Custom Molds for Thermoforming
Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 5:54 pm
Hello everyone,
I have never made a mold but now think I might need to. So I have been searching the bulletin board and reading (e.g.“Warm Glass”, “Contemporary Fused Glass” among others). To say I need help and expert advice would be an understatement. I have been thermoforming sheet glass over fiber cutouts of letters and symbols for use in one-off projects. I'm considering producing multiples but cutting (& buying) that much fiber felt spoils the deal for me. (I am in the process of trying Hotline's fiber mold hardener so the cutouts could be reused. The jury's still out on that wonderful process.) But ultimately what I'd like to have are reusable, open face molds. I see in Brad Walker's book under "Model Creation" that “clay is most often used for making a shallow or open faced object like a plaque or medallion”. I also see refractory clay discussed in “Warm Glass”. My questions are these: 1) can the final mold itself be made from this clay? There is a ceramics studio near my home if they need to be fired in a kiln for ceramics. 2) If so, does it make sense to first make a glass “model” (like I am now doing only slightly larger than the desired end product) and then fashion the clay molds from that? Reading all the information about lost wax and investments and such I have gotten completely confused. I feel I must be missing something important. Any suggestions and advice about that process that can point me in the right direction will be much appreciated.
I have never made a mold but now think I might need to. So I have been searching the bulletin board and reading (e.g.“Warm Glass”, “Contemporary Fused Glass” among others). To say I need help and expert advice would be an understatement. I have been thermoforming sheet glass over fiber cutouts of letters and symbols for use in one-off projects. I'm considering producing multiples but cutting (& buying) that much fiber felt spoils the deal for me. (I am in the process of trying Hotline's fiber mold hardener so the cutouts could be reused. The jury's still out on that wonderful process.) But ultimately what I'd like to have are reusable, open face molds. I see in Brad Walker's book under "Model Creation" that “clay is most often used for making a shallow or open faced object like a plaque or medallion”. I also see refractory clay discussed in “Warm Glass”. My questions are these: 1) can the final mold itself be made from this clay? There is a ceramics studio near my home if they need to be fired in a kiln for ceramics. 2) If so, does it make sense to first make a glass “model” (like I am now doing only slightly larger than the desired end product) and then fashion the clay molds from that? Reading all the information about lost wax and investments and such I have gotten completely confused. I feel I must be missing something important. Any suggestions and advice about that process that can point me in the right direction will be much appreciated.