The history of rubber is quite old when it started in tree and amazon forests. Checking some facts it is said that the American chemist Charles Goodyear is the inventor of rubber. An advanced version of rubber-made customization for Pvc patches reminds us all of the deep roots of rubber-making beginning and how it all began.
A very determined and obsessed chemist of history invented this in his kitchen. His work brought a revolution in the transport field. This invention was later reached to modern with different color mixing and has been used in fashion today. Rubber-made badges for garments are quite common. They are widely used to name tags, sizing for garments, letters on hats, and artworks in key rings. Pvc patches are another next-level most recent use where customization brings together with rubber silicone. And people love to sew them. These soft sturdy and soft types of silicone patches are most commonly used for military and tactical use due to long last material inside that is friendly to sunlight, water, and rough use.
Goodyear basically tried to change its chemical structure to
make it more resilient and more useful. And custom patches have met this
requirement for users today.
Making of PVC badges and nameplates involves colors, molds, and DOP, let's dig deep into how can we create a silicone mold before mixing
colors for our soft rubber monograms.
HOW TO MAKE SILICONE MADE MOLD – QUICK EASY METHOD
There are many ways to make molds but I find this method
quick and easy with less mess to deal with. We are going to use teacup
flatbacks lining up my originals on a grid
mat to give me an idea of how big the mold
should be and then use some building blocks.
We are going to create a custom mold box you can definitely
use anything that will hold the liquid such as cookie cutters plastic cups and
Tupperware. You can even make your own by using cardboard foam board or
plastic sheets we found building blocks work perfectly.
Since we can make it at any size we want without the risk of
wasting silicone also it's reusable and it's space saving since you don't have
to have different-sized mold boxes in your stock make sure when
Step 1
Building the mold box you have at least a quarter inch
space between the molded ball and the original so we don't have the risk of the
mold tearing now to figure out how much silicone you're going to need to pour some
rice in the mold box with the original in there making sure that it covers the
top of the piece at least a quarter inch then pour that rice in a measuring cup
to see the volume.
Step 2
We are going to secure our original and the mall box with a self-laminating
sheet
make sure you cut out pieces that are bigger than the mole box
I prefer laminating sheets over contact paper because the adhesive is stronger now
you don't need to use hot glue with this because the walls are thick enough and
the silicone's thick viscosity won't allow it to leak out but if you are
worried you can't always fold the laminating sheet over the sidewalls if you
are using other mold boxes you definitely will need the hot glue but skip the laminating
sheet and secure your original and the mold box on a non-porous surface since
the heat from the glue will distort the laminating sheet.
Step 3
We're ready for the silicone today we're going to be using
the liquid silicone. Let's resin their silicone is one to one ratio and
can be measured by volume or by weight we are going to measure it by weight for
more accuracy now just like resin two parts silicone also has a pot life or
working time
20 to 30 minutes or so this silicone has a low viscosity which
is great since it makes it easy to mix
And you don't have to deal with large bubbles and has a
better bubble releasing quality compared to other silicones
Now they do state that it's bubble free but I find it's only
bubble free if the mold is thin like around half an inch or so you'll
definitely get micro bubbles but they won't affect your casting just make sure
that there are no large bubbles stuck on the original but I will put my silicone
in a vacuum chamber to make it completely bubble free now I've seen people
color their silicone with mica powder to make custom-colored molds so if you do
that then you don't have to worry about it
Make sure the container you're using is tall and large
enough or else you'll deal with a lot of over spills turn on the vacuum and let
it go for three to five minutes
Release the vacuum and turn it
back on and repeat this process a couple more times
This actually pops the surface
bubbles
Since the silicone doesn't produce large bubbles there's no
need to pour it in a small stream at a high point but you might need to use a
toothpick to move any bubbles that formed in the nooks and crannies of your
original also like I mentioned earlier don't scrape the silicone off the cup to
avoid unmixed parts in your mold now all there is to do is wait till it's cured.
Step 4
Let's go ahead and remove the mold box and the original from
the silicone. It should be looking good so far bits you can just trim off
with scissors now I'm going to pour fast curing resin to show you guys a final
casting do so here it is and they are perfect they are the exact copies of my
original.