Casting issues..... any tips?

[rmh16]

I just made my first two slip molds. This step went without any issues. However I'm having difficulties with air bubbles when I pour the resin. Most of the problems are in the neck plug region. any tips on this step? I have already read the tutorials on the site and they are fantastic... But I'm still having problems. Any hints or tips would be helpful!

[David Lee]

I just made my first two slip molds. This step went without any issues. However I'm having difficulties with air bubbles when I pour the resin. Most of the problems are in the neck plug region. any tips on this step? I have already read the tutorials on the site and they are fantastic... But I'm still having problems. Any hints or tips would be helpful!

If you are using silicone, try heating the mold up a bit in the oven, 125 degrees or so... this will speed up the catalyzation in the resin and the heat will cause the air to rise to the top.


-Dave

[rmh16]

I'm using the SMOOTH-ON pourable starter kit. will that work with it?

P.S. The new bodies are incredible!!! I only bought 1 and was going to place a larger order the next week....er, oops! I guess if you snooze ya loose! congrats on the success! PLEASE let us know as soon as the new shipment hits your doorstep!

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Put a thin coating of baby powder inside the mold before casting. If you're getting severe air bubbles you could make note of where they're at, fill the mold, hold something over the hole and swish it around to manually chase the bubbles out.

Don C.

[REMOVED]

You can also put a vibrator on a plate or table after you pour. That really makes the bubbles rise. Beforehand, jiggle the mold back and forth and bang it gently up and down...

[Action Martin]

You can also put a vibrator on a plate or table after you pour.

Oh the jokes that I can hear now!

[David Lee]

I'm using the SMOOTH-ON pourable starter kit. will that work with it?

P.S. The new bodies are incredible!!! I only bought 1 and was going to place a larger order the next week....er, oops! I guess if you snooze ya loose! congrats on the success! PLEASE let us know as soon as the new shipment hits your doorstep!

Yup, I am a Smooth-on man myse'f... should work like a champ... the other suggestions, baby powder and vibrations, will work as well...

-Dave

[rmh16]

well... after a few attempts it looks like the biggest problem that I had was not letting enough air escape as I was pouring the casting agent. To fix this I moved the funnel as I poured to vent the mold. this took care of 99.9% of the problem! Thanks for the advice!

P.S. I didn't try using a vibe...I can see where this would work . I did however "bang it gently up and down" this worked quite well!