Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

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jagboy69
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Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by jagboy69 »

Anyone running Mold Mix 6 or 7? I've been casting gaffer glass in bandust101 (silica flour and plaster of paris investment) and the surface finish is pretty lousy in my opinion.
MM6/7 are alumina based investments..... I've got some of this stuff heading my way now. Anyone know if I can EXPECT a better surface finish from it? I cannot find any info on the
net with someone using this stuff and sure could use a hand.

If you'd like to follow the rest of the story, it's found here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2kc0g9vTKI

Thank you!
Jason

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twin vision glass
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Re: Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by twin vision glass »

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I have worked with Mold Mix 6 for years. I like the MM6 as it is not in powder format . What is the shape you are trying to cast . Mold Mix 6 can get very hard if painted on tooo thick. I like it for soft and sensual shapes . But once you get used to using it , you can use it in most shapes. But I use Bullseye Kiln Shelf Primer as a release Poured into mold and poured out quicky. Are you painting on to wax . If so use Universal Spray Release on the wax for a good release . I do not suggest steaming out at all but carefully burning out over a rack and water underneath. Be very very careful NOT to catch wax on fire while slowly melting wax out. Then cure the finished mold in kiln up to 1500 Deg. F. It does not thermal shock so you can go quickly to top temp. ( then pour in Kiln wash ) ( and then dry well at 400 Deg. F. ) If done correctly you will get a really lovely finish with NO cold working.
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Re: Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by twin vision glass »

Here is how the piece should come out if done right. http://www.twinvision.fusedglassartists.com/ The full sized head was cast in MM6 nestled in sand for backing !
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jagboy69
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Re: Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by jagboy69 »

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I plan on painting on to my wax chunks in layers. The above green piece was cast from wax using bandust and steamed out. Thanks for the reminder, the folks that sell MM also suggested to flash fire dewax. Not a problem. (I do bronze work)

Is there any benefit using boron nitride over kiln wash to get a better surface finish or will it be the same? If it works better, I need to get a can in the mail. ;-/

Jason
Jenna
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Re: Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by Jenna »

Jason, you said your glass surface is "lousy". What does this mean? Is there plaster stuck to your casting? What kind of a surface are you trying to achieve, expecting? Are you looking to have the mold surface of the glass as shiny as the air surface?
Are your molds open faced? If so, consider making your model from silicone so you can skip the whole de-wax step. The less you disturb the surface of the plaster mold, the better...
What type of separator are you currently using? Kiln wash? How are you applying it? Zyp (boron nitride spray) may or may not improve your results, depending on the answers to the questions above.
Looking forward to hearing your experiences with MM6 vs the R&R 101. I had a tough time painting it onto my models. The stuff curled up, and didn't seem to want to stick to stick enough to build it up into a usable shell. Maybe I gave up too soon, but I also didn't want to have to level all of my molds in sand to fire them. The promise of a re-usable mold is intriguing tho...
Jenna
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Re: Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by Jenna »

Also, what kind of glass are you casting with? and what is your top temperature and hold time at top?
jagboy69
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Re: Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by jagboy69 »

Thanks for chiming in Jenna. I'm guessing from your questions you were unable to see a photo of a green chunk of glass with a cloudy surface in the above post??

I'm casting gaffer glass and yes, if ya saw the video as well, you probably saw white plaster residue left over on the glass on that red mystery glass. (same results with gaffer) I have a sneaky feeling as the glass fuses, it moves within the mold and is scuffing the surface of the bandust and imparting itself into the glass. I am running lost wax and the surface of my wax piece is flame polished then steam waxed out in preparation for casting. Fwiw, mold release is not used for bandust101 investment as it's a one time use mold and breaks off easily by hand.

I have finally received the mold mix 7 and will get rolling on the next attempt. I'll be sure to pickup a can of boron nitride ($50) for release and will switch to flame dewax and not use steam. (I got that memo) In other news, I sent that green piece off to a pal of mine who will dip it for me to see what kind of finish is left behind. I'm not opposed to sending a dozen of these pieces out for acid dipping, but can't find who is still doing it here in the states. :-/

Last thing... Before casting with gaffer glass, I was cutting up 104coe rods and casting with those. I had parts of the glass pieces coming out of the mold shiny. It was usually the corners so I'm guessing it might not have made contact with the mold? The 104coe colors were very impressive compared to the gaffer, not washed out and remained true and I experienced ZERO devit. For now, I'll reserve judgement, but none of this stuff and very few of these companies appear to offer much help... The lack of technical support for casting is actually appalling at best.. So with that, I'll beat my own path, spend 4times the money and waste more time and materials. I'm pretty amazed at how little information is out there and either the lack of knowledge and unwillingness to share the proper procedure from most of these companies. Frustrating really! Perhaps when I'm finished, I too will charge$$$ for the privilege of showing how this is done. (I know, I'm being facetious and snarky, but you get the point) Casting a dozen little shiny glass pieces cannot be this hard. They did it 100years ago in Austria without high tech materials.
Jason
twin vision glass
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Re: Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by twin vision glass »

I am trying to get a demonstration of how to create with MM6 and will video tape the seminar . I am working with Brooke at Zircar Refractory Composites ( Thomas Hamling's daughter ) who has invested a great deal of time to get the perfect product for us . The seminar we hope will be held at Passion For Glass in Calgary , AB , Canada and is a one day seminar for those that cannot take 3 days of a course. If you are interested I will keep everyone posted on how to get in touch with Anna Bilek at Passion For Glass. The tentative date is Sat. June 15th and we are trying to find someone who can video the seminar.

Luminar Mold Mix 6 is a refractory-molding compound designed to allow replication of three-dimensional objects in glass and bronze. It comes as a paste, which is applied to a suitably prepared pattern and hardens on drying. Properly prepared molds of Mold Mix 6 will resolve the finest details and possess good strength. However, it remains sufficiently friable to permit easy removal after annealing. Mold Mix 6 is highly resistant to reaction with hot glass and gives the fired work a high quality surface free of-hazing common to investment type molds. Mold Mix 6 may be used for hot casting, kiln casting methods and slumping, all with excellent results.
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Re: Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by twin vision glass »

a one day seminar on Luminar Mold Mix 6 ( which we will video tape so that it can be sold for artists to use if this is something that interests you)
Location: Passion For Glass , 1534 17th Ave. SW. , Calgary, AB , Canada ( 587 353 2153 )
Artist : Leslie Rowe-Israelson
Date : Saturday , June 22th
Time: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Title : Creating Molds with Luminar MM6

This one day seminar will help artists to understand the great qualities and uses of Zircar Refractory Composites Luminar Mold Mix 6 in their glass , bronze and flame working projects. . This discussion will cover all the various uses of using this Refractory - Molding compound which will allow glass artists to understand the unlimited uses for casting glass and bronze with this product. After 30 years of using Mold Mix 6 , I feel I have a great understanding of how best to use this mold material, what works best , what may not work , how to get a great release from the glass and how to enhance the surface quality of your glass. Discussions and demonstrations will include:
- painting MM6 on one of a kind wax positives, and other materials
- how best to melt out wax from dried MM6 molds
-Release to use on Glass, wax , Plastercine , Wax Clay , Clay and other products that you have created your positive out of
-Releases to use on finished inside MM6 mold to enhance glass surface
-If no undercuts , multiple uses of the MM6 mold for flame working and casting projects
-One of a kind large slumping molds
- and will answer any questions that the students have (and I feel confident I can answer)
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Last edited by twin vision glass on Fri May 17, 2019 4:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by twin vision glass »

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Re: Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by twin vision glass »

You should be able to achieve a beautiful surface on your glass with no splitting of the mold so no cold working . Also Flame working multiple face molds is awesome with MM6 .
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jagboy69
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Re: Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by jagboy69 »

That's good to hear. I was talking to Brooke and she said she was working on getting some "how to" stuff made. Now make sure these people dont CHARGE us to watch it will ya? :-)
She was interested when I told her I would stick it up on my YT channel for this bronze project.

I am not a glass guy at all. Just trying to make some simple pretty shapes to inlay in my bronze lamp. If I can help some folks along the way, great.
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Re: Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by twin vision glass »

Zircar Refractory Composites has been so very supportive over the years trying very hard to create items that will work for the glass community. Thomas Hamling Traveled to Pilchuck Glass School during one of our residency's so he could see how MM6 and other products worked for the glass community, attended G.A.S. conferences and came to Corning Museum of Glass with his whole family while we taught there. They have been so kind , and it was not a big part of there business BUT they still tried to help us all . So I am so greatful to them over the years for sticking with us .
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Re: Mold Mix 6 or 7 ????

Post by twin vision glass »

Hello Jagboy69 I believe you were asking how to work with Mold Mix 6, so I did some PDF's and video for Zircar so here a link for you . Les
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le96sNV_b0Y&t=28s
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