulkiness and the weight of these spin casting molds there are several advantages to using a front loading machine. The biggest of all advantages is its easy to use and a big time saver. As the diameter of the rubber mold grows so does its weight and when metal is cast it can become extremely heavy. Now because the loading and the unloading of is usually done the hand, people find it easier to manipulate the mold when it’s at waist level which is usually one in one swift fluid motion which is allowed by the front loading spin caster. When it comes to spin casting for commercial requirements this type of behavior is very important as it will maximize the number of casts per hour, hence making it more productive. Also top loading machines are cheaper and don’t have much of a restriction on mold thickness. This means that they are flexible.

What is Spin Casting good for?

Spin casting is a great method if you want to fabricate items with materials that are either thermoset plastics or low temperature metals. Spin casting has many advantages over other process such as Zinc die casting, and injecting molding in terms of costs as well as ease of use. There are cases in which spin casting is used as an alternative to plaster mold casting, sand casting and investment casting.